Checking in on Quebec

In 1970, the French sociologist Michel Crozier wrote an academic treatise, La Societé Bloquée, about a France unable to change, even after the general strike and near collapse of order in May 1968. It became a best seller—and a third edition came out in 1999 arguing why France is still “bloquée.”

Last October, a manifesto deploring the “situation de blocage” in contemporary Quebec was issued by the awkwardly named group Pour un Québec Lucide, led by Lucien Bouchard and others. They argued that a “kind of global refusal to change is hurting Quebec because it risks turning into a republic of the status quo, a fossil of the 20th century.”

The manifesto led to a flood of comment and reaction. Pour un Québec Solidaire quickly issued its own counter-manifesto. And, for lighter reading, the blogosphere offers the delightful manifesto of Pour un Québec Morbide.

These clashing manifestos are interesting for their arguments, but...