Catherine Trudelle

Becoming Visible: Women and Conflicts in the Quebec Metropolitan Areas, 1965-2000

Since the 1960s, urban conflicts have tended to gain prominence in most cities of advanced economies. During the same period, women have also gained prominence in urban public life, including conflict activity. Have their roles in these conflicts had possible humanising effects on urban life? More than 2000 conflicts are analysed, hypothesising that characteristics of conflicts influence the probability of women participating in them. It is found that this probability is much higher when actors come from civil society rather than from the state or the private sector and when conflicts deal with social issues rather than economic or, surprisingly, environmental issues. It is also found that this probability diminishes with time, indicating increasing institutionalisation and diversification of womens roles in urban public life.

A Relational Database to Understand Social Innovation and Its Impact on Social Transformation

Research on social innovation has, to date, mainly been carried out through case studies. This is due to the unique character of innovations, at least when they emerge, and the fact that the concept of social innovation is still poorly codified. Case studies are typically used to explore new research areas for which existing theory seems inadequate. A case study approach is the prescribed methodology to explore phenomena that are not easily distinguishable from their context and to document them thoroughly by referring to multiple information sources (Yin, 1994).

Mega Events and Urban Conflicts in Valencia, Spain: Contesting the New Urban Modernity

The local and regional administrations of Valencia, Spain, have been working to position the city, which is the countrys third largest in terms of population, as an international destination for luxury tourism through sports mega-events. Valencias new image as a “mega-events city” has been criticized by citizens and urban-based movements on social and environmental grounds, resulting in various urban conflicts. The aim of this paper is to examine the causes and dynamics of these conflicts in order to understand the discourse and rationales behind the criticism. This will also include an examination of the ways in which these conflicts were managed by the local administration, especially in the months leading up to and during the events, when the city was receiving worldwide media coverage. Researching local print media, we focused on urban conflicts that took place in Valencia between 1995 and 2010. We also looked at the performance of urban-based movements and the administration as conflicting actors. One of the main findings was the strong consensual authoritarianism manifested by the administration and mega-event organizers when making decisions and managing urban conflicts related to mega-events.

Eau Québec, quel avenir pour l’or bleu?

Des centaines de personnes meurent tous les jours, faute d’accès à une eau potable. Or, la population québécoise, qui est choyée puisque le Québec possède 3 % des réserves mondiales d’eau douce renouvelable, commence à peine à être sensibilisée à la question de l’eau. Avant l’adoption de la Politique nationale de l’eau (PNE) en 2002, très peu d’attention était portée à la gouvernance de l’eau au Québec. Encore aujourd’hui, l’intérêt de la société civile quant à la gestion de l’eau est relativement faible. Néanmoins, l’eau douce est de plus en plus convoitée sur la planète et cette convoitise pourrait conduire à de violents conflits territoriaux. Dans cet article, nous nous intéressons à la gouvernance de l’eau au Québec, et plus particulièrement à Montréal, ainsi qu’aux enjeux liés à cette précieuse ressource.