The Vitality of the Communities
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Models of Community Vitality (cont.)
Environmental model of Gilbert et al. The model of community vitality of Francophone minorities that is being developed by Gilbert et al. (2005) consists of assembling within a theoretical framework, using a geographic approach, the relationships among the environment, the individual and the community (see Figure 4). This approach continues the work of Langlois and Gilbert, who assign to the environment a determining role in social and community development (Gilbert and Langlois, n. d.; Gilbert, 1999; Langlois, 2000). The model is based on the contributions of Giles et al. (1977) and of Landry and Allard (1999). It has three main components, among which the close reciprocal interrelationships are seen as essential:
- The individual component refers to the practices of members of the minority community, to experiences in the public and private spheres, and to the aspirations that are manifested in the social and spatial behaviours linking them to the minority community.
- The community component refers to relationships that unite Francophones in a specific environment through defence of their common interests, with emphasis on the role of interactions that constitute the community and the social capital generated there grounded in places and spaces, and of the resources that the community appropriates from its environment.
- The environmental component refers to the environments giving rise to the individual behaviours as well as the social and spatial interactions on which the community is founded, comprising the population, the organizations, institutions and businesses located in the space, the services, and the collective undertakings of these entities within the basic structure of minority/majority relationships. This environmental component also has room for networks that provide opportunities for connections to other spaces and communications at different levels.
The operation of this model consists of developing indicators through which the primary components of community vitality identified in the model can be measured at the local level. Research is under way in a variety of Francophone communities selected on the basis of a pre-established typology of vitality (Gilbert et al., 2005).
Figure 4. Environmental Model of Community Vitality (Gilbert et al., 2005)
Acord's longitudinal model. This company developed the first model for analysing OLMCs, in conjunction with a systematic survey of qualitative and quantitative indicators of the situation of OLMCs, at the request of the Department of the Secretary of State (Acord, 1991). With results by province and territory as well as at the national level, the study produced a set of benchmarks that provide a basis for identifying the changes that have occurred since then.
Acord's pragmatic approach consists in describing the situation and outlining the development of official language minority communities over the previous decade. A normative approach then provides a framework for estimating the gap between the actual situation in a community and a situation that is deemed desirable. Their analytical grid includes two ideals and the corresponding dimensions of development.
- Ideal of individual equality relative to the rights and services enjoyed by the majority:
- social status: access to rights and services, personal development; and
- linguistic recognition: ability to exercise preferences in respect of language use in everyday life.
- Ideal of collective autonomy, possibility of becoming a coherent entity within the larger society:
- institutional completion: distinct entity, responding to the individual and collective needs of its members; organizational capability; ability to mobilize resources; activities provided; and
- collective vitality: ability of the linguistic community to keep its members and to perpetuate itself as a social group: participation by members in the activities of the group; commitment to assist and promote its development; produce a shared living environment; share a feeling of identity and of belonging to the group.
Acord formulates development indicators involving nine fields or sectors of activities that cover a significant breadth of daily life: the population relative to the fields of policy, the economy, education, government services, legal services, social and health services, media, arts and culture and community life.
Vitality thus appears to be a highly complex set of issues. The explanatory models just reviewed here use indicators in varying degrees to measure the strength of vitality. The next section looks in greater detail at methodological concerns related to the indicators of vitality and its evaluation.
