This text is part of the special notebook The 100 years of Guy Rocher
Guy Rocher, sociologist: this is how this giant of Quebec history is often referred to in the media, emphasizing the importance of his legacy on the discipline he loves. A look at the theoretical vision of the “sociologist of Quebec”.
Guy Rocher came close to becoming a sociologist of religions. Having discovered the field while writing his master’s thesis, he sees unexplored avenues and the opportunity to document the world around him. “Quebec was bathed in religion, our institutions were bathed in religion, so for me, it was the massive phenomenon of society,” he explained to his biographer, Pierre Duchesne. The chances of life decide otherwise and the man who is today considered “the sociologist of Quebec” will instead become – over time – an expert in law.
Parsons era
“I believe that there are two periods in Guy Rocher’s sociological career,” says Michel Coutu, associate professor at the School of Industrial Relations at the University of Montreal. The first begins as the student immerses himself in the work of the American sociologist Talcott Parsons, whom he discovers by chance while wandering through the library of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Laval University, where he is completing his master’s degree.
Seduced, he decided to obtain a Ph. D. at Harvard under the supervision of the researcher, considered by many to be “one of the most influential American sociologists of the 20the century,” writes Pierre Duchesne in the biography he devotes to Guy Rocher.
“In this context, his interest is general sociology,” explains Michel Coutu. At the time, sociology students believed that they themselves would be called upon to develop a global vision of society and Guy Rocher was no exception. The works Introduction to general sociologypublished in 1968 and 1969, and Talcott Parsons and American sociologypublished in 1972 by Presses Universitaires de France, are typical of this era, believes the jurist.
Guy Rocher ultimately never published a unifying theory of his own. However, thanks to its Introduction to general sociology, he will have a major influence on hundreds of students, at the college and university level. “It’s the bible for sociology students,” summarizes Caroline Senneville, president of the Confederation of National Unions (CSN). Translated into six languages and republished numerous times, the reference work confirms the sociologist’s teaching talent and his influence on this science. “The introductory courses open your eyes,” underlines Barbara Thériault, professor specializing in the sociology of contemporary Germany at the University of Montreal. “We notice that over the course of the semester, students begin to see things in a different way. Guy Rocher gave us all a bit of that, he awakened us to sociology. »
In the footsteps of Max Weber
The work of the sociologist is interrupted for a few years, to make way for the politician. Guy Rocher, however, returned definitively to his first love in 1983, when he established himself for good as a researcher at the Center for Research in Public Law (CRDP) of the University of Montreal.
Although he was interested in law at the start of his studies, the sociologist felt the need to “call on an undisputed scientific figure, able to largely impose on the jurist most imbued with his knowledge”, believes Michel Coutu. To do this, he turned to the sociologist and historian Max Weber, who also strongly influenced his thesis director.
During this second phase of his career, Guy Rocher developed a sociology of law. “He’s one of the first in Quebec to have done it,” explains Michel Coutu with admiration. During his stay at the CRDP, he forged a concept concerning the effectiveness of law, which he distinguished from efficiency.
“When we talk about effectiveness, we ask ourselves: has the objective behind the adoption of a law been achieved? If we pass a law to reduce poverty, have we succeeded empirically? » explains the lawyer. In comparison, effectiveness amounts to being interested in all the repercussions of the same law, including those which were not expected. “The goal of Prohibition law in the United States was to reduce alcohol consumption and domestic violence,” he cites as an example. But a perverse effect of this has been to encourage the expansion of organized crime. »
To this can be added symbolic effects, for example a law that would be proposed even if it is obvious that it will not have the desired impact. “The government does it to be able to tell its critics that it has done something,” summarizes the man who often advises his students to adopt the “Guy Rocher approach” to carry out field studies.
This scholarly role does not prevent him from participating in public debates, recalls Barbara Thériault: “He is involved in the city. He signs his texts as a sociologist. » This posture, inspired by Weber, leads him to think about his place in society.
The second period of Guy Rocher’s sociology does not end with the publication of a treatise in which he could have summarized his work, deplores Michel Coutu. “It’s a shame that he was so overwhelmed, as he became an essential intellectual reference in Quebec. » The closest thing to it is perhaps the work Studies in the sociology of law and ethicsreissued in 2016.
The thought of Guy Rocher will have shaped Quebec sociology; even in the twilight of his career, this intellectual remains highly topical. “The expression dictates that all intellectuals are dwarves on the shoulders of giants,” concludes Caroline Senneville. “Guy Rocher is this giant. »
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