Relève étoile Paul-Gérin-Lajoie  
October 2018

Alex Tremblay

PhD student at the Department of Historical Sciences
Université Laval

Award-winning publicationLa transformation des capitaux culturel et social en région au XIXe siècle dans un contexte de renouvellement des élites : l'exemple de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu

Published in: MENS



Alex Tremblay's paper fills a considerable gap in regional history by highlighting regional elite renewal processes from a fresh perspective: the transformation of cultural and social assets. In doing so, he helps nuance the deeply rooted historiographical theory that a French-speaking elite replaced an established anglophone elite amid Québec's 19th-century French-Canadian reconquest and rather demonstrates that elites adapt to economic change by adjusting their networks and cultural practices. Bridging three disciplines—regional history, the sociology of elites and the social mobility dynamics that underpin the rise and fall of social groups—the research ultimately seeks to give new impetus to the history of Québec elites by encouraging researchers to operationalize the concept of elite to better adapt it to the specific characteristics of the small and midsize urban centres that emerge in the 19th century.