À propos de « ceux qui sont en dehors de la société ». L'indigent et l'assistance publique au Québec dans la première moitié du XXe siècle

The “ Loi établissant le service de l'assistance publique" (Public Welfare Act) sparked considerable controversy after its adoption in 1921 .The Act provided for provincial and municipal grants to private and religious institutions providing shelter to the poor and destitute. Led by Henri Bourassa, among others, the debate concerned the problem of state intervention in an area traditionally conceived of as the responsibility of the Church. In contradiction to Bourassa's theories, most historians analyzed the A c t through the rubric o f modernization as a necessary affirmation of State prerogatives in the area of social protection. In this article, we argue that this Act is an attempt (largely successful) to consolidate a form of liberal governmentality based on, since the 19th century, what Karl Polanyi termed “the figure of the pauper" According to this perspective, the 1921 A c t is not a significant stage in the age-old struggle between Church and State, but rather a time of reform in liberal politics in regards to "the indigent 'The latter leggally defined as unable to work and without family support, and therefore “ outside of society," an expression of the day, allowed justifying the development o f a private/public system of charitable assistance against the project o f social policies founded on a universal conception of social rights. The article presents this dynamic through an analysis of the contentious issue of the rights of indigents to public assistance. (English)