2009 Poster Prize

Winner: Charles Breton

To Preserve What is Best of the Past: Network of Actors and Identity Analysis of Moral Conservatism in Canada

Excerpt from jury report: Through the use of semi-directed interviews, Mr. Breton examines whether or not the so-called “religious right” in Canada constitutes an organized social movement. Drawing on the insights and methods of network analysis, Breton confirms the presence of what he calls a “Canadian Moral Conservatism Network.” Members of this network share a “sense of solidarity” which can be “awakened when a moral question comes to the forefront.” Members within the network, Breton finds, share both a “high intensity” and “high density” of relations. He thus concludes that the network can “be mobilized and possesses the capacity to be a movement.”