TRANSFORMING THE LEGACY OF INDIAN RESIDENTIAL SCHOOLS IN CANADA INTO A PUBLIC ISSUE: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF MICHAEL BURAWOY’S PUBLIC SOCIOLOGY

The Canadian government designed Indian residential school (IRS) system to assimilate Indigenous children into European settler society by dispossessing them of their cultures, languages and traditions. By severing the children’s ties to families and communities, and thus integrating them into Euro-Canadian society, the Crown sought to gain control of Indigenous lands (Miller, 2000). In the schools, which were run by church officials, many children died of neglect and diseases and often faced various other injustices perpetrated by staff, including physical, emotional, cultural, and sexual abuse. (Milloy, 1999). Although the last school was closed in 1996, IRS left behind a devastating legacy characterized by sexual and physical abuse in Indigenous communities, substance abuse, loss of Indigenous languages, over-representation of Indigenous people in correctional facilities, and others. Until recently, these were considered to be private issues. However, the growing body of evidence demonstrates that IRS were responsible for the negative impacts and the government and churches were compelled to recognize the damage done. This article explores Michael Burawoy’s (2005) four types of sociology (policy, critical, professional, and public) and assesses the relative contributions of each type in the process of transforming “private troubles” of the IRS legacy into “public issues.” The main thesis of the article is that each type of sociology, with varying degrees of success, promotes the recognition of the injustices inflicted by IRS. The article concludes that Burawoy’s sociology possesses its strengths and weaknesses in identifying private troubles as public issues.Le gouvernement canadien a con u des pensionnats autochtones (PA) pour assimiler les enfants indigènes dans la société des colons européens en les dépossédant de leurs cultures, langues et traditions. En rompant les liens de l'enfant avec ses familles et communautés, et donc en les intégrant dans la société euro-canadienne, la Couronne a tenté de prendre le contr le des terres autochtones (Miller, 2000). Dans les écoles, qui ont été dirigées par les responsables de l'église, plusieurs enfants sont morts suite à des négligences et des maladies et ont souvent fait face à diverses injustices commises par le personnel, y compris des abus physiques, émotionnels, culturels, et sexuels. (Milloy, 1999). Bien que la dernière école ait été fermée en 1996, les PA ont laissé derrière eux un héritage dévastateur caractérisé par des abus physiques et sexuels dans les communautés autochtones, la toxicomanie, la