This study presents a series of empirical tests of two influential theoretical perspectives on the industrialization and modernization of polyethnic societies. On the one hand, the functionalist perspective predicts that cultural diversity and pluralism will decline, that group inequalities will decrease, and that communal conflict should become less likely over time. The communal competition perspective, on the other hand, predicts that cultural diversity and pluralism will not necessarily wither away, that group inequalities will not inevitably be reduced, and that communal conflict is a possibility at any point in time. / Hypotheses derived from these two perspectives are tested using survey data on French-English relations drawn from the 1970-71 Quebec Social Movements Study. Part of the thesis is an update and replication of the benchmark study of Roseborough and Breton (1971). / The study provides an examination of the structure of the belief system of a segmented society, and contributes to a systematic assessment of the relative utility of the two theoretical perspectives for an understanding of social change in plural societies.

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