Above and beyond the partisan passion that will no doubt be let loose, the referendum debate should provide the occasion to raise some of the elements necessary for a discussion of Quebec nationalism in a social context in which the defence of individual rights appears to have evacuated the legitimacy of political demands grounded in a communitarian representation of society. In contrast to analyses dichotomously opposing it to democratic aspirations, this article argues that Francophone nationalism can be a rallying site within which the crisis of social ties traversing Quebec, as well as all modern societies, might begin its denouement.