1968 in Canada
A Year and Its Legacies
- Publisher
- University of Ottawa Press
- Initial publish date
- Apr 2021
- Subjects
- Post-Confederation (1867-)
-
eBook
- ISBN
- 9780776637075
- Publish Date
- Apr 2021
- List Price
- $23.99
Library Ordering Options
Description
The year 1968 in Canada was an extraordinary one, unlike any other in its frenetic pace of activities and their consequences for the development of a new national consciousness among Canadians.
It was a year when decisions and actions, both in Canada and outside its borders, were thick and contentious, and whose effects were momentous and far-reaching. It saw the rise of Trudeaumania and the birth of the Parti Québécois; the articulation of the new nationalism in English Canada and an alternative vision for Indigenous rights and governance; a series of public hearings in the Royal Commission on the Status of Women; the establishment of the Canadian Radio and Television Commission, nation-wide Medicare and CanLit; and a striving for both a new relationship with the United States and a more independent foreign policy everywhere else. And more. Virtually no segment of Canadian life was untouched by both the turmoil and the promise of generational change.
Published in English with chapters in French.
About the authors
Michael K. Hawes is CEO at Fulbright Canada and professor of Political Studies at Queen’s University. He has been a visiting professor at UC Berkeley, Tsukuba University, IUJ, USC and UBC.
Michael K. Hawes' profile page
Andrew C. Holman is a professor of history and the director of the Canadian Studies Program at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts.
Andrew C. Holman's profile page
Christopher Kirkey is Director of the Center for the Study of Canada and the Institute on Quebec Studies at the State University of New York College at Plattsburgh.
Excerpt: 1968 in Canada: A Year and Its Legacies (edited by Michael K. Hawes, Andrew C. Holman & Christopher Kirkey)
“To keen observers watching global events unfold, the world seemed to be on fire, and Canada was dangerously close to the conflagration. Few were more prescient than Nanaimo’s Wilma Sharpe, who saw in January 1968 that a great test of character lay ahead. By June, the Lethbridge Herald editor worried that the massive malaise spreading around the globe would infect Canada. By December, in his Christmas message to the nation, Prime Minister Trudeau was certain that it had.”
Editorial Reviews
A marvelously rich collection of essays on the Canadian experience of 1968 and a significant contribution to our understanding of that eventful year. Here, a talented group of scholars explore the internal and external forces that shaped Canada in 1968 and bequeathed legacies that have continued to influence Canada.
Senior Fellow in North American Studies UCL Institute of the Americas, London, UK
In Canada as in other countries, 1968 was a year like no other. Gathering excellent authors and covering key issues, this volume traces what happened in 1968 while exploring the consequences of that pivotal year. It is a must-read for those interested in the period and its lasting impact.
Director, McGill Institute for the Study of Canada