The 2007-08 financial crisis marked a turning point for social policy. World leaders were forced to take a position: Should they entrench neo-liberal policies in response to the crisis? Or should they implement alternative measures to challenge economics as usual? This volume explores how international organizations and nation states in Europe, Asi …

The Royal Canadian Navy crews that sailed the Atlantic during the early Cold War held a contemptuous view of their West Coast brethren, likening the Pacific fleet to a “yacht club” where sailors enjoyed a life of leisurely service on a tranquil sea. As David Zimmerman reveals, nothing could be further from the truth. From the fleet’s postwar …

Bill Graham – Canada’s minister of foreign affairs and minister of defence during the tumultuous years following 9/11 – takes us on a personal journey from his Vancouver childhood to important behind-the-scenes moments in recent global history. With candour and wit, he recounts meetings with world leaders, contextualizes important geopolitica …

The pursuit of political power is strategic as never before. Ministers, MPs, and candidates parrot the same catchphrases. The public service has become politicized. And decision making is increasingly centralized in the Prime Minister’s Office. What is happening to our democracy? In this persuasive book, Alex argues that political parties and gov …

Many Canadians believe their nation fell on the right side of history in harbouring black slaves from the United States. In fact, in the wake of the American Revolution, Loyalist families brought slaves with them to settle in the Maritime colonies of British North America.

The transition from slavery in the American colonies to slavery in the Marit …

Stories of Indigenous children forced to attend residential schools have haunted Canadians in recent years. Yet most Indigenous children in Canada attended “Indian day schools,” and later public schools, near their home communities. Although church and government officials often kept detailed administrative records, we know little about the act …

This masterful social and environmental history raises questions about how decisions being made about the natural world today will shape the cities of tomorrow.

In 1865, John Smoke braved the ice on Burlington Bay to go spearfishing. Soon after, he was arrested by a fishery inspector and then convicted by a magistrate who chastised him for thinking …

The US security state is everywhere in cultural products: in army-supported news stories, TV shows, and video games; in CIA-influenced blockbusters and comics; and in State Department ads, broadcasts, and websites. Hearts and Mines examines the rise and reach of the US Empire’s culture industry – a nexus between the US’s security state and me …

In 1988, after years of failed negotiations over the status of the Northwest Passage, Brian Mulroney gave Ronald Reagan a globe, pointed to the Arctic, and said “Ron that’s ours. We own it lock, stock, and icebergs.” A simple statement, it summed up a hundred years of official policy. Since the nineteenth century, Canadian governments have cl …

For decades, manufacturers from around the world relied on asbestos to produce a multitude of fire-retardant products. As use of the mineral became more widespread, medical professionals discovered it had harmful effects on human health. Mining and manufacturing companies downplayed the risks to workers and the general public, but eventually, as th …

What options did Paul Bernardo’s lawyer have when his client directed him to retrieve hidden evidence? Where would David Milgaard be today if a lawyer hadn’t doggedly challenged his murder conviction? And what should a defence lawyer do when told her client is a danger to the public?

In this equally inspiring and troubling book, leading Canadia …

When it comes to urban planning, to what extent and under what conditions should the community’s interest prevail over the rights of private property owners? Public Interest, Private Property addresses this question at a time when pollution, urban sprawl, and condo booms are forcing municipal governments to adopt prescriptive laws and regulations …

Northern British Columbia has always played an important role in Canada’s economy, but for many Canadians it has existed as an almost forgotten place: a vast territory where only a few roads and a ferry system connected small cities, towns, and villages to the outside world. Now as the appetite for natural resources intensifies, this resource-ric …

Framed is a wake-up call for those who think that race does not matter in Canada. Combining an empirical analysis of print media with in-depth interviews of elected officials, former candidates, political staffers, and journalists, this book uncovers the connections between race, media coverage, and politics in Canada. As Erin Tolley reveals, overt …

Globally, suicides account for a significant number of premature deaths every year. Traditional approaches to suicide research and prevention are not working for everyone, but why is this? And what can be done about it?

In Critical Suicidology, a team of international scholars, practitioners, and people directly affected by suicide argue that the f …

After years of negotiation, the territory of Nunavut was established in Canada’s Eastern and Central Arctic on April 1, 1999. Made in Nunavut provides the first behind-the-scenes account of the planning that led to this remarkable achievement. The authors, leading authorities on the politics of the Canadian Arctic, pay particular attention to the …

Party systems. Party organization. For too long, scholars researching in these two areas have worked in isolation. This book bridges the divide by bringing together political scientists from both traditions to examine the intersection of rules, society, and the organization of parties within party systems. Blending theory and case studies, Parties …

In the 1960s, a youthful and ambitious lesbian movement began taking shape in Canada. After decades of being pathologized, disparaged, or erased from public view, lesbians were ready to make a scene – both by calling attention to themselves and by creating places to come together and forge their own culture. Making a Scene tells this story, revis …

For decades, the Chinese Rescue Home was a feature of the landscape of Victoria, British Columbia. Originally a refuge for Chinese prostitutes and slave girls rescued from captivity, it became a residence and school where the Methodist Women’s Missionary Society attempted to reform Chinese and Japanese girls and women. They did so, in part, by te …

The First Green Wave traces the rise of Ontario's environmental movement. At the heart of the story is Pollution Probe, an organization founded in 1969 by students and faculty at the University of Toronto. In its first year of operation, Pollution Probe confronted Toronto's City Hall over its use of pesticides, Ontario Hydro over air pollution, and …

Every year, over 1.3 million people apply to visit, work, or settle in Canada and discover that their future rests in visa officers’ hands. How do these officers decide who gets in? Seeking answers to this question, Vic Satzewich gained access to eleven overseas visa offices. Points of Entry reveals immigration officers in action as they determin …

Unwanted Warriors uncovers the history of Canada’s first casualties of the Great War – men who tried to enlist but were deemed “unfit for service.” What impact did military exclusion have on these men? Nic Clarke looks for answers in the service files of 3,400 rejected volunteers and explores the mechanics of the medical examination, the ph …

Canada likes to present itself as a paragon of gay rights. This book contends that Canada’s acceptance of gay rights, while being beneficial to some, obscures and abets multiple forms of oppression to the detriment and exclusion of some queer and trans bodies. Disrupting Queer Inclusion seeks to unsettle the assumption that inclusion equals justi …

Bilingualism has become a defining aspect of Canadian identity. But why don’t more English Canadians actually speak French? So They Want Us to Learn French explores the various ways in which bilingualism was promoted to English-speaking Canadians from the 1960s to the late 1990s. It analyzes the strategies and tactics employed by organizations on …

This original anthropological study explores a type of “obedient” autonomy that thrives on setbacks, blossoms as more rules are imposed, and flourishes in adversity and, in conjuction, examines the specialized and highly organized discipline of archaeology in China. It follows Chinese students on their journey to becoming full-fledged archaeolo …

Despite Canada’s enduring image as a natural paradise, every year thousands of Canadians become ill or die prematurely as a result of exposure to environmental hazards. Canadians understand that their health is inextricably linked to the health of the environment and are deeply concerned about the impacts of toxic substances on themselves and the …

The Liberal Party of Canada is one of the most successful parties in the democratic world. It dominated Canadian politics for a century, practising an inclusive style of “big tent” politics that allowed it to fend off opponents on both the left and right. How did it do this? What kind of party organization did it build over the decades to manag …

Non-lethal weapons take many forms – from rubber bullets to electroshock and long-range acoustic devices – which their proponents argue are ethical, legal, and humane. Social scientists, historians, legal scholars, and activists have long challenged the use of non-lethal weapons in policing and war. Until now, little scholarly attention has bee …

Going to university is exciting, but it can also be stressful. What courses should I take? What program should I choose? Will I get a job after graduation? This book shows that the best preparation for success on the job, and in life, is succeeding at university. Teamwork, meeting deadlines, overcoming challenges, writing well, and dealing with peo …

Canada is a country founded on relationships and agreements between Indigenous peoples and newcomers. Although recent court cases have upheld Aboriginal title rights, the cooperative spirit of the treaties is being lost as Canadians engage in endless arguments about First Nations “issues.” Each new court decision adds fuel to the debate raging …

Eye-catching headlines such as “Sixty people charged in child-porn crackdown” explode in the media with alarming frequency, giving the impression that our communities are awash with perverts. But what exactly do we know about these crimes and those who commit them? Who produces child cyberpornography? Who distributes it? Who consumes it? And is …

Throughout the 1800s, opium and cocaine could be easily obtained to treat a range of ailments in Canada. Dependency, when it occurred, was considered a matter of personal vice. Near the end of the century, attitudes shifted and access to drugs became more restricted. How did this happen? Dan Malleck examines the conditions that led to Canada’s cu …

Oil and gas companies now recognize that industrial projects in the Canadian North can only succeed if Aboriginal communities are involved in decision-making processes. Where the Rivers Meet is an ethnographic account of Sahtu Dene involvement in the environmental assessment of the Mackenzie Gas Project, a massive pipeline that, if completed, would …

Few moments in Canadian history are as intriguing as the political battle between Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and the “Gang of Eight” provincial premiers who opposed his plans to “patriate” Canada’s constitution from Britain. This volume revisits these constitutional negotiations, including the personalities, visions, and political stru …

“Stability preservation” (weiwen) has long been an imperative of China’s one-party state. At the same time, China has recently embedded a commitment to the protection of human rights in its constitution. This book examines the multiple and shifting ways in which weiwen impinges on the implementation of human rights. Using case studies, Sarah …

Drawing on Samuel Hearne’s gruesome account of an alleged massacre at Bloody Falls in 1771, Emilie Cameron reveals how Qablunaat (non-Inuit, non-Indigenous people) have used stories about the Arctic for over two centuries as a tool to justify ongoing colonization and economic exploitation of the North. Rather than expecting Inuit to counter these …

The Tea Party. The Occupy Movement. Idle No More. Around the world, popular social movements are challenging the status quo. Yet most democracies are seeing a decline in voter turnout. Protest and Politics examines this shift in political participation, as well as the blurring of social movements and mainstream politics, through the lens of the soc …

Adultery scandals involving politicians. Dating websites for married women and men. Raids of polygamous communities. Reality shows about polyamorists. It seems that non-monogamy is everywhere: in popular culture, in the news, and before the courts.

In Fraught Intimacies, Nathan Rambukkana examines how polygamy, adultery, and polyamory are represent …

During the twentieth century, child care policy in British Columbia matured in the shadow of a persistent political uneasiness with working motherhood. Charting the growth of the child care movement in this province, Working Mothers and the Child Care Dilemma examines how ideas about motherhood, paid work, and social welfare have influenced univers …

Canada is considered a leader when it comes to LGBTQ rights, yet this is a fairly recent phenomenon – one that is largely due to the tireless work of disparate groups of LGBTQ activists. Queer Mobilizations examines the relationships between LGBTQ activists and local, provincial, and federal Canadian governments. The contributors explore how vari …

In 1974, India shocked the world by detonating a nuclear device. In the diplomatic controversy that ensued, the Canadian government expressed outrage that India had extracted plutonium from a Canadian reactor donated only for peaceful purposes. In the aftermath, relations between the two nations cooled considerably. As Conflicting Visions reveals, …

“I am not afraid to be called a politician,” declared Paul Martin Sr., defending his life’s work in politics. “Next to preaching the word of God, there is nothing nobler than to serve one’s fellow countrymen in government.” First elected to the House of Commons in 1935, Martin served in the cabinet of four prime ministers and ran for th …

Oral stories form a portal through which rich cultural and linguistic information is passed from generation to generation. Tellings from Our Elders, Volume 2, presents stories in the Skagit Valley dialects of Lushootseed, the language of the indigenous people of the southern and eastern shores of Puget Sound. Transcribed from recordings made of the …

Twenty years after activists set up a peace camp blocking a logging road into an extensive area of temperate rainforest in Clayoquot Sound, that summer of protest still holds a prominent place in Canadian environmental discourse. Although the camp was said to be based on feminist or eco/feminist principles, insufficient attention has been paid to i …

The wars on terror, economic crises, climate change, and humanitarian emergencies have challenged decision makers to institute new measures to maintain security. Foreign policy analysts tend to view these decisions as being divorced from ethics, but is this the case? Unsettled Balance, the first rigorous and sustained analysis of security and ethic …

When the G20 Summit was held in Toronto in 2010, people were shocked to see Canadian police officers acting in ways that appeared foreign and frightening. The riot gear, surveillance, mass arrests, and physical abuse of citizens were all indicative of an out-of-control policing operation. The conflict sparked widespread outrage and calls for a publ …

Elections are not just about who casts ballots – they reflect the citizens, parties, media, and history of an electorate. Fighting for Votes examines how these factors interacted during a recent Ontario election. Drawing on a wealth of sources, the authors ask three questions: How do parties position themselves to appeal to voters? How is informa …

Survivors of terrible events are often portrayed as unsung heroes or tragic victims but rarely as complex human beings whose lives extend beyond the stories they have told. Beyond Testimony and Trauma considers other ways to engage with survivors and their accounts based on insights gained from long-term oral history projects in a variety of contex …

Everyday exposures to common chemicals found in homes, schools, and workplaces are having devastating long-term and inter-generational consequences on human health. At the same time, the risks associated with these exposures (and the burdens of managing them) rest disproportionately on the shoulders of women. Written by leading researchers in scien …

The ranchers who resettled BC’s interior in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries depended on grassland for their cattle, but in this they faced some unlikely competition from grasshoppers and wild horses. With the help of the government, settlers resolved to rid the range of both.

Resettling the Range explores the ecology and history …