Rethinking Canada The Promise of Women's History

Thoroughly revised and updated, this fourth edition, of Rethinking Canada: The Promise of Women's History is part of the continuing teminist effort to discover what it means to be women and Canadians. Rethinking Canada examines key developments in Canadian history -- from the founding of New, France to the present -- while at the same time highlighting the distinctive texture of women's experiences and identities. This decidedly non-traditional reconstruction of Canadian history focuses on the lives, struggles, and contributions of women, enlarging and diversifying the picture of the past found in conventional historical accounts. Of the 26 readings in this volume, 16 are new. Subjects range from the impact of colonialism on gender relations in Aboriginal societies; to the immigration of Japanese 'picture brides' in early twentieth-century British Columbia; to transnational political alliances formed by Canadian and Mexican women in response to NAFTA. Other topics include sexuality, workforce trends, gender and public policy, and much more. The selections aim, above all, to bring diverse and marginalized groups of women out of the historical shadows. The voices of First Nations women, women of colour, and immigrant women, for example, resound clearly in this volume. An informative introduction to each reading situates the article in its specific historical and historiographical context, and each introduction concludes with questions designed to stimulate analysis and discussion of the text. By presenting current scholarship in the context of three decades of research into Canadian women's history, Rethinking Canada, Fourth Edition, offers new and fascinating perspectives on women and on Canada. Book jacket.