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 Quebecois; the articulation of the new nationalism in English Canada and an alternative vision for Indigenous rights and governance; the establishment of a Royal Commission on the Status of Women, 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.
In this volume of 16 new essays, leading scholars explore the major events of 1968 and the profound ways that they affected Canadian political culture, national identities, global affairs, social relations and cultural constructions in the half-century wake of this critical year.
Published in English.
Table of Contents:
Abstract
Résumé
List of Figures and Tables
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Dean F. Oliver.
Introduction
Michael K. Hawes, Andrew C. Holman, and Christopher Kirkey
Chapter 1
Bobby and Pierre
Paul Litt
Chapter 2
A Very Canadian Revolution: The Transformation of Backroom Power in Canada’s 1968
P. E. Bryden
Chapitre 3
1968, vue du Québec
Jocelyn Létourneau
Chapter 4
The Nationalists of 1968 and the Search for Canadian Independence
Stephen Azzi
Chapter 5
Equality, Equity, and the Royal Commission on the Status of Women
Jane Arscott
Chapter 6
The 1968 Thinkers’ Conference and the Birth of Canadian Multiculturalism
Michael Temelini
Chapter 7
Defending Indigenous Rights against the Just Society
Andrew Gemmell
Chapter 8
Between Canadians and Culture: The First Year of the CRTC
Ira Wagman
Chapter 9
Portrait of a Publisher: Jack McClelland and McClelland & Stewart in 1968
Laura K. Davis
Chapter 10
Immigration and “Medical Manpower”: 1968 and the Awkward Introduction of Medicare in Canada
David Wright and Sasha Mullally
Chapter 11
1968: A Turning Point for Language in Canada and Quebec
Graham Fraser
Chapter 12
Standing on Guard for Our Waters: Ottawa’s Response to the Transit of Alaskan Oil
Christopher Kirkey
Chapitre 13
L’Union nationale à la croisée des chemins
Alexandre Turgeon
Chapter 14
Canada and the Czechoslovak Crisis of 1968
Andrea Chandler
Chapter 15
The Libreville Conference and Federalism in Canadian Foreign Relations
Robin S. Gendron and David Edward Tabachnick
Chapter 16
“Flowers have been getting a lot of publicity this year”: 1968 and David Helwig’s “Something for Olivia’s Scrapbook
I Guess”
Will Smith
Contributors
Index in English (Index en anglais)
Index en français (Index in French)
About the Author :
Christopher Kirkey est le directeur du Centre d'etudes canadiennes et de l'Institut des etudes quebecoises la State University of New York Plattsburg.
Review :
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.
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.
