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The Global Politics of Poverty in CanadaDevelopment Programs and Democracy, 1964-1979 |
eBook Available
A history of development initiatives that approached the problem of ending poverty through the active participation of the poor.
In the 1960s and 1970s, in the midst of the Cold War and an international decolonization movement, development advocates believed that poverty could be ended, at home and abroad. The Global Politics of Poverty in Canada explores the relationship between poverty, democracy, and development during this remarkable period.
Will Langford analyzes three Canadian development programs that unfolded on local, regional, and international scales. He reveals the interconnections of anti-poverty activism carried out by the Company of Young Canadians among Métis in northern Alberta and francophones in Montreal, by the Cape Breton Development Corporation, and by Canadian University Service Overseas in Tanzania. In dialogue with the New Left, liberal reformers committed to development programs they believed would empower the poor to confront their own poverty and thereby foster a more meaningful democracy. However, democracy and development proved to be fundamentally contested, and development programs stopped short of amending capitalist social relations and the inequalities they engendered.
The Global Politics of Poverty in Canada explores how Canadians engaged in informal and formal politics in the course of their everyday lives, locally and transnationally. Langford provides an enduring record of otherwise fleeting anti-poverty programs and their effects: the lived activism and opinions of development workers and ordinary people.
Will Langford analyzes three Canadian development programs that unfolded on local, regional, and international scales. He reveals the interconnections of anti-poverty activism carried out by the Company of Young Canadians among Métis in northern Alberta and francophones in Montreal, by the Cape Breton Development Corporation, and by Canadian University Service Overseas in Tanzania. In dialogue with the New Left, liberal reformers committed to development programs they believed would empower the poor to confront their own poverty and thereby foster a more meaningful democracy. However, democracy and development proved to be fundamentally contested, and development programs stopped short of amending capitalist social relations and the inequalities they engendered.
The Global Politics of Poverty in Canada explores how Canadians engaged in informal and formal politics in the course of their everyday lives, locally and transnationally. Langford provides an enduring record of otherwise fleeting anti-poverty programs and their effects: the lived activism and opinions of development workers and ordinary people.
Details
Part of the Rethinking Canada in the World (number 7 in series)
472 Pages, 6 x 9
20 figures, 2 tables
ISBN 9780228003977
January 2021
Formats: Cloth, Paperback, eBook
"Will Langford has produced an important and valuable book. The Global Politics of Poverty in Canada examines the Canadian dimension of the 'development' phenomenon from an expansive perspective. At once global and local in scope, it presents the reader with a critical yet nuanced appraisal of the diverse efforts to address poverty, along with the communities and individuals involved in and affected by such efforts." David Meren, Université de Montréal and co-editor of Dominion of Race: Rethinking Canada's International History
“The Global Politics of Poverty in Canada presents a nuanced portrait of the development paradigms of the time. It is a deeply researched book that refocuses our attention on people in the development milieu and adds historical and comparative context to readers’ perspectives on the complexities of development practice.” Canadian Journal of Political Science
"Historian Will Langford has pro¬duced an impressive study. Characterized by wide-ranging research and nuanced analysis, Langford’s volume is a sign¬post for scholars working on modern Canadian history and a model for histori¬ans keen to foreground the links between the Canadian past and global processes.” Labour/le travail
"Langford does an admirable job of threading the needle with his major themes-politics, poverty, and democracy-and deftly weaving them throughout the chapters to show how the movement for development manifested in different contexts." International Journal
«Il ne fait aucun doute que The Global Politics of Poverty in Canada apporte une contribution originale majeure à l’histoire du Québec et du Canada après 1945. En fait, par la manière dont il rassemble efficacement des études de cas apparemment disparates en une seule étude, cet ouvrage représente également une forme de modèle.» Bulletin d'histoire politique
“The Global Politics of Poverty in Canada presents a nuanced portrait of the development paradigms of the time. It is a deeply researched book that refocuses our attention on people in the development milieu and adds historical and comparative context to readers’ perspectives on the complexities of development practice.” Canadian Journal of Political Science
"Historian Will Langford has pro¬duced an impressive study. Characterized by wide-ranging research and nuanced analysis, Langford’s volume is a sign¬post for scholars working on modern Canadian history and a model for histori¬ans keen to foreground the links between the Canadian past and global processes.” Labour/le travail
"Langford does an admirable job of threading the needle with his major themes-politics, poverty, and democracy-and deftly weaving them throughout the chapters to show how the movement for development manifested in different contexts." International Journal
«Il ne fait aucun doute que The Global Politics of Poverty in Canada apporte une contribution originale majeure à l’histoire du Québec et du Canada après 1945. En fait, par la manière dont il rassemble efficacement des études de cas apparemment disparates en une seule étude, cet ouvrage représente également une forme de modèle.» Bulletin d'histoire politique
Will Langford is a historian of modern Canada and a Notley Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Alberta.
Figures and Tables vii
Abbreviations ix
Introduction 3
1 “So That Community Can Better Help Itself”: The Company of Young Canadians and Community Development in Lesser Slave Lake, Alberta, 1966-76 25
2 “Something’s Going to Have to Change around Here”: The Company of Young Canadians, Community Development, and Indigenous Politics in Lesser Slave Lake, Alberta, 1966-76 63
3 “Un petit pouvoir”: The Compagnie des jeunes Canadiens, Animation Sociale, and Citizens’ Committees in Little Burgundy, Montreal, 1967-74 88
4 “Une démocratie quotidienne”: The Compagnie des jeunes Canadiens, Animation Sociale, and Workers’ Activism in Saint-Henri, Montreal, 1967-74 123
5 “Industrial Prospecting”: The Cape Breton Development Corporation, Regional Development, and Industry, 1967-71 153
6 “A Special Kind of Place”: The Cape Breton Development Corporation, Regional Development, and Entrepreneurship, 1972-77 177
7 “Positively Identified with the Direction of the Country”: Canadian University Service Overseas, Development Assistance, and Liberal Internationalism in Tanzania, 1964-79 212
8 “The Liberation of Peoples”: Canadian University Service Overseas and Left-Leaning International Development Assistance in Tanzania, 1972-79 244
Conclusion 272
Acknowledgments 283
Notes 287
Bibliography 353
Index 399
Abbreviations ix
Introduction 3
1 “So That Community Can Better Help Itself”: The Company of Young Canadians and Community Development in Lesser Slave Lake, Alberta, 1966-76 25
2 “Something’s Going to Have to Change around Here”: The Company of Young Canadians, Community Development, and Indigenous Politics in Lesser Slave Lake, Alberta, 1966-76 63
3 “Un petit pouvoir”: The Compagnie des jeunes Canadiens, Animation Sociale, and Citizens’ Committees in Little Burgundy, Montreal, 1967-74 88
4 “Une démocratie quotidienne”: The Compagnie des jeunes Canadiens, Animation Sociale, and Workers’ Activism in Saint-Henri, Montreal, 1967-74 123
5 “Industrial Prospecting”: The Cape Breton Development Corporation, Regional Development, and Industry, 1967-71 153
6 “A Special Kind of Place”: The Cape Breton Development Corporation, Regional Development, and Entrepreneurship, 1972-77 177
7 “Positively Identified with the Direction of the Country”: Canadian University Service Overseas, Development Assistance, and Liberal Internationalism in Tanzania, 1964-79 212
8 “The Liberation of Peoples”: Canadian University Service Overseas and Left-Leaning International Development Assistance in Tanzania, 1972-79 244
Conclusion 272
Acknowledgments 283
Notes 287
Bibliography 353
Index 399
Honorable Mention
Wilson Book Prize
L.R. Wilson Institute for Canadian History
2020
Wilson Book Prize
L.R. Wilson Institute for Canadian History
2020
