Lara Campbell

Suffrage in British Columbia – and elsewhere in Canada – is best understood as a continuum: although white settler women achieved the federal vote in 1917, it would take another thirty years before the provincial government would remove race-based restrictions on voting rights. British Columbia is often overlooked in the national story of women’s suffrage. A Great Revolutionary Wave challenges that omission and the portrayal of suffragists as conservative, traditional, and polite. Lara Campbell follows the propaganda campaigns undertaken by suffrage organizations and traces the role of working-class women in the fight for political equality. She demonstrates the connections between British Columbian and British suffragists and examines how racial exclusion and Indigenous dispossession shaped arguments and tactics for enfranchisement. A Great Revolutionary Wave rethinks the complex legacy of suffrage by considering both the successes and limitations of women’s historical fight for political equality. That legacy remains relevant today as Canadians continue to grapple with the meaning of justice, inclusion, and equality.

Suffrage in British Columbia – and elsewhere in Canada – is best understood as a continuum: although white settler women achieved the federal vote in 1917, it would take another thirty years before the provincial government would remove race-based restrictions on voting rights. British Columbia is often overlooked in the national story of women's suffrage. A Great Revolutionary Wave challenges that omission and the portrayal of suffragists as conservative, traditional, and polite. Lara Campbell follows the propaganda campaigns undertaken by suffrage organizations and traces the role of working-class women in the fight for political equality. She demonstrates the connections between British Columbian and British suffragists and examines how racial exclusion and Indigenous dispossession shaped arguments and tactics for enfranchisement. A Great Revolutionary Wave rethinks the complex legacy of suffrage by considering both the successes and limitations of women's historical fight for political equality. That legacy remains relevant today as Canadians continue to grapple with the meaning of justice, inclusion, and equality.

Historians, veterans, museums, and public education campaigns have all documented and commemorated the experience of Canadians in times of war. But Canada also has a long, rich, and important historical tradition of resistance to both war and militarization. This collection brings together the work of sixteen scholars on the history of war resistance. Together they explore resistance to specific wars (including the South African War, the First and Second World Wars, and Vietnam), the ideology and nature of resistance (national, ethical, political, spiritual), and organized activism against militarization (such as cadet training, the Cold War, and nuclear arms). As the federal government continues to support the commemoration and celebration of Canada's participation in past wars, this collection offers a timely response that explores the complexity of Canada's position in times of war and the role of social movements in challenging the militarization of Canadian society.