Human Rights in Canada: A History

by Dominique Clement

This book shows how human rights became the primary language for social change in Canada and how a single decade became the locus for that emergence. The author argues that the 1970s was a critical moment in human rights history—one that transformed political culture, social movements, law, and foreign policy. Human Rights in Canada is one of the first sociological studies of human rights in Canada. It explains that human rights are a distinct social practice, and it documents those social conditions that made human rights significant at a particular historical moment.

A central theme in this book is that human rights derive from society rather than abstract legal principles. Therefore, we can identify the boundaries and limits of Canada’s rights culture at different moments in our history. Until the 1970s, Canadians framed their grievances with reference to Christianity or British justice rather than human rights. A historical sociological approach to human rights reveals how rights are historically contingent, and how new rights claims are built upon past claims. This book explores governments’ tendency to suppress rights in periods of perceived emergency; how Canada’s rights culture was shaped by state formation; how social movements have advanced new rights claims; the changing discourse of rights in debates surrounding the constitution; how the international human rights movement shaped domestic politics and foreign policy; and much more. In addition to drawing on secondary literature in law, history, sociology, and political science, this study looked to published government documents, litigation and case law, archival research, newspapers, opinion polls, and materials produced by non-governmental organizations.

Genres: History, Canada, Politics, Nonfiction

247 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 4, 2015

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this a very good book on human rights.

It is not common to find a book particularly focused on Canada, and so I especially appreciated this read.

I found it a pretty timely read as well.

Would recommend!

3.4/5

[Elisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes we forget how far we’ve come but also how recent the progress in affirming human rights has been. This book has also been eye opening on the way the same language that has been used to uplift rights of the minorities and end discrimination can be weaponized to regress and end our progress.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful, if brief, overview of human rights history in Canada. While I wasn't surprised at all at how recent or fast Canada's Human Rights movement was, I was surprised by the teamwork between Jews and African-Canadians in the 40s and 50s. I was also surprised by how long it took women to frame their grievances in terms of "rights". In any case, it's definitely worth reading! It is always important for us to remember that the rights we enjoy today were once non-existent and that governments, if not kept in check, can scale those rights back.