Overview

Becoming British Columbia is the first comprehensive, demographic history of British Columbia. Investigating critical moments in the demographic record and linking demographic patterns to larger social and political questions, it shows how biology, politics, and history conspired with sex, death, and migration to create a particular kind of society. John Belshaw overturns the widespread tendency to associate population growth with progress. He reveals that the province has a long tradition of thinking and acting vigorously in ways meant to control and shape biological communities of humans, and suggests that imperialism, race, class, and gender have historically situated population issues at the centre of public consciousness in British Columbia.

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9780774815451

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Reviews

The evidence presented…forces us to consider the important conclusion that British Columbia throughout its history has been ""at the extremes of western world demographic trends."" Becoming British Columbia deserves a wide readership. - Robert A.J. MacDonald, University of British Columbia (Labour/Le Travail, 65)

This book demonstrates the significance of demographic knowledge to our understanding of the province's history and its historiography. It provides another lens through which to view the history of the province. - Ruth Sandwell, author of Beyond the City Limits: Rural History in British Columbia

The evidence presented...forces us to consider the important conclusion that British Columbia throughout its history has been at the extremes of western world demographic trends. Becoming British Columbia deserves a wide readership. -- Robert A.J. MacDonald, University of British Columbia * Labour/Le Travail, 65 *

Author Information

John Douglas Belshaw is a faculty member with Thompson Rivers University – Open Learning, a consultant to the post-secondary sector, a public scholar, and freelance writer. He is the author, co-author, or editor of five books on British Columbia history, including Becoming British Columbia (UBC Press, 2009).

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