Overview

Civilian Internment in Canada examines abuse of the civil rights and liberties of tens of thousands of Canadians and Canadian residents via internment from 1914 to the present day. This ongoing story spans both war and peacetime and has affected people from a wide variety of political backgrounds and ethno-cultural communities, bequeathing a complex legacy for survivors and their descendants. Despite the well-known impounding of tens of thousands of Japanese, Ukrainians, assorted eastern Europeans, Germans, and Italians as 'enemy aliens' during the two World Wars, civilian internment in this country has not been widely discussed, particularly in comparative ways. Indeed, there has been a propensity to sweep these events under the proverbial rug, keeping them out of the national discourse. Civilian Internment in Canada brings together senior scholars in the field of internment and civil liberties studies with emerging scholars, graduate students, community members, teachers, public historians, artists, former internees, descendants of internees, and redress activists to examine the processes and consequences of civilian internment during real and perceived wartime contexts, ranging from the Great War to the Cold War to the 'War on Terror.' It demonstrates the ways in which 'shared authority' between scholars and subjects can both reshape our understanding of crucial episodes in Canada's history and bring a sense of vibrancy and immediacy to the all-too current question of civil liberties and minority rights in today's security state.

Full Product Details

9780887558450

Table of Contents

Reviews

Hinther and Mochoruk believe this searing tale - in addition to others - serve as a powerful reminder of the fragility of civil liberties and human rights, as well as a stand-in for a larger, more contested discussion on internment over the span of Canada's history. [...] The editors very much want readers to understand that Canada, despite all of the adulation it often receives in global diplomatic circles these days, had a rich and shameful record on these very civil right and liberties via civilian internment--defined as the detention as a prisoner without formal charge and conviction, almost always for political or military reasons. --Britta Crandall & Russell Crandall Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books Readers are challenged to reconsider internment's significance and to accept that it embraces a variety of cultural, ethnic, political groups and individuals and the differing manner with which they were dealt. [...] These essays bring refreshing approaches to the subject matter and a promise of dynamic future research. --Keith Regular The Ormsby Review

Many of the chapters--including Christine Whitehouse's on the ambivalent sexualities of Jewish refugees, Judith Kestler's on the positive reminiscences of interned German merchant marines, and Franca Iacovetta's on the risky business of complicating a community's understanding of its internment--are fascinating and, at least to this reader, novel. --Jordan Stanger-Ross BC Studies Hinther and Mochoruk believe this searing tale - in addition to others - serve as a powerful reminder of the fragility of civil liberties and human rights, as well as a stand-in for a larger, more contested discussion on internment over the span of Canada's history. [...] The editors very much want readers to understand that Canada, despite all of the adulation it often receives in global diplomatic circles these days, had a rich and shameful record on these very civil right and liberties via civilian internment--defined as the detention as a prisoner without formal charge and conviction, almost always for political or military reasons. --Britta Crandall & Russell Crandall Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books Readers are challenged to reconsider internment's significance and to accept that it embraces a variety of cultural, ethnic, political groups and individuals and the differing manner with which they were dealt. [...] These essays bring refreshing approaches to the subject matter and a promise of dynamic future research. --Keith Regular The Ormsby Review

"""Many of the chapters--including Christine Whitehouse's on the ambivalent sexualities of Jewish refugees, Judith Kestler's on the positive reminiscences of interned German merchant marines, and Franca Iacovetta's on the ""risky business"" of complicating a community's understanding of its internment--are fascinating and, at least to this reader, novel.""--Jordan Stanger-Ross ""BC Studies"" ""Hinther and Mochoruk believe this searing tale - in addition to others - serve as a ""powerful reminder"" of the ""fragility of civil liberties and human rights,"" as well as a stand-in for a larger, more contested discussion on internment over the span of Canada's history. [...] The editors very much want readers to understand that Canada, despite all of the adulation it often receives in global diplomatic circles these days, had a ""rich and shameful"" record on these very civil right and liberties via civilian internment--defined as the detention as a prisoner without formal charge and conviction, almost always for political or military reasons.""--Britta Crandall & Russell Crandall ""Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books"" ""Readers are challenged to reconsider internment's significance and to accept that it embraces a variety of cultural, ethnic, political groups and individuals and the differing manner with which they were dealt. [...] These essays bring refreshing approaches to the subject matter and a promise of dynamic future research.""--Keith Regular ""The Ormsby Review"""

Author Information

Rhonda L. Hinther is an Associate Professor of History at Brandon University and an active public historian. Prior to joining BU, Hinther served as Director of Research and Curation at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and, before that, as Curator of Western Canadian History at the Canadian Museum of History. Her most recent book, a 2019 Wilson Prize Finalist, is entitled Perogies and Politics: Canada’s Ukrainian Left, 1891-1991 (2018). Jim Mochoruk has taught at the University of North Dakota since 1993. His books include The People’s Co-op: The Life and Times of a North End Institution (2000) and “Formidable Heritage:” Manitoba’s North and the Cost of Development, 1870 to 1930 (2004). Originally from Winnipeg, Jim is currently working on a book-length study concerning the social and economic history of Winnipeg—and its many real and imagined communities—in the inter-war period.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available