Just like any other nations that have been through problematic civil rights predicaments, Canada holds some of the most historically relevant post war social movements that have been most studied and explored in the field of history. The issue on Human rights is one of the most crucial dilemmas that have made nations during the post war era problematic. It grew to become a sensitive and critical area which needed to be addressed in order to make the societies during that time more stable. One of the countries that faced this kind of dilemmas is Canada. Just like all the other countries, Canada s history in terms of these social movements has become very significant in history as it holds one of the most remarkable success stories which defined how well Canada improved in terms of societal awareness. Dominique Clement, whose research efforts focus on the social and political changes in Canada ( Dominique Clement ), published a book entitled, Canadas Rights Revolution (2008). This book has been very significant in presenting the postwar social movement organizations in Canada. It was able to displace valuable pieces of history that make people provide people with a better grasp and understanding on the human rights chronicle in Canada. This discussion shall a detailed and comprehensive review and account of this work by Clemente. Aside from the significance and the perceived value of the knowledge and information Clement was able to displace, this discussion shall also go into the background of the author in terms of his academic background and personal inclination and exposure on the history of human rights activism and movement in Canada.
The Author Dominique Clement
Dominique Clement is a n educator and a researcher whose primary focus is on the historical and contemporary social and political changes in Canada ( Dominique Clement ). His area of specialization includes social movements, womens history, post-confederation Canadian history and International Human Rights law and activism among others ( Dominique Clement ). As a student, Clement grew up learning how significant history is to the human society. He realized that without history, people will never learn how to deal with future predicaments since they do not have any reference as to how the earlier generations coped with the same predicaments in the past. Clements studies focused more on Canadian civil rights and the worlds history in terms of human rights and civil liberties as well.
When he was still pursuing his graduate studies, he have already proven how dedicated he was on the subject matter of civil rights in Canada as he produced two valuable pieces of research entitled, The Royal Commission on Espionage, 1949-9 A Case study in the mobilization of the Canadian Civil Liberties Movement (2000) and Rights in the Age of Protest A History of the Human Rights and Civil Liberties Movement in Canada, 1962-1982 (2005). These articles have been deemed with high regard not just because of Clements natural linguistic and literary abilities but also because of how passionate he was on the historical and present-day civil rights activism in Canada. Most of Clements work evidently showed how interesting the subject of civil rights activism appeared to him, and these studies also manifested how dedicated the author has really been towards the growing societal issue of the oppression of civil right. Although most of Clements work were dedicated to the civil rights issues in Canada, Clement was nonetheless aware that a lot of other nations aside from Canada are going through civil rights issues as well. However, since most of his studies have been mostly focused on civil rights issues in Canada, he preferred to just further improve his studies on that particular area, in line with his larger objective of making a significant impact on the global issue of civil rights oppression.
Aside from conducting researches and extensive studies on the subject matter, Clement was also a dedicated educator. As an educator, his field is more wide as compared to the field of his research. Clement has been known as a remarkable professor of Sociology, History and Canadian studies. Looking at these areas, it is still observable that Clement remains dedicated on Canadian history, with particular emphasis on the social and political issues in the country. Through teaching, Clement was not just able to communicate his views about the significance of social activism in Canada verbally, but he was also able to instill the value and importance of being aware about these issues, especially among the youth. Clement knew that not all people are aware of what the essence of social activism truly is. He also knew for a fact that not all people are that sensitive enough about the importance of understanding the issue of civil rights oppression. Because of these realizations, his focus and dedication on the societal issue was made stronger and deeper by his endeavor to make people understand how important it is to stand up and fight for the rights that they deserve. In line with this endeavor, he was able to produce several publications that were all deemed commendable by historians an literary critics themselves.
Among these works, one book created a significant impact. This book, which was published in 2008 was entitled, Canadas Rights Revolution Social Movements and Social Change, 1937-82. Through this book, Clement was able to further prove hos important is social activism for him. Apart from this, he was also able to show how significant social activism has been in the establishment of the current social and political stability of Canada. In line with the perceived value and significance of this book in Canadas history of social activism, the succeeding part of this discussion shall specifically present a comprehensive review on the significance and impacts of the book historically, politically and socially. The succeeding review shall also present how this book became an important contribution to the larger aim of promoting awareness on social activism and civil rights movements.
Canadas Rights Revolution A review
Issues relating to human rights and liberties have been common subject matters in the news today. Wherever people go, there will always be reports on civil rights violations and oppressions, that would usually create a buzz for a while, and will eventually cease in time, so silent like it never occurred before. This is a common scenario in the contemporary society. All over the world, innumerable accounts on civil rights violations are being reported everyday however, not all people appear to care enough. Some people would even appear lost in translation when talking about civil rights. Thus, this is where the role of civil rights activist and experts like Dominique Clement enters. Clement is one of the many activists and historians that led the way to peoples understanding of what civil rights are about. Experts like Clement are responsible for creating awareness about the significance of civil rights activism in a nations history. In 2008, Clement was able to publish a valuable piece of work entitled, Canadas Rights Revolution. This work further proved the authors intention to create an awareness on the significance of social activism in establishing a stronger and a more stable nation.
The decade of the sixties and the seventies were the primary setting of the book. As per the authors point of view, these two decades mark the significant contribution of human rights activism in Canada. In the introductory chapter of the book, the author specifically notes,
Canadas Rights Revolution is a history of the sixties and seventies seen through the eyers of a generation of human rights activists. As such, it has two primary objectives. The first is to explore some of the most controversial human rights violations identified by rights associations The second objective is to study a unique phenomenon emerging during this period professional social movement organizations. (Clement 3-4)
This description somehow gives out the main arguments included in the book. From the beginning, the author has already been clear as to his objective to show important civil rights activism is in making a nation more socially sensitive and strong amidst the growing oppression from inevitable political struggles.
Generally, the book presents the first major scrutiny and review on the social activism and social activist organizations that were established in Canada during the post-war era. The author was able to present an extensive and a thorough view of the movements associated to human rights that were mostly set during the dynamic decades of the 1960s and the 1970s. The author specifically highlights this point in Canadas history as he believes that this is the upsurge of human rights activism in the country. In this book, Clement clearly directed his discussion towards two goals. The first goal he tried to fulfill was to throughly explore on the most debatable and sensitive issues on human rights violations. The author aimed to discuss these things as he thought, people would understand the significance of social activism better if they get exposed to these issues first and realize how bad their impacts are on the society. Through this, Clement was hoping he could give a clear picture on how likely civil rights violations can destroy the equilibrium of a society in terms of social stability.
He aims to explore on these controversial issues so as to provide some support in the academic sector, which also aims to provide materials that will let people understand how important civil activism is. It was commendable that the author, himself, recognized the fact that insufficient publications are being directed towards the growing societal dilemmas of civil rights oppression. Clement notes that,
Given the immense impact of the October Crisis of 1970, it is surprising how little literature is available on the crisis aside from the predictable spate of speculative works arising in the wake of an event of such magnitude. (4)
As what the above statement clearly shows, Clement has been wondering why, despite the implicative events that occurred throughout Canadas social and political history, very few works of literature are being produced to explore the significance of the impacts of these events in the history of civil rights activism. Aside from the October crisis of 1970, Clement also pointed out that the Gastown riot or the prohibited RCMP activities during the 1970 cold have been sufficient inspirations and motivations for historians to create an suggestive book on civil rights activism. Hence, because of this perceived inadequacy in terms of literature, Clement knew better than to be lenient and watch the civil society of Canada remain unexplored and undiscussed at the same time. This book played a major role in depicting Clements view on how the Canadian society has been destroyed and divided over the years of dealing serious societal dilemmas such as police violence, abortion, conflicts of religion and education, censorship, drug addiction and health and welfare issues in prisons (4).
These issues have apparently created great impacts in the Canadian society over the years. Clement just so happened to have a more active approach towards such issues that he knew better than to sit in one corner and watch as the society of Canada continues to suffer from these destructive societal predicaments. Hence, this objective has become one of his strongest motivations in writing this book. With this alone, this effort by Clement appears remarkable enough to consider his work as valuable contribution to the worlds larger objective of eradicating civil rights oppression. This work serves as an effective presentation of how people really need to be aware of what civil rights issue can do to a society.
But aside from this, Clement also aimed at another objective which is to scrutinize and to explore the distinct process which emerged from this period of civil activism. The process the author was pertaining to was dubbed as the professional social movement organization (4). Aside from the significance of civil rights activism, social change was also one major subject matter in Clements wide ranging interest. As compared to civil rights activism, social change holds more attention in terms of literature being published under the fields of history, politics and sociology. In this book, Clement specifically mentions how important social change is. He considers this phenomenon as a major contributor to a countrys growth. But most importantly, he also related social change to activism. According to Clement, activism is one way to achieve social change. It is by peoples willingness to join and empower movements that the endeavor for a greater change is being felt.
This endeavor for a greater change is what he considers the most important key which has mobilized and empowered several Canadian civil rights movements in the 70s. Clement specifically writes that, although not constitutive of the human rights movement, social movement organizations were important vehicles for social change (5). This book represented Clements exploration on how this specific generation conceived social change. Also, this book served as an effective depiction of how Clement scrutinized the cases wherein challenges on Canadas social movement organizations were defeated. Aside from these awakening thoughts, Clements way of exposing the effects of civil rights discourse to social change also appears commendable. This book presented his studies on how activists utilized the principles of human rights in deciphering the predicaments in the Canadian society which led to the identification of ideas that aim toward the movement for social change. More than a tiresome and a monotonous lecture on activism and social change, Clement actually produced a comprehensive view on issues that are previously being overlooked and taken for granted by the world. Through this book, concepts and ideals relating to social movement organizations, civil rights and liberties and social change have been laymanized and comprehensively discussed and simplified for the benefit of easier understanding.
The significance of this book in socially and politically appears quite unquestionable. Clements expertise and passion toward the history as well as on the contemporary accounts of Canadas civil rights activism is incontestable. Truly, the ideals of civil rights and social change are considered cliches in the context modern day issues being discussed. However, this work serves as an effective eye-opener that not all aspects of these cliche issues have been sufficiently discussed and explored today. As a result, a lot of people remain ignorant and uneducated about the impacts of civil rights activism in their lives. Aside from the perceived significance of this work to the overall history of civil rights activism in Canada, it was also notable that Clement was able to support his claims and arguments by unquestionable facts, updated archival sources as well as several extensive interviews. These supporting ideas made Clements argument stronger and more implicative in such a way that a reader will actually find it hard to dispute and to counter most of his claims.
This entails that Clements work actually holds concrete foundations. According to the author himself, an increasingly well-eucated population, rising affluence, greater state activity, new social movement activism, the marginalization of the labour movement, urbanization ... (201) among others all contribute to the unexampled growth of rights association. This sums up Clements main message which simple asks people to be more active about civil rights issues. And through well-written, well-reviewed and an obviously well-researched publication, Clement was incontestably able to displace this message. Apart from this, in an understandable command of language, he was nonetheless able to fulfill the objectives he in relation to a larger awareness on Canadian civil rights activism.
The Author Dominique Clement
Dominique Clement is a n educator and a researcher whose primary focus is on the historical and contemporary social and political changes in Canada ( Dominique Clement ). His area of specialization includes social movements, womens history, post-confederation Canadian history and International Human Rights law and activism among others ( Dominique Clement ). As a student, Clement grew up learning how significant history is to the human society. He realized that without history, people will never learn how to deal with future predicaments since they do not have any reference as to how the earlier generations coped with the same predicaments in the past. Clements studies focused more on Canadian civil rights and the worlds history in terms of human rights and civil liberties as well.
When he was still pursuing his graduate studies, he have already proven how dedicated he was on the subject matter of civil rights in Canada as he produced two valuable pieces of research entitled, The Royal Commission on Espionage, 1949-9 A Case study in the mobilization of the Canadian Civil Liberties Movement (2000) and Rights in the Age of Protest A History of the Human Rights and Civil Liberties Movement in Canada, 1962-1982 (2005). These articles have been deemed with high regard not just because of Clements natural linguistic and literary abilities but also because of how passionate he was on the historical and present-day civil rights activism in Canada. Most of Clements work evidently showed how interesting the subject of civil rights activism appeared to him, and these studies also manifested how dedicated the author has really been towards the growing societal issue of the oppression of civil right. Although most of Clements work were dedicated to the civil rights issues in Canada, Clement was nonetheless aware that a lot of other nations aside from Canada are going through civil rights issues as well. However, since most of his studies have been mostly focused on civil rights issues in Canada, he preferred to just further improve his studies on that particular area, in line with his larger objective of making a significant impact on the global issue of civil rights oppression.
Aside from conducting researches and extensive studies on the subject matter, Clement was also a dedicated educator. As an educator, his field is more wide as compared to the field of his research. Clement has been known as a remarkable professor of Sociology, History and Canadian studies. Looking at these areas, it is still observable that Clement remains dedicated on Canadian history, with particular emphasis on the social and political issues in the country. Through teaching, Clement was not just able to communicate his views about the significance of social activism in Canada verbally, but he was also able to instill the value and importance of being aware about these issues, especially among the youth. Clement knew that not all people are aware of what the essence of social activism truly is. He also knew for a fact that not all people are that sensitive enough about the importance of understanding the issue of civil rights oppression. Because of these realizations, his focus and dedication on the societal issue was made stronger and deeper by his endeavor to make people understand how important it is to stand up and fight for the rights that they deserve. In line with this endeavor, he was able to produce several publications that were all deemed commendable by historians an literary critics themselves.
Among these works, one book created a significant impact. This book, which was published in 2008 was entitled, Canadas Rights Revolution Social Movements and Social Change, 1937-82. Through this book, Clement was able to further prove hos important is social activism for him. Apart from this, he was also able to show how significant social activism has been in the establishment of the current social and political stability of Canada. In line with the perceived value and significance of this book in Canadas history of social activism, the succeeding part of this discussion shall specifically present a comprehensive review on the significance and impacts of the book historically, politically and socially. The succeeding review shall also present how this book became an important contribution to the larger aim of promoting awareness on social activism and civil rights movements.
Canadas Rights Revolution A review
Issues relating to human rights and liberties have been common subject matters in the news today. Wherever people go, there will always be reports on civil rights violations and oppressions, that would usually create a buzz for a while, and will eventually cease in time, so silent like it never occurred before. This is a common scenario in the contemporary society. All over the world, innumerable accounts on civil rights violations are being reported everyday however, not all people appear to care enough. Some people would even appear lost in translation when talking about civil rights. Thus, this is where the role of civil rights activist and experts like Dominique Clement enters. Clement is one of the many activists and historians that led the way to peoples understanding of what civil rights are about. Experts like Clement are responsible for creating awareness about the significance of civil rights activism in a nations history. In 2008, Clement was able to publish a valuable piece of work entitled, Canadas Rights Revolution. This work further proved the authors intention to create an awareness on the significance of social activism in establishing a stronger and a more stable nation.
The decade of the sixties and the seventies were the primary setting of the book. As per the authors point of view, these two decades mark the significant contribution of human rights activism in Canada. In the introductory chapter of the book, the author specifically notes,
Canadas Rights Revolution is a history of the sixties and seventies seen through the eyers of a generation of human rights activists. As such, it has two primary objectives. The first is to explore some of the most controversial human rights violations identified by rights associations The second objective is to study a unique phenomenon emerging during this period professional social movement organizations. (Clement 3-4)
This description somehow gives out the main arguments included in the book. From the beginning, the author has already been clear as to his objective to show important civil rights activism is in making a nation more socially sensitive and strong amidst the growing oppression from inevitable political struggles.
Generally, the book presents the first major scrutiny and review on the social activism and social activist organizations that were established in Canada during the post-war era. The author was able to present an extensive and a thorough view of the movements associated to human rights that were mostly set during the dynamic decades of the 1960s and the 1970s. The author specifically highlights this point in Canadas history as he believes that this is the upsurge of human rights activism in the country. In this book, Clement clearly directed his discussion towards two goals. The first goal he tried to fulfill was to throughly explore on the most debatable and sensitive issues on human rights violations. The author aimed to discuss these things as he thought, people would understand the significance of social activism better if they get exposed to these issues first and realize how bad their impacts are on the society. Through this, Clement was hoping he could give a clear picture on how likely civil rights violations can destroy the equilibrium of a society in terms of social stability.
He aims to explore on these controversial issues so as to provide some support in the academic sector, which also aims to provide materials that will let people understand how important civil activism is. It was commendable that the author, himself, recognized the fact that insufficient publications are being directed towards the growing societal dilemmas of civil rights oppression. Clement notes that,
Given the immense impact of the October Crisis of 1970, it is surprising how little literature is available on the crisis aside from the predictable spate of speculative works arising in the wake of an event of such magnitude. (4)
As what the above statement clearly shows, Clement has been wondering why, despite the implicative events that occurred throughout Canadas social and political history, very few works of literature are being produced to explore the significance of the impacts of these events in the history of civil rights activism. Aside from the October crisis of 1970, Clement also pointed out that the Gastown riot or the prohibited RCMP activities during the 1970 cold have been sufficient inspirations and motivations for historians to create an suggestive book on civil rights activism. Hence, because of this perceived inadequacy in terms of literature, Clement knew better than to be lenient and watch the civil society of Canada remain unexplored and undiscussed at the same time. This book played a major role in depicting Clements view on how the Canadian society has been destroyed and divided over the years of dealing serious societal dilemmas such as police violence, abortion, conflicts of religion and education, censorship, drug addiction and health and welfare issues in prisons (4).
These issues have apparently created great impacts in the Canadian society over the years. Clement just so happened to have a more active approach towards such issues that he knew better than to sit in one corner and watch as the society of Canada continues to suffer from these destructive societal predicaments. Hence, this objective has become one of his strongest motivations in writing this book. With this alone, this effort by Clement appears remarkable enough to consider his work as valuable contribution to the worlds larger objective of eradicating civil rights oppression. This work serves as an effective presentation of how people really need to be aware of what civil rights issue can do to a society.
But aside from this, Clement also aimed at another objective which is to scrutinize and to explore the distinct process which emerged from this period of civil activism. The process the author was pertaining to was dubbed as the professional social movement organization (4). Aside from the significance of civil rights activism, social change was also one major subject matter in Clements wide ranging interest. As compared to civil rights activism, social change holds more attention in terms of literature being published under the fields of history, politics and sociology. In this book, Clement specifically mentions how important social change is. He considers this phenomenon as a major contributor to a countrys growth. But most importantly, he also related social change to activism. According to Clement, activism is one way to achieve social change. It is by peoples willingness to join and empower movements that the endeavor for a greater change is being felt.
This endeavor for a greater change is what he considers the most important key which has mobilized and empowered several Canadian civil rights movements in the 70s. Clement specifically writes that, although not constitutive of the human rights movement, social movement organizations were important vehicles for social change (5). This book represented Clements exploration on how this specific generation conceived social change. Also, this book served as an effective depiction of how Clement scrutinized the cases wherein challenges on Canadas social movement organizations were defeated. Aside from these awakening thoughts, Clements way of exposing the effects of civil rights discourse to social change also appears commendable. This book presented his studies on how activists utilized the principles of human rights in deciphering the predicaments in the Canadian society which led to the identification of ideas that aim toward the movement for social change. More than a tiresome and a monotonous lecture on activism and social change, Clement actually produced a comprehensive view on issues that are previously being overlooked and taken for granted by the world. Through this book, concepts and ideals relating to social movement organizations, civil rights and liberties and social change have been laymanized and comprehensively discussed and simplified for the benefit of easier understanding.
The significance of this book in socially and politically appears quite unquestionable. Clements expertise and passion toward the history as well as on the contemporary accounts of Canadas civil rights activism is incontestable. Truly, the ideals of civil rights and social change are considered cliches in the context modern day issues being discussed. However, this work serves as an effective eye-opener that not all aspects of these cliche issues have been sufficiently discussed and explored today. As a result, a lot of people remain ignorant and uneducated about the impacts of civil rights activism in their lives. Aside from the perceived significance of this work to the overall history of civil rights activism in Canada, it was also notable that Clement was able to support his claims and arguments by unquestionable facts, updated archival sources as well as several extensive interviews. These supporting ideas made Clements argument stronger and more implicative in such a way that a reader will actually find it hard to dispute and to counter most of his claims.
This entails that Clements work actually holds concrete foundations. According to the author himself, an increasingly well-eucated population, rising affluence, greater state activity, new social movement activism, the marginalization of the labour movement, urbanization ... (201) among others all contribute to the unexampled growth of rights association. This sums up Clements main message which simple asks people to be more active about civil rights issues. And through well-written, well-reviewed and an obviously well-researched publication, Clement was incontestably able to displace this message. Apart from this, in an understandable command of language, he was nonetheless able to fulfill the objectives he in relation to a larger awareness on Canadian civil rights activism.
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