Cold War Canada: The Making of a National Insecurity State, 1945-1957 - Brossura

Whitaker, Reg; Marcuse, Gary

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0802079504 ISBN 13: 9780802079503

Casa editrice: Univ of Toronto Pr, 1996

Riassunto

Canadians might expect that a history of Canada's participation in the Cold War would be a self-congratulatory exercise in documenting the liberality and moderation of Canada set against the rapacious purges of the McCarthy era in the United States. Though Reg Whitaker and Gary Marcuse agree that there is some evidence for Canadian moderation, they argue that the smug Canadian self-image is exaggerated.

Cold War Canada digs past the official moderation and uncovers a systematic state-sponsored repression of communists and the Left directed at civil servants, scientists, trade unionists, and political activists. Unlike the United States, Canada's purges were shrouded in secrecy imposed by the government and avidly supported by the RCMP security service. Whitaker and Marcuse manage to reconstruct several of the significant anti-communist campaigns. Using declassified documents, interviews, and extensive archival sources, the authors reconstruct the Gouzenko spy scandal, trace the growth of security screening of civil servants, and re-examine purges in the National Film Board and the trade unions, attacks on peace activist James G. Endicott, and the trials of Canadian diplomat Herbert Norman.

Based on these examples Whitaker and Marcuse outline the creation of Canada's Cold War policy, the emergence of the new security state, and the alignment of Canada with the United States in the global Cold War. They demonstrate that Canada did take a different approach toward the threat of communism, but argue that the secret repression and silent purges used to stifle dissent and debate about Canada's own role in the Cold War had a chilling effect on the practice of liberal democracy and undermined Canadian political and economic sovereignty.

Su questo libro

Informazioni sull?autore

Gary Marcuse is an independent journalist and film-maker who lives in Vancouver. Reginald Whitaker is a professor of Political Science, York University.

Dalla quarta di copertina

'Toronto political scientist Reg Whitaker and Vancouver film-maker Gary Marcuse have produced a thoroughly researched and elegantly written book on Canada's first 10 years in the Cold War. Their work is pioneering because nothing hitherto on this subject has been so thoroughly researched and so critically pursued.'

Dettagli dell'edizione

• Editore: Univ of Toronto Pr
• Data di pubblicazione: 1996
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0802079504
• ISBN 13: 9780802079503
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 512
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile
• Persona responsabile: non disponibile