Painting the Maple explores the critical interplay of race and gender in shaping Canadian culture, history, politics and health care. These interdisciplinary essays draw on feminist, postcolonial, and critical theory in a wide-ranging discussion that encompasses both high and popular forms of culture, the deliberation of policy and its execution, and social movements as well as individual authors and texts. The contributors, who come from many fields, establish connections among discourses of race, gender, and nation-building that have conditioned the formation of Canada for more than one hundred years. They analyze ways in which these elements have participated in and contributed to exclusionary practices and policies, such as marginalization of women and racialized groups. Together, their essays paint a picture of a nation that privileges whiteness, masculinity, and Christianity. This book gathers many insights on the construction of Canada, hitherto scattered in the literature. It will be of interest to feminist scholars and others concerned with issues of race and gender. At times provocative, Painting the Maple illuminates the challenges that lie ahead for all Canadians who aspire to create a better future in a reimagined nation. |