1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910818655503321

Autore

Otter A. A. den (Andy Albert den), <1941->

Titolo

The philosophy of railways : the transcontinental railway idea in British North America / / A.A. den Otter

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Toronto, [Ontario] ; ; Buffalo, [New York] ; ; London, [England] : , : University of Toronto Press, , 1997

©1997

ISBN

1-282-02558-9

9786612025587

1-4426-7846-1

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (317 p.)

Disciplina

385.0971

Soggetti

Railroads - Canada - History

Livres numeriques.

History

e-books.

Electronic books.

Britisch-Nordamerika

Canada

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Includes index.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

; 1. Technological Nationalism: The Backdrop -- ; 2. The Guarantee Act: Signpost for an Era -- ; 3. Nova Scotia: Railways and the New Economy -- ; 4. The Grand Trunk Railway: The New Imperialism -- ; 5. Saint John: Fulcrum Metropol -- ; 6. The Pacific Scandal: Nationalism and Business -- ; 7. The National Policy: Defining a Nation -- ; 8. The Philosophy of Railways: Conclusions and Conjectures.

Sommario/riassunto

"When, in the late 1980s, the federal government initiated a plan to deregulate the Canadian railway system, lobby groups protested the betrayal of a national mandate. They asserted that the railway was founded to promote a sense of national identity, to provide access to isolated regions of the country, and to ensure a transnational exchange of goods and ideas. In The Philosophy of Railways, A.A. den Otter considers the relationship between nationalism and technology, and



shows how the popular rhetoric surrounding the evolution of the Canadian Pacific Railway has mythologized the role of a private corporation and its technology. He questions the notion that the railways were built as an antidote to American manifest destiny, suggesting instead that the widespread adoption of railway transportation as a civilizing mission impelled Canadians to bow to technology's integrating effects, including confederation and closer ties with the United States."--Jacket.