Item – Theses Canada

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OCLC number
728823816
Link(s) to full text
LAC copy
LAC copy
Author
Brookfield, Tarah.
Title
Protection, peace, relief and rescue : Canadian women's Cold War activism at home and abroad, 1945-1975.
Degree
Ph. D. -- York University, 2009
Publisher
Ottawa : Library and Archives Canada = Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, [2010]
Description
5 microfiches
Notes
Includes bibliographical references.
Abstract
Between 1945 and 1975 thousands of Canadian women believed their personal safety, family, nation, world, and values were threatened by the Cold War, and therefore participated in endeavours designed to offer security or build peace. Through their work in voluntary, professional, and charitable organizations, these women became critical actors in influencing public opinion and state policy that affected the course of Canada's Cold War. Their activism also had an impact on the health and safety of people, especially children, living in sites of Cold War conflict, most notably those in Greece, Korea, Hong Kong, and Vietnam. This thesis documents four distinct yet overlapping types of activism performed by these women: civil defence, the disarmament movement, foreign relief, and international adoption. At the heart of all these projects was a passionate commitment to child welfare and protection of the home, but defining which children and whose home changed over time and was dependent on the activists' different interpretations of maternalism, nationalism, and internationalism. An analysis of these diverse paths to peace and security--protection, peace, relief or rescue (or a combination of these responses)--offers a new perspective on women's post-war political mobilization and challenges interpretations of Canada's Cold War as being a state driven era of consensus.
ISBN
9780494516843
0494516844