To revitalize politics we need to abandon the idea that ideologies evolve from "right" to "left", from conservatism to socialism, and look at our political differences in terms of the distinction, more familiar in the arts, between classicism and romanticism. She argues that by abandoning our current modes of debate and rediscovering the Enlightenment liberalism that is an enduring part of our political tradition we will help to recreate Canada as a place of debate on fundamentals, not one in which a monolithic definition of identity answers all questions in advance.

The Once and Future Canadian Democracy: An Essay in Political Thought

Politics & Social Sciences

Ajzenstat, Janet

Politics & Government

McGill-Queen's University Press

In The Once and Future Canadian Democracy Janet Ajzenstat debunks conventional wisdom about Canadian political identity and history. She shows that linking Canadian identity to an ideology that favours the common good over individual interests and counts on big government to achieve it is strangling Canadian democracy by placing fundamental questions beyond debate. from right to left, from conservatism to socialism, and look at our political differences in terms of the distinction, more familiar in the arts, between classicism and romanticism. She argues that by abandoning our current modes of debate and rediscovering the Enlightenment liberalism that is an enduring part of our political tradition we will help to recreate Canada as a place of debate on fundamentals, not one in which a monolithic definition of identity answers all questions in advance.

In his famous 1839 call to reform, John George Lambton, Earl of Durham, recommended that Upper and Lower Canada be accorded responsible government by uniting the two provinces under a single legislative assembly - a union which would also bring about the assimilation of the French-Canadians. The Report has been criticized ever since - from British imperialists who found it dangerously liberal to French Canadians who despised Durham for his presumed racism. This new edition of Gerald Craig's abridgement retains his 1963 introduction and adds essays that debate Durham's political assumptions and goals, re-examine the philosophical and historical context in which the Report was created, and review the Report's reception and influence. Janet Ajzenstat reconsiders the report in the context of nineteenth-century debates about the relation between culture and political institutions, arguing that Durham should be seen as a progressive universalist opposed to the divisions of race and creed who wanted to give more freedom to French- and English-Canadians alike. Guy Laforest re-examines the report in terms of British liberal imperialism and twentieth-century English-Canadian perspectives to argue that Durham was a one-sided sociologist and the first in long line who used liberalism for imperialist purposes.

Lord Durham's Report: Text Abridged by Gerald M. Craig (Volume 208) (Carleton Contemporary Series)

History

Craig, Gerald M.

Laforest, Guy

Americas

Carleton University Press

In his famous 1839 call to reform, John George Lambton, Earl of Durham, recommended that Upper and Lower Canada be accorded responsible government by uniting the two provinces under a single legislative assembly - a union which would also bring about the assimilation of the French-Canadians. The Report has been criticized ever since - from British imperialists who found it dangerously liberal to French Canadians who despised Durham for his presumed racism. This new edition of Gerald Craig's abridgement retains his 1963 introduction and adds essays that debate Durham's political assumptions and goals, re-examine the philosophical and historical context in which the Report was created, and review the Report's reception and influence. Janet Ajzenstat reconsiders the report in the context of nineteenth-century debates about the relation between culture and political institutions, arguing that Durham should be seen as a progressive universalist opposed to the divisions of race and creed who wanted to give more freedom to French- and English-Canadians alike. Guy Laforest re-examines the report in terms of British liberal imperialism and twentieth-century English-Canadian perspectives to argue that Durham was a one-sided sociologist and the first in long line who used liberalism for imperialist purposes.

'The Canadian Founding' offers a new interpretation of confederation which contends that the founding fathers were John Locke's disciples - champions of universal human rights and popular sovereignty.

The Canadian Founding: John Locke and Parliament (McGill-Queen’s Studies in the Hist of Id) (Volume 44)

This collection uses Sir John A. Macdonald's records on the drafting of the Canadian constitution, augmented and complemented by a selection of letters, notes and memoranda, to provide a useful resource for students of Canadian history.

Documents on the Confederation of British North America (Carleton Library Series) (Volume 216)

Browne, G.P.

Documents on the Confederation of British North America (Carleton Library Series) (Volume 215)

Discovering Confederation: A Canadian's Story (Footprints Series) (Volume 18)

Janet Ajzenstat is one of Canada's most respected thinkers on the moral and philosophical foundations of responsible government and Confederation. Discovering Confederation is a study of political science over the last forty years through the intellectual lens of her career. Ajzenstat details her academic journey, from her early years as a hopeful, radical activist in the 1960s, through her graduate studies at McMaster University and the University of Toronto, her commitment to the importance of primary source documents, and to her decades-long teaching career. Learning from prominent political thinker Allan Bloom and philosopher and political commentator George Grant, Ajzenstat began to form her own opinions about parliamentary democracy and constitutional debate. She presents her discovery of the argument for parliamentary democracy, explaining how and why parliamentary democracy is sufficient security for individual rights. Though sometimes referred to as a conservative, Ajzenstat shows that her work is a defence of the political constitution, which ensures unconstrained and continuing deliberation amongst parties, interests, and philosophies of all political stripes. A candid and engaging showcase of a great mind at work, Discovering Confederation is a revealing account of Canada's political history and recent academic life.

Biographies & Memoirs

Leaders & Notable People

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ajzenstat, Janet. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Ajzenstat, Janet

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Ajzenstat, Janet. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Once and Future Canadian Democracy: An Essay in Political Thought

The Once and Future Canadian Democracy: An Essay in Political Thought

Lord Durham's Report: Text Abridged by Gerald M. Craig (Volume 208) (Carleton Contemporary Series)

Lord Durham's Report: Text Abridged by Gerald M. Craig (Volume 208) (Carleton Contemporary Series)

The Canadian Founding: John Locke and Parliament (McGill-Queen’s Studies in the Hist of Id) (Volume 44)

The Canadian Founding: John Locke and Parliament (McGill-Queen’s Studies in the Hist of Id) (Volume 44)

Documents on the Confederation of British North America (Carleton Library Series) (Volume 216)

Documents on the Confederation of British North America (Carleton Library Series) (Volume 215)

Discovering Confederation: A Canadian's Story (Footprints Series) (Volume 18)

Discovering Confederation: A Canadian's Story (Footprints Series) (Volume 18)