Uniting in measures of common good : the construction of collective liberal identities in central Canada, 1830-1900 / Darren Ferry.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Ferry, Darren, 1969-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Associations, institutions, etc--Canada, Central--History--19th century.

Associations, institutions, etc.

Liberalism--Canada, Central--History--19th century.

Liberalism.

Community organization--Canada, Central--History--19th century.

Community organization.

Social change--Canada, Central--History--19th century.

Social change.

Common good.

History.

Canada, Central--Social conditions--19th century.

Canada, Central.

Common good--Case studies.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

ix, 433 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Montreal ; Ithaca : McGill-Queen's University Press, [2008]

Summary:

Uniting in Measures of Common Good illuminates both the experience of ordinary Canadians with the voluntary association movement and the relations of the movement with the larger liberal society. Darren Ferry shows that voluntary societies, by attempting to transcend the political, religious, class, and ethnic divisions of their constituencies, acted as cultural mediators in the reproduction, transmission, and contestation of liberal values throughout central Canadian society.

Ferry examines a wide selection of nineteenth-century voluntary societies - Mechanics' Institutes, mutual benefit organizations, agricultural associations, temperance societies, and literary and scientific associations - and reinterpretes their history in terms of internal tensions over liberal doctrines and the effect of social, cultural, and economic change. He also shows how liberalism affected rural and urban associations and societies in both English and French Canada.

Contents:

1 For a More Enlightened Citizenry 20

2 Small-Town Mechanics' Institutes 62

3 Continuity and Change in Temperance Societies 95

4 "A Spirit of Candour, Moderation and Open Generosity" 136

5 Elevating the Cultivators of the Soil 170

6 The Dominion Grange and Patrons of Industry 215

7 A Feast of Popularized Science and Literature 243.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [381]-421) and index.

ISBN:

9780773534230

0773534237

OCLC:

229034835