Demanding Equality

There are few, if any, historians better placed than Joan Sangster to write a history of a century of feminism in Canada... Demanding Equality is a book that is at once capacious in its scope and accessibly written. Magda Fahrni, Universite du Quebec a Montreal, Labour / Le Travail

Sangster’s precisely written yet wideranging book is a tour de force that chronicles the struggles for ‘equality, autonomy, and dignity’ in all of their rich complexity. Elaine Coburn, York University, Literary Review of Canada

[Demanding Equality] is an impressively balanced account that will undoubtedly become required reading for gender and women's history classes across the country. Catherine Carstairs, University of Guelph, JACANZ, Vol. 1, Issue 2

Demanding Equality is a formidable book, wide in scope, commendably readable, expansive in content, and convincing in analysis. Rebecca Priegert Coulter, Professor Emerita, University of Western Ontario., University of Toronto Quarterly

Enriched by Joan Sangster's personal experience as an activist and a teacher, Demanding Equality is vital for readers both new to and familiar with Canadian radical women's struggles. This is the admirable result of a lifetime of research. Sheila Rowbotham, author of Women in Movement: Feminism and Social Action

A superb book that should be required reading for any course on the history of feminism in Canada. Joan Sangster’s decades of work in this field are reflected here in this masterful grasp of the scholarship. Few other scholars in Canada could have produced a comparable study. The author has gone to immense effort to offer a genuinely pan-Canadian study that challenges numerous myths and misconceptions about the history of feminism. Dominique Clément, professor of sociology, University of Alberta, and author of Equality Deferred: Sex Discrimination and British Columbia’s Human Rights State, 1953–84

To understand the history of feminism we need to look beyond the experience of the UK or US. Demanding Equality is both a vital contribution to the international history of feminism and vivid demonstration of the movement’s local, plural and diverse origins. It shows that women’s experiences of work and ethnicity shaped collective demands attuned to class and community. Joan Sangster has written a work of major importance that not only adds to our understanding of the history of feminism, but also suggests a new way to write it. Marilyn Lake, professorial fellow in history, University of Melbourne, and author of Getting Equal: The History of Australian Feminism

Demanding Equality leans into the messiness of feminist ideas and actions to reshape the boundaries of feminism. Expertly weaving complex experience across time and space, Sangster’s compelling analysis illuminates both the possibilities and limitations of feminist work. Sarah Nickel, associate professor, Department of Indigenous Studies, University of Saskatchewan, and author of Assembling Unity: Indigenous Politics, Gender, and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs

A thought-provoking narrative! Sangster interrogates previous historical accounts of feminism in Canada and emphasizes the multiple voices and organizations involved in this ‘collective project of resistance.’ Linda Kealey, professor emerita, Department of History, University of New Brunswick, and author of Enlisting Women for the Cause: Women, Labour, and the Left in Canada