Women’s Suffrage and the Struggle for Democracy
Series editor: Veronica Strong-Boag
The story of women’s struggles and victories in the pursuit of political equality is not just a matter of the past: it has the value of informing current debate about the health of democracy in our country.
This series of short, insightful books presents a history of the vote, with vivid accounts of famous and unsung suffragists and overdue explanations of why some women were banned from the ballot box until the 1940s and 1960s. More than a celebration of women’s achievements in the political realm, this series provides deeper understanding of Canadian society and politics, serving as a well-timed reminder never to take political rights for granted.
“UBC Press’ series on the history of women’s political participation is a powerful reminder that greater inclusion in our democracy is not a foregone conclusion. Yet as the lessons from these books reveal, politics can and will change when citizens engage, organize and advocate — a truth as applicable today as it was decades ago.”
– Jane Hilderman, Executive Director, Samara Canada
See below for available books in the series. Forthcoming are the following titles:
We Shall Persist: Women and the Vote in the Atlantic Provinces, by Heidi MacDonald
Working Tirelessly for Change: Indigenous Women and the Vote in Canada, by Lianne Leddy
Ours by Every Law of Right and Justice
Women and the Vote in the Prairie Provinces
This long-overdue account of the suffrage campaigns in the first region to grant women the vote in Canada shatters cherished myths about how the West was won.
A Great Revolutionary Wave
Women and the Vote in British Columbia
The first book on the woman’s suffrage movement in British Columbia, A Great Revolutionary Wave traces the history of the fight for the vote from the 1870s to the 1940s against a backdrop of social reform, international social movements, labour politics, and settler colonialism.
To Be Equals in Our Own Country
Women and the Vote in Quebec
To Be Equals in Our Own Country chronicles the bitter struggle for women’s suffrage in Quebec, the last province to grant Canadian women this fundamental human right.
Our Voices Must Be Heard
Women and the Vote in Ontario
Our Voices Must Be Heard examines the ideals and failings of Ontario’s suffrage history, its daring supporters and thunderous enemies, and its blind spots on matters of race and class.
One Hundred Years of Struggle
The History of Women and the Vote in Canada
Acclaimed historian Joan Sangster celebrates the 100th anniversary of Canadian women getting the federal vote with a look at the real struggles women faced, depending on their race, class, and location in the nation, in their fight for equality.
