Charlotte Perspecives on Federalism _download.pdf (497.77 kB)
Franchises lost and gained: post-coloniality and the development of women’s rights in Canada
Version 2 2023-06-12, 08:47
Version 1 2023-06-09, 09:22
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-12, 08:47 authored by Charlotte SkeetCharlotte SkeetThe Canadian constitution is to some extent characterised by its focus on equality, and in particular gender equality. This development of women’s rights in Canada and the greater engagement of women as political actors is often presented as a steady linear process, moving forwards from post-enlightenment modernity. This article seeks to disturb this ‘discourse of the continuous,’ by using an analysis of the pre-confederation history of suffrage in Canada to both refute a simplistic linear view of women’s rights development and to argue for recognition of the Indigenous contribution to the history of women’s rights in Canada. The gain of franchise and suffrage movements in Canada in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century are, rightly, the focus of considerable study (Pauker 2015), This article takes an alternative perspective. Instead, it examines the exercise of earlier franchises in pre-confederation Canada. In particular it analyses why franchise was exercised more widely in Lower Canada and relates this to the context of the removal of franchises from women prior to confederation.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
Perspectives On FederalismISSN
2036-5438Publisher
De Gruyter OpenExternal DOI
Issue
3Volume
9Page range
160-193Department affiliated with
- Law Publications
Research groups affiliated with
- Sussex Centre for Human Rights Research Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2017-12-14First Open Access (FOA) Date
2017-12-14First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2017-12-14Usage metrics
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