Canada, Québec, and the Uses of Nationalism by Ramsay Cook (review)

150 The Canadian Historical Review Ultimately, Richardson was defeated by life. But before that defeat came periods of intense exhilaration and satisfaction in her work for progressive causes. Roberts admits to difficulty in comprehending (and empathizing with) Richardson's religious beliefs, but she suggests that her subject's religiously infused commitment to ending war and achieving social justice might be understood as an 'ethic of risk,' a concept developed by feminist theologian Sharon Welch. This ethic is based on the notion that one must maintain belief in the path as well as in the identified idealized goals of a particular·social movement. With respect to Richardson, Roberts argues that she made important contributions 'to the suffrage movement, to community building, and to the antiwar movement' (284). But this idealist can also be judged by a more fundamental standard: 'The real question was not efficacy but faithfulness to the way of unconquerable love. In those terms, her life was glorious and triumphant' (284). After reading this biography, it is hard to credit Roberts's comment that Richardson's life is 'obscure' and 'not well documented' (xv). In addition to being a well-written narrative, this study is impeccably researched. It should appeal to scholars in the fields of social and labour history, women's and gender history, peace history, modern Canada, and feminist biography. Upper-level undergraduates and graduate students will find this work informative and insightful. A paper edition ofthis lively and timely biography is needed to make it available to general readers who seek out biographies and engrossing narratives pertaining to social justice history. FRANCES EARLY Mount Saint Vincent University Canada, Que'bec, and the Uses of Nationalism. 2nd ed. RAMSAY cooK. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart 1995. Pp. 296, $19.99 This second edition of Ramsey Cook's selected essays is a considerably altered version from the first edition that appeared under the same title in 1986. Eight of the original twelve essays are reprinted, and eight new ones have been added to make a larger book reflecting recent events and research. The major themes ofthe first collection are maintained , with even better integration and coherence: 'the clash of values that marked early European contact with the Native people of Canada, the evolution of nationalism in Quebec, the constitutional debate.' With the recent and current issues of Meech Lake, the Charlottetown accord, Native self-government, the Quebec referendum (approaching at the time of publication), and the ethnic revivals in Eastern Europe, especi- Book Reviews r5r ally the tragic disintegration of former Yugoslavia, the appearance of these thoughtful pieces on the historical context and politics of nationalism and ethnic identity could hardly be more relevant and timely. Cook has spent forty years thinking carefully about these matters. This collection contains his essential arguments and should be compulsory reading for those who imagine there exists some once-and-for-all solution for the issues of nationalism and ethnicity that underly Canada's constitutional imbroglio. His familiar conclusions are for the most part dear and unequivocal. The appeal of ethnic nationalism is deeply rooted in modern history and throughout the world, not just in Canada. It is explosively volatile and therefore an irresistible weapon in the arsenals of demagogues or imprudent politicians in search of personal or political advantage. Brian Mulroney is offered as an example of the latter by his ill-advised attempt to appease his nationalist allies in Quebec by reopening the constitutional issue, thereby handing Jacques Parizeau the opportunity to fan nationalist embers into flames. Basing the justification for a nation state on ethnicity has always been, and always will be, an unworkable fantasy because dear ethnic boundaries cannot be drawn and attempts to do so always arouse the resistance of ethnic minorities that are implicitly excluded from membership in the nation. The only workable (ie, just, equitable, and humane) justification for a nation state is a political or civic one in which cultural or ethnic plurality is protected by having membership based on adherence to individual rights unrelated to group identities. What lends persuasiveness to Cook's argument is his solid, critical reading of historical evidence. We are never allowed to forget that history overflows with irony, paradox, contradiction...