Editorial Statement

The twin pandemics of disease and racial injustice have touched every part of the globe in the past eighteen months, exposing in sharp relief a world marked by deep social and economic inequities—a world in need of healing with wounds (historical and current) in desperate need of redress. As we assume the co-editorship of the Journal of Canadian Studies (JCS), we understand this role in part as attending to these wounds. Not only must Canadian Studies research acknowledge the critical historical juncture in which we stand, but it must also grapple with the terms by which we might begin to articulate and imagine a more just world. As scholars with combined research interests and strengths in Black, Indigenous, and anti-racist feminisms, we seek to offer a space in this journal for bold critical reflection and analysis, and for creative and innovative ideas that center Canadian Studies in taking up the social and intellectual concerns of our times.

In the aftermath of Idle No More, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, this work is urgent. Although Indigenous people have long insisted that the residential school system is murderous, this is now known to broader publics with the confirmation that close to 1,000 Indigenous children are buried on the grounds of former residential schools in British Columbia and Saskatchewan. In a moment of racial reckoning, Black Lives Matter movements worldwide continue to insist on Black humanity against white supremacy in all its forms. Escalating racism against Asian Canadians and the recent murderous attack on three generations of a Muslim family in London, Ontario, reveal the deep-seated crisis of racism in Canada and its ongoing effects. At the same time, we also recognize that this is a moment of movements, in Canada and around the world, against hatreds of all kinds. These movements are full of anguish and hopes—and the world of scholarship, like the world around us, is not and will not be unchanged by these struggles.

We understand our co-editorship as participating in these movements. This does not mean uncritical support for the Black, Indigenous, and anti-racist struggles of our times, but rather an appreciation for their complexities, contradictions, and multiple dynamics—and their urgency. Our response to the political and moral demands of these struggles includes a commitment to opening up Canadian Studies scholarship to voices that have too often been on the margins, too often available only in specialized journals, too often dismissed as a threat to serious intellectual labour and too often rejected for incommensurability with traditional and narrow understandings of excellence. In the well-known words of Black feminist scholar bell hooks, we are committed to bringing voices from "margins to centre," ensuring that Indigenous, Black, and anti-racist scholarship—especially feminisms and womanisms within these traditions—are an ongoing part of the scholarly discussion within Canadian Studies. This includes voices by Indigenous scholars who have known and still know lands claimed by Canada in ways incommensurate with colonial state authority and colonial borders. In this call for the cross-community solidarity of Indigenous, Black, and feminist scholars, we share a commitment to Robyn Maynard and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson's vision of a future "that is based on Black and Indigenous freedom, [and] self-determination, and one that continually generates Black and Indigenous life" (77).

While seeking to broaden the outreach of the JCS, we remain faithful to its focus on "interdisciplinary perspectives, bilingual presentation of research, and the scholarly study of Canada." The JCS has a strong track record with historians alongside vital, engaging work from scholars across the humanities, fine arts, and social sciences, publishing in both English and French on topics ranging from Canada's role in international development to LGBTQ+ movements, decolonizing poetry to women's roles in paid and unpaid reproductive labour, aging in Canada, and Inuit video games. We intend to continue to welcome this broad, interdisciplinary work, understanding that some contributing JCS authors write from within relatively traditional canonical perspectives while others are engaged in more pathbreaking scholarship. Further, the JCS publishes articles...