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History Pre-confederation (to 1867)

Moving Natures

Mobility and the Environment in Canadian History

edited by Ben Bradley & Colin M. Coates

contributions by Jay Young, Thomas Peace, Jim Clifford, Judy Burns, Ken Cruikshank, Andrew Watson, Merle Massie, Daniel Macfarlane, Tor H. Oiamo, Don Lafreniere, Joy Parr, J.I. Little, Jessica Dunkin, Elizabeth L. Jewett, Elsa Lam & Maude-Emmanuelle Lambert

Publisher
University of Calgary Press
Initial publish date
Jun 2016
Category
Pre-Confederation (to 1867), History, Environmental Science, Historiography
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781552388594
    Publish Date
    Jun 2016
    List Price
    $34.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781552388624
    Publish Date
    Jun 2016
    List Price
    $34.95

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Description

Mobility - the movements of people, things, and ideas, as well as their associated cultural meanings - has been a key factor in shaping Canadians' perceptions of and interactions with their country. Approaching the burgeoning field of environmental history in Canada through the lens of mobility reveals some of the distinctive ways in which Canadians have come to terms with the country's climate and landscape.

Spanning Canada's diverse regions, throughout its history, from the closing of the age of sail to the contemporary era of just-on-time delivery, Moving Natures: Mobility and the Environment in Canadian History examines a wide range of topics, from the impact of seasonal climactic conditions on different transportation modes, to the environmental consequences of building mobility corridors and pathways, to the relationship between changing forms of mobility with tourism and other recreational activities. Contributors make use of traditional archival sources, as well as historical geographic information systems (HGIS), qualitative and quantitative analysis, and critical theory.

This thought-provoking collection divides the intersection of environmental and mobility history into two approaches. The chapters in the first section deal primarily with the construction and productive use of mobility technologies and infrastructure, as well as their environmental constraints and consequences. The chapters in the second section focus on consumers' uses of those vehicles and pathways: on pleasure travel, tourism, and recreational mobility. Together, they highlight three quintessentially Canadian themes: seasonality, links between mobility and natural resource development, and urbanites' experiences of the environment through mobility.

With contributions by:

Judy Burns Jim Clifford Ken Cruikshank Jessica Dunkin Elizabeth L. Jewett Don Lafreniere Elsa Lam Maude-Emmanuelle Lambert J.I. Little Daniel Macfarlane Merle Massie Tor H. Oiamo Joy Parr Thomas Peace Andrew Watson

About the authors

BEN BRADLEY is a Grant Notley Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of History and Classics at the University of Alberta. His research examines the linkages between mobility, landscape, and mass culture in twentieth-century Canada.

Ben Bradley's profile page

JAY YOUNG is outreach officer at the Archives of Ontario and a founding editor of ActiveHistory.ca. He completed his doctorate at York University in 2012 followed bya SSHRC postdoctoral fellowship in history at McMaster University.

Jay Young's profile page

COLIN M. COATES teaches environmental history and Canadian studies at York University. He is past president of the Canadian Studies Network-Réseau d’études canadiennes and was a member of the executive of NiCHE, the Network in Canadian History and Environment.

Colin M. Coates' profile page

Thomas Peace's profile page

Jim Clifford's profile page

Judy Burns' profile page

Ken Cruikshank, professor of history and former dean of Humanities at McMaster, works on the history of business and of the administrative state in Canada and the United States, particularly between the 1880s and World War II. He is the author of Close Ties: Railways, Government and the Board of Railway Commissioners, 1851–1933.

As long-time research collaborators, Ken and Nancy have focused on the state, the environment and recreation in the history of Hamilton Harbour. In 2016 UBC Press published their The People and the Bay: A Social and Environmental History of Hamilton Harbour, which won the Canadian Historical Association’s 2017 Clio Prize for Ontario regional history.

 

Ken Cruikshank's profile page

Andrew Watson's profile page

Merle Massie is a Saskatchewan historian and award-winning author of Forest Prairie Edge, raised in Saskatchewan's forest fringe and trained at the University of Saskatchewan. She now lives on the prairies, farming with her husband and writing Saskatchewan stories.

Merle Massie's profile page

Daniel Macfarlane is an Assistant Professor with the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at Western Michigan University. His research examines Canada-US border waters and he is the author of Negotiating a River, Canada, the US and the Creation of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Daniel Macfarlane's profile page

Tor H. Oiamo's profile page

Don Lafreniere's profile page

Joy Parr is a Farley Endowed Professor of History at Simon Fraser University. She is the author of The Gender of Breadwinners, winner of the 1990 Macdonald Prize for the best work in Canadian history.

Joy Parr's profile page

J.I. Little is a professor in the Department of History at Simon Fraser University, author of Loyalties in Conflict: A Canadian Borderland in War and Rebellion, 1812–1840, and co-author of An Illustrated History of Quebec: Tradition and Modernity.

J.I. Little's profile page

Jessica Dunkin is an independent scholar based in Yellowknife, NT.

Jessica Dunkin's profile page

Elizabeth L. Jewett's profile page

Elsa Lam's profile page

Maude-Emmanuelle Lambert's profile page