In Perogies and Politics, Rhonda Hinther explores the twentieth-century history of the Ukrainian left in Canada from the standpoint of the women, men, and children who formed and fostered it.

For twentieth-century leftist Ukrainians, culture and politics were inextricably linked. The interaction of Ukrainian socio-cultural identity with Marxist-Leninism resulted in one of the most dynamic national working-class movements Canada has ever known. The Ukrainian left’s success lay in its ability to meet the needs of and speak in meaningful, respectful, and empowering ways to its supporters’ experiences and interests as individuals and as members of a distinct immigrant working-class community. This offered to Ukrainians a radical social, cultural, and political alternative to the fledgling Ukrainian churches and right-wing Ukrainian nationalist movements. Hinther’s colourful and in-depth work reveals how left-wing Ukrainians were affected by changing social, economic, and political forces and how they in turn responded to and challenged these forces.　　

Rhonda L. Hinther is an Associate Professor of History at Brandon University and an active public historian. Prior to joining BU, Hinther served as Director of Research and Curation at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and, before that, as Curator of Western Canadian History at the Canadian Museum of History. Her most recent book, a 2019 Wilson Prize Finalist, is entitled Perogies and Politics: Canada’s Ukrainian Left, 1891-1991 (2018).

Rhonda L. Hinther's profile page

• Short-listed, 2018 Wilson Book Prize awarded by the Wilson Institute for Canadian History

"Rhonda Hinther’s book is a warm testimonial to how the heirs of the pro-communist minority now feel about themselves and their historical place within left-wing Canadian politics."

Slavic Review, vol 78 no 2

"Hinther’s work successfully recounts the history of the Ukrainian left in Canada, which used a combination of cultural and political practices to demonstrate their individuality within the Canadian left more broadly."

The Canadian Historical Review, vol 99 4, December 2018