The New Politics of Western Canada: Contested Histories, Uncertain Futures - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0774871997 ISBN 13: 9780774871990

Publisher: University of British Columbia Press, 2026

Synopsis

The Canadian West: an economic engine with a history of grievance against federal power emanating from the east. The New Politics of Western Canada grapples with the West's complex, multifaceted past to promote a better understanding of this vast region's political realities and the challenges that lie ahead.

Contributors re-examine the historical and contemporary meanings attached to "the West" as a form of identity, through themes such as colonialism, gender, and class. They develop a nuanced analysis of Western political ideology, from resentment-based populism to the regional left. And they explore pressing Western economic and policy concerns, such as labour, health care, and Indigenous democratic participation and protest.

Together, these themes provide intelligent new ways of interpreting underexplored aspects of Western Canadian politics, adding depth to earlier attempts to explain the region as a political, economic, or sociological space.

About this title

About the Authors

Charles Smith is a professor of political studies at St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan. He is co-editor, with Bryan M. Evans, of Transforming Provincial Politics: The Political Economy of Canada's Provinces and Territories in the Neoliberal Era and co-author, with Larry Savage, of Unions in Court: Organized Labour and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He is co-editor of Labour/Le Travail, Canada's foremost journal of labour studies and labour history.

Tom McIntosh is a professor of politics and international studies at the University of Regina and a researcher at the Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit. He has published nine books on Canadian politics as well as peer-reviewed articles in such journals as The Lancet, Canadian Public Administration, the Canadian Journal of Public Health, the Journal of Health Policy, Politics and Law, and Healthcare Policy.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of British Columbia Press
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0774871997
• ISBN 13: 9780774871990
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352
• Editor: Charles Smith, Tom McIntosh