van Horssen, Jessica

English

Histoire sociale / Social History (E-Journal, York University)

Comptes rendus / Book ReviewsBLAKE, Raymond B. (ed.) — Transforming the Nation: Canada and BrianMulroney. Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2007.Pp. 456.In Transforming the Nation: Canada and Brian Mulroney, J. Frank Strain statesthat his essay “is likely to contain something to offend everyone” (p. 42), anapt description of the entire collection, which gets at the heart of BrianMulroney’s historical character and legacy. Edited by Raymond B. Blake, thewide-ranging opinions and analyses found in the 18 essays of the book cannothelp but inspire strong reactions from readers because of the controversy that con-tinues to surround Mulroney, and this is the beauty of the collection.In his introduction to Transforming the Nation, Blake expresses his wonder overwhy a comprehensive study of Mulroney, “one of the most significant and impor-tant prime ministers Canada has ever had” (p. 14), has not been done before. Thecontributors quickly make up for lost time, each offering a comprehensive analysisof a different facet of his time in office. The collection is well constructed withthree informal sections: the legacy of Mulroney’s policies, his interactions withCanada’s increasingly vocal and conflicting minority groups, and his personalapproach to politics.A central theme throughout each of these essays, especially in the first sectionconcerned with his legacy, is the question of revolution. Mulroney was prime min-ister during a period in which Canada and the rest of the world were changingrapidly. In some cases, he used this transitional period to his advantage, especiallyon the campaign trail, when he was able to control the media in ways contributorChristopher Waddell states could never be possible under the scrutiny of the 24-hour news networks of today (p. 36). In other cases, these massive social, econ-omic, and political changes were the reason for Mulroney’s downfall, as he notonly encouraged them, but believed he could use them to his, and the country’s,overall advantage. The problem with this approach to governing, Blake argues,is that Canadians simply do not like change (p. 5), and many continue to blameMulroney for being the messenger, if not the instigator, of these transformations.The middle section of Transforming the Nation is by far the strongest, withexcellent essays by Robert Wardhaugh and Michael D. Behiels, each offering adetailed analysis of how Mulroney tried to balance regional differences andHistoire sociale – Social History, vol. XLII, no 83 (Mai-May 2009)desires. In wanting to pacify everyone, including those in the West and in Quebec,Mulroney pleased no one with his attempts at policy revisions and constitutionalnegotiations. The discussion by Gina Cosentino and Paul L. A. H Chartrand ofAboriginal policy and politics during the Mulroney years also follows thispattern of excellent analysis. One of the strongest pieces in the collectionappears in this middle section. In her examination of how women’s movementsand issues changed while Mulroney was prime minister, Ann Porter provides amuch larger story of how Canadian society and politics were radically discussed,debated, and transformed during this time.The collection concludes with a series of essays by those who worked directlywith Mulroney during his time in office. Some of these, such as the piece byBob Rae, invite the reader into the heart of the former prime minister, which isoften excluded in analyses of his two terms in office. During his time as NewDemocrat premier of Ontario, Rae observed Mulroney as a man with two perso-nas: one public and one private. In public, the prime minister was often formal andreserved, while in private he “was funny, personal, and often profane” (p. 417).Essays by former MP John C. Crosbie and speech writer L. Ian MacDonaldfollow much the same line as Rae’s piece, each offering sincere and balancedinsight to the prime minister’s character.The weakest article in the collection appears in this last section. Elizabeth Maywrites an account of her time as an environmental advisor to the Mulroney gov-ernment, and her flattery of the prime minister and his cabinet makes for a thinanalysis and a somewhat embarrassing read. During his time in office,Mulroney, “Canada’s Greenest Prime Minister” (p. 381), made significantadvancements in environmental policy that should be applauded, but within thehistorical context, not in the context of self-congratulation and awe.These pieces as a group are valuable additions to the collection because ofMulroney’s controversial historical image. To remember that he was neither amonster nor a superhero, but a man with a private self to which the public wasnot often privy, is important because it contextualizes his actions and decisionsand challenges our assumptions about who he was and why he made thechoices he did.Each essay in the collection was designed to stand alone, and for the most partthey do, which is excellent for those looking for more nuanced analyses of the keypolitical, economic, and social changes Mulroney orchestrated during his twoterms in office. However, the greatest strength of Transforming the Nation is thecollection itself. Brian Mulroney was not just the Free Trade Agreement or theGST: he was prime minister of Canada during a period of intense national andglobal change, and his actions and policy need to be understood together.While Michael Hart describes Mulroney as a “Faustian” character who bar-gained with the devil in his first term in office and paid the price for it in hissecond (p. 61), after reading Transforming the Nation, I found he appears tohave more in common with Arthur Miller’s tragic hero, Willy Loman, graspingfor and losing control of a new Canadian Dream. Mulroney did what hethought was best for the nation despite his downward spiral in the polls, resulting226 Histoire sociale / Social HistoryHistoire sociale – Social History, vol. XLII, no 83 (Mai-May 2009)in an approval rating of 11 per cent at the end of his tenure. While many believeMulroney’s Canadian Dream was more like a nightmare, Transforming the Nationgoes to great lengths to help readers understand, if not sympathize with, theformer prime minister within the context of his time and place.Jessica van HorssenUniversity of Western OntarioBOULLE, Pierre H. — Race et esclavage dans la France de l’Ancien Re´gime, Paris,Perrin, 2007, 286 p.Ultra-nationalist French politicos frequently quote Charles de Gaulle as sayingthat he was comfortable with the presence of a few “yellow Frenchmen, blackFrenchmen, brown Frenchmen,” but only “on the condition that they remain asmall minority. Otherwise, France would no longer be France. We are after all pri-marily a European people of the white race.” In Race et esclavage dans la Francede l’Ancien Re´gime, Pierre Boulle shows that such sentiments have deep roots.Boulle explores the ideological, legal, and social manifestations of racial prejudicein early modern France, concluding that the racism of the nineteenth-centuryempire originated in the seventeenth- and eighteenth-century encounterbetween France and the peoples of west Africa and the Indian Ocean.Boulle divides this fine study into three parts. The first — “La construction duconcept de race en France” — is a largely intellectual history tracing notions ofrace as they were transformed by Atlantic expansion and the development ofplantation slavery. In the seventeenth century and before, the French tended toview Africans as benign — if culturally backward — curiosities. Most believedthat, with time and religious instruction, they could become like Europeans. Asthe French began to participate in Africans’ enslavement, however, they cameto regard them as more permanently inferior, their moral and intellectualcapacities inescapably limited by biology rather than culture. This “hardening ofthe concept of race” found many expressions, but by the mid-eighteenthcentury became so widespread that Boulle considers it the prevailing French atti-tude (p. 66).In its broad contours, Boulle’s story is not surprising: slavery encouraged theformation of racial hierarchies throughout the early modern Atlantic. TheFrench descended along their own path toward racism, however, and Boulle isan excellent (not to mention our only) guide as we retrace their steps. Boulle attri-butes the rise of modern French racism to three factors: the French encounter withnon-Europeans, the rise of modern science (including the obsession with biologi-cal classification), and France’s growing secularization (which caused many to turnto biological explanations for cultural difference). The tragic historical coincidenceof Africans’ enslavement led Caribbean planters, along with their missionaryaccomplices, to create an ideology that equated blackness with inferiority andslavery. In this theory, Africans became children who needed to remain inComptes rendus / Book Reviews 227Histoire sociale – Social History, vol. XLII, no 83 (Mai-May 2009)

BLAKE, Raymond B. (ed.) — Transforming the Nation: Canada and Brian Mulroney.

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BLAKE, Raymond B. (ed.) — Transforming the Nation: Canada and Brian Mulroney.

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Histoire sociale / Social History (E-Journal, York University)