The Canadianization Movement: Emergence, Survival, and Success

John D. Blackwell is director of the Research Grants Office at St.
Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, and the author of Canadian
Studies: A Guide to the Sources
(http://www.iccs-ciec.ca/blackwell.html).

Jeffrey Cormier, a sociologist at King’s University College,
University of Western Ontario, provides a compelling overview of the
so-called “Canadianization movement” between 1967 and 1985. He
begins by placing his case study within the context of sociological
theory and then traces “the origins, transformation, and
institutionalization of a social movement of intellectuals as they
worked to raise consciousness, build a sense of solidarity, and
construct a Canadian national identity.”

The movement centred initially around Robin Matthews and James Steele,
both English professors at Carleton University. Cormier aptly describes
Matthews as “the enfant terrible of Canadian cultural nationalism
during the 1970s.” After 1972, the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology
Association took the lead in championing Canadianization. By 1985, the
movement had succeeded: Canadianization had become institutionalized on
the national academic and cultural landscape.

Cormier’s interpretation of this complex movement benefits greatly
from rich archival sources and interviews with most of the key
participants. His case study focuses mainly on the university world.
Numerous individuals, organizations, publications, and events played a
part in the movement. Cormier refers, for instance, to such landmarks as
George Grant’s Lament for a Nation (1965) and T.H.B. Symons’s To
Know Ourselves: The Report of the Commission on Canadian Studies (1975).
There is much discussion about the dual forces of Americanization and
anti-Americanism. However, Cormier says little about the wider context.
He mentions only briefly such pervasive popular manifestations of
Canadianization as the Centennial and Expo ’67, and totally overlooks
such major episodes as the acrimonious flag debate.

In his conclusion, Cormier speculates “on the possibility of another
Canadianization movement emerging in the future. Assuming that demand
for university faculty outstrips current supply and that the Canadian
government decides to eliminate its present policy, would there be
another Canadianization movement to meet the challenge?” He argues
that even in “a post-national context,” this is possible.

The Canadianization Movement is a seminal contribution to our
understanding of late 20th-century intellectual and cultural history in
Canada.