The Empire Within: Postcolonial Thought and Political Activism in Sixties Montreal (Volume 23)

by Sean Mills

In a brilliant history of a turbulent time and place, Mills pulls back the curtain on the decade's activists and intellectuals, showing their engagement both with each other and with people from around the world. He demonstrates how activists of different backgrounds and with different political aims drew on ideas of decolonization to rethink the meanings attached to the politics of sex, race, and class and to imagine themselves as part of a broad transnational movement of anti-colonial and anti-imperialist resistance. The temporary unity forged around ideas of decolonization came undone in the 1970s, however, as many were forced to come to terms with the contradictions and ambiguities of applying ideas of decolonization in Quebec. From linguistic debates to labour unions, and from the political activities of citizens in the city's poorest neighbourhoods to its Caribbean intellectuals, The Empire Within is a political tour of Montreal that reconsiders the meaning and legacy of the city's dissident traditions. It is also a fascinating chapter in the history of postcolonial thought.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Canada, Politics

302 pages, Paperback

First published March 25, 2010

Reviews

[AskHistorians]

Important because it provides detailed information about the rise, and existence of the FLQ. Important to show that Quebec has a distinct history from the rest of the country.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un rigoureux traité historique sur la période cruciale pour l'identité moderne du Québec que fût les années 1963-1973. On y traite principalement de l'origine, l'évolution et des contradictions du discours anticolonial au Québec.

Essentiel pour comprendre 2012 et le Québec actuel.

Aussi paradoxal que peut être d'écrire un ouvrage en anglais sur ce sujet, l'auteur apporte un regard externe contribuant à l'impartialité et allant encore plus loin que la division linguistique habituelle. La plupart des citations de manifestes, poèmes et discours sont entièrement dans leur langue originale.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely interesting article about Montreal at the height 1960s/1970s radicalism, getting away from the dominant historical framework of the Quiet Revolution period as one of state capitalist "modernisation" to focus on the groups and people challenging the entire system. Looks at the various liberation movements, labour unions, left-nationalists, radicals and student groups to see how they related to the anticolonial movement and its theory. Covers a wide range of events from Opération Mcgill Français to the Sir George Williams Affair to the October Crisis and the 1972 General Strike. A really good read for anyone in Montreal (or elsewhere) interested in an overview of radicalism in Montreal, or alternately for anywhere who wants to understand how different people at the time understood the idea of Quebec as a colonised society in different ways (for example, how some francophone Quebecois saw themselves in the 60s as the 'wretched of the earth,' the colonised rather than coloniser, and how this wasn't outright rejected by anticolonial theorists but even publicly accepted by people such as Stokely Carmichael and Aimé Césaire before changing in the 1970s). Main flaw is that for a book so heavily focused on the contradictions of the anticolonial discourse of the time, it doesn't have a chapter on indigenous groups or activism. The reactions of native people to various events and discourses is occasionally mentioned but unlike feminist and black liberation movements, indigenous groups don't get a whole chapter, which undercuts the ability of the book to fully problematize the Quebec discourse of being colonised by English Canada or America. Definitely worth a read though.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good history of radical movements in Montreal in the 60s and early 70s. pretty fascinating

[Pascal Scallon-Chouinard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A major and important study to which I’ve often referred over the years, without ever having taken the time to read it from cover to cover. Now I have! Historian Sean Mills offers a look back at the decade of the 1960s in Montreal, a time of great upheaval, awareness and activism for various groups. Mills skilfully illustrates how Montreal, over the course of the decade, drew inspiration from (and, at times, in turn, inspired) the international context, developing a theory of decolonization “adapted” to the Quebec case, notably through the writings of leading figures of the period. Beyond the rhetoric and ideological links with the internationalist left, this movement also had many blind spots, which the author does not fail to point out (very masculine discourses, little room for women, blindness to its own colonial past and privileged condition, racism, etc.). Mills nevertheless demonstrates that this activism served as a starting point for the organization of a more general movement (on women’s rights, working conditions, immigration, etc.), becoming, progressively, more inclusive.

This is an important book for understanding the intellectual, social and political ferment of the 1960s (and even 1970s) in Montreal and in the province of Quebec. The study is based on a solid referential apparatus and, despite its academic nature, remains accessible.

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very accessible look at the history of leftist activism in Montreal, taking key and at times repetitive pains to show the context for all that roiled Quebec and that city in that turbulent decade.

The FLQ is a brief feature, but only a cameo for showcasing the variety of groups fighting for justice in that era. Mills continually refers to the whiteness and maleness of the groups and their actions and in general shows what made the fight in Quebec so unique as well as linking it with today.

It's surprisingly accessible given the detail and, while not revelatory, does exactly what a history of an era should do: firmly rooting in a time and place and all that gave those things life.

He shows the revolutionary fervour and how it was broken by state violence and exhaustion. The parallels to our current era and the same arguments are intense. Plus ça change...

[Craig Werner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mills focuses primarily on the languages used in the intersecting political movements in mid-late Sixties Montreal. His central interest is in the connection between Quebec and post-colonial movements internationally, and the book provides a great deal of information on that. The mix of working class, Francophone linguistic, leftist, and feminist concerns is quintessential Sixties. The book's limitation is inherent in the rhetorical focus, which leaves relatively little room for the details of how the ideas played out in concrete actions.

[Maxime André · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interessante perspective sur l’histoire du militantisme et syndicalisme Québécois à travers le filtre du colonialisme. Une peu forcé.