Countercurrents

In the decades following the Second World War, women from all walks of life became increasingly frustrated by the world around them. Drawing on long-standing political traditions, these women bound together to revolutionize social norms and contest gender inequality. In Montreal, women activists inspired by Red Power, Black Power, and Quebec liberation, among other social movements, mounted a multifront campaign against social injustice. Countercurrents looks beyond the defining waves metaphor to write a new history of feminism that incorporates parallel social movements into the overarching narrative of the womens movement. Case studies compare and reflect on the histories of the Quebec Native Womens Association, the Congress of Black Women, the Front de libration des femmes du Qubec, various Haitian womens organizations, and the Collectif des femmes immigrantes du Qubec and the political work they did. Bringing to light previously overlooked archival and oral sources, Amanda Ricci introduces a new cast of characters to the history of feminism in Quebec. The book presents a unique portrait of the resurgence of feminist activism, demonstrating its deep roots in Indigenous and Black communities, its transnational scope, and its wide-ranging inspirations and preoccupations. Advancing crosscultural perspectives on womens movements, Countercurrents looks to the history of womens activism in Montreal and finds new ways of defining feminist priorities and imagining feminist futures.