Negotiating gendered discourses

Sample

Vincent Lam

Once voted the greatest Canadian of all time, Tommy Douglas was a prairie politician who believed in democratic socialism, the crucial role of civil rights, and the great potential of cooperation for the common good. He is best known as the “Father of Medicare.” Born in 1904, Douglas was a championship boxer and a Baptist minister who later exchanged his pulpit for a political platform. A powerful orator and tireless activist, he sat first as a federal MP and then served for 17 years as premier of Saskatchewan, where he introduced the universal health-insurance system that would eventually be adopted across Canada. As leader of the national NDP, he was a staunch advocate of programs such as the Canada Pension Plan and was often the conscience of Parliament on matters of civil liberties. In the process, he made democratic socialism a part of mainstream Canadian political life. Giller Prize–winning author Vincent Lam, an emergency physician who works on the front lines of the health-care system, brings a novelist's eye to the life of one of Canada's greats.

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L. Edward Purcell

The Vice Presidents is an expertly written, multiauthor compendium that narrates and explains the lives and careers of America's 45 vice presidents. It is an essential guide for anyone seeking a complete understanding of the development and workings of the United States government, and a great read for those who are fascinated by the interplay of politics and power. The Vice Presidents contains 45 biographies written by prominent experts and scholars; a detailed chronology of the political history of the United States from the Revolution to the second term of Vice President Al Gore; suggested further reading about each vice president; cross-references, a bibliography, and an index; and portraits of all 45 vice presidents.

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Hugh Tinker

On Charles Freer Andrews, 1871-1940, Anglican priest, lecturer, Gandhian, and mediator between the Indian nationalists and the British.

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Sohrab Ahmari and Nasser Weddady

"During the Arab Spring, the world saw a long-suppressed group in the Middle East--young people--assert itself and demand its rights. But youthful dissent did not appear overnight; for decades it has been simmering beneath the surface in countries from Saudi Arabia to Yemen, from Iran to Egypt. In Arab Spring Dreams, a number of young Middle Easterners describe their experiences with the region's laws and cultural mores, including the crime of holding hands before marriage, discrimination and harassment over religious beliefs, and young women fighting for the right to complete their educations. They also discuss how previous uprisings, particularly the American civil rights movement of the 1960s, might be channeled to effect change in their own countries. Beautifully written and profoundly moving, these stories present a decisive call for change at a crucial point in the evolution of the Middle East"--