Kenneth McLaughlin

John English

The history of Kitchener is unique among cities in southern Ontario. Although Kitchener shares so much of the character of the region today, its past was considerably different. Until 1916, Kitchener was Berlin, “Canada’s German capital.” Over two-thirds of the residents were of German origin; many retained strong traces of that past. These became controversial when Canada fought two wars against Germany. By the middle of the First World War, the idea of “a patch of Germany” in the heart of southern Ontario became untenable. Berlin became Kitchener, but not without a battle which split the small city. This is the first scholarly history of Kitchener. Based on wide-ranging research, it illustrates how a community so unlike its neighbours became a part of the broader Canadian community in the twentieth century. Much of the information is new, and many myths are punctured. The romantic mists which have surrounded the story of the early Mennonite settlers are lifted. The full story of the great controversies of the First World War is told for the first time. The impact of the Depression and the extraordinary economic boom which accompanied the Second World War are analyzed. Kitchener’s sometimes-eccentric politicians are seen, not as deviations, but as representatives of a long tradition of civic populism. Over 100 photographs accompany the text. Maps and tables further illuminate Kitchener’s development. Kitchener: An Illustrated History will be of interest, not only to its residents, but also to Canadians generally who are interested in the history of multiculturalism and the transition from rural to urban Canada. This book illustrates the difficulties as well as the rewards of maintaining distinct cultural traditions. The problems it identifies concern many Canadians today.

An Illustrated History

Kitchener

Today, political claims are increasingly made on the basis of experienced trauma and inherent vulnerability, as evidenced in the growing number of people who identify as a "survivor" of one thing or another, and also in the way in which much political discourse and social policy assumes the vulnerability of the population. This book discusses these developments in relation to the changing focus of social movements, from concerns with economic redistribution, towards campaigns for cultural recognition. As a result of this, the experience of trauma and psychological vulnerability has become a dominant paradigm within which both personal and political grievances are expressed. Combining the psychological, social, and political aspects of the expression of individual distress and political dissent, this book provides a unique analysis of how concepts such as "vulnerability" and "trauma" have become institutionalised within politics and society. It also offers a critical appraisal of the political and personal implications of these developments, and in addition, shows how the institutionalisation of the survivor identity represents a diminished view of the human subject and our capacity to achieve progressive political and individual change. This book will be of interest to researchers, postgraduate and undergraduate students of critical psychology, sociology, social policy, politics, social movements and mental health.

Vulnerability and the Psychology of Recognition

Surviving Identity

‘Empowerment’ is a term in widespread use today and one that is often considered to be a self-evident good. Here, McLaughlin explores its emergence in the 1960s through to its rise in the 1990s and ubiquity in present day discourse and interrogates its social status, paying particular attention to social policy, social work and health and social care discourse. He argues that a focus on empowerment has superseded the notion of political subjects exercising power autonomously. This innovative volume: - Discusses the relationship between concepts of empowerment and power, as they have been understood historically. - Analyses changes in the conception and meaning of empowerment in relation to the shifting social and political landscape. - Acknowledges the positive impact empowerment strategies have had on those who have campaigned to be empowered and also on those who have saw their role as being to help empower others. - Highlights ways in which talk about empowerment can actually work in such a way as to further disempower those already marginalised. Critically examining how ‘empowerment’ has become embedded in contemporary social and political life, this work offers a discussion of the term’s multiple meanings, what it actually entails, and how it constructs and positions those being empowered and those empowering.

Kenneth McLaughlin

Books

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