Countercurrents rewrites the history of post-war feminism in Montreal by incorporating parallel social movements, such as Red Power, Black Power, and Quebec liberation, into the larger narrative of the women's movement. Case studies compare and reflect on the histories and political work of various feminist groups in Quebec.
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 women's movement. Case studies compare and reflect on the histories of the Quebec Native Women's Association, the Congress of Black Women, the Front de libération des femmes du Québec, various Haitian women's organizations, and the Collectif des femmes immigrantes du Québec 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 cross‐cultural perspectives on women's movements, Countercurrents looks to the history of women's activism in Montreal and finds new ways of defining feminist priorities and imagining feminist futures.
"Amanda Ricci's history of diverse Montreal feminist groups gives us a new perspective on contemporary feminist activism, expanding the history of feminism by giving sustained attention – if not pride of place – to minority or racialized women activists and organizations heretofore neglected in scholarship. Clear and complex, Countercurrents shows that the roots to this vast social movement run deeper than we thought, and that its aspirations and struggles go well beyond the borders of Quebec." Denyse Baillargeon, Université de Montréal A new and transnational history of the feminist movement in Montreal from the postwar period to the 1990s. Amanda Ricci is assistant professor at York University.
