PSCI3006 FINAL EXAM

First Wave of Women’s Movement

• Late 19th-early 20th century

• Goals included:

  • women’s suffrage, increased property rights, increased access to education, and demands better work conditions and jobs.

  • main focus is POLITICAL and LEGAL rights for women.

Second Wave of Women’s Movement

• Roughly from 1960 to 1985.

• Focuses on:

  • Women’s role in the workforce, equal pay for equal work (labour rights), addressing violence against women, and reproductive rights (birth control access)

• “Personal is Political.”

• Consciousness Raising.

• RCSW was established.

• 1977 Canadian Human Rights Act, which forbade gender discrimination.

• Abortion was legalized by Parliament in 1969 - BUT remained an offence unless the mother was at risk and the therapeutic abortion committee approved it.

  • Abortion was not fully legal until 1988 (after the second wave).

• Groups attacked:

  • REAL women

Third Wave of Women’s Movement

• Roughly from 1985 - 2010s/onward?

• Focuses on:

  • Intersectionality (LGBTQ+, POC, diverse women, Trans, etc.),

• Critiqued 2nd wave feminism because they focused on women being seen as one group - 3rd wave is more intersectional.

• Women’s movement became more diverse.

“Personal is Political”

• Second-wave women's movement slogan.

• Personal struggles like domestic labour, abuse, or health.

• The point of the slogan is to challenge the patriarchy:

  • by saying your personal issues are political

  • Examples: ur day to day life as a woman in the 60s sucks BECAUSE of politics

• takes a woman’s issues and puts a political light on it.

Consciousness Raising

• It’s a social movement that happened during the second wave of the women’s movement

• Late 1960s/70s

• CR is when a group of ppl attempting to focus attention on some cause or condition

  • example: bring women together to create more politically conscious women

• Personal is political is a CR movement

  • used in small groups to discuss personal experience of oppression to show they were widespread, systematic political problems rather than personal failings:

    • childcare or domestic labour

Abortion Caravan (1970)

• 17 women from Vancouver drove to Ottawa and invaded Parliament Hill to decriminalize abortion and to gain women’s rights over their own bodies.

  • Demand the repeal of all abortion laws.

  • Organized by the Vancouver Women’s Caucus (est.1969)

  • they were NOT successful

    • NOT listened to, NOT taken seriously

• In the gallery of the House of Commons, the women started “free abortions on demand.” So they shut down the House of Commons for over an hour.

• Abortion wasn’t decriminalized UNTIL 1988

Royal Commission on the Status of Women (RCSW)

• Established in 1967 by Lester Pearson

• Mandate: To enquire about the status of women in Canada and
  make recommendations on updating the legislative issues and addressing critical issues for women.

• Made in response to public pressure.

• Paved the way for significant progress in advancing gender equality

• 468 briefs, 890 witnesses, 40 commissioned studies

  • A lot of recommendations for women
    40 commissioned studies

• NOW: next step for more diverse identities

National Action Committee on the Status of Women

• Canada's largest feminist coalition.

• Founded in 1971 to pressure the government to implement the recommendations of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women

  • creating better maternity leave, access to pension, and not being allowed to be discriminated against for gender and marital status.

• The group expanded its focus to include systemic issues like poverty, racism, LGBTQ+ rights, and violence against women.

• It grew into a powerful lobby group representing hundreds of organizations before dissolving in the late 2000s.

• Dissolved due to lost-funding.

  • most funding came from Federal Government funding

  • funding was cut in 1990s - dissolved by late 2000s

REAL Women

• Socially conservative women’s group founded in 1983.

• Supports traditional gender roles

  • promotes homemaking, opposes abortion and assisted suicide, promotes religious practices, etc.

  • opposition to mainstream feminism.

• Inclusive advocacy group: men can join lol

• Acts as a counter-movement to second-wave feminism

Anti-Black Racism

• Policies and practices rooted in Canadian institutions that mirror and reinforce discrimination towards ppl of black African descent.

  • Racism against black ppl.

  • Examples:

    • Black youth in Toronto say that the only reason they don’t go to sexual clinics is that they face significant racism.

    • Criminal justice system - Black Canadians are targeted.

    • Economic inequalities: Black Canadians face higher unemployment rates.

Black Loyalists

Black Loyalists

• 1775 to 1783:

  • Freedom from slavery was offered to the enslaved Africans who agreed to fight for the British during the American War of Independence.

  • As a result, 10 percent of the United Empire Loyalists who came to Canada after the war were estimated to be Black. Colloquially known as “Black Loyalists.”

• Thousands (3000-3500) of free or enslaved Black people fought for Great Britain during the American War of Independence because they were offered freedom or land after.

  • Primarily settled in New Brunswick or Nova Scotia after.

Sir George Williams Affair

• Sir George Williams University - now Concordia

• A Canadian student-led protest started when 6 Black Caribbean students accused the professor of racist grading.

  • The professor (Perry Anderson) had a history of only failing black students.

  • University deemed unsubstantiated - examined the claim and rejected it.

• Apr. 1968: Six Black Caribbean students report experience of racism in physiology class.

• Dec. 1968: Investigative Committee Struck - they investigate the racist claims.

• Jan. 1969: Committee exonerates instructor - no evidence found/examined the issue and rejected it, prof isnt deemed as guilty.

• Jan. 29- Feb. 10: 200 students engage in a sit-in at the Henry F. Hall Building.

• Feb. 10, 1969: Agreement made between the university and students for a new committee to re-examine the racist allegations.

• Feb. 11: Negotiations fell apart (Uni wasn’t gonna uphold promises), students rioted (barricaded themselves in the Henry F Hall), and the university called the police in.

  • 97 arrests, a destructive fire, $2 million in damages

• Raised questions of racism (in institutions) in Canada

Critical Events

• Critical Events:

  • Social movement theorists refer to critical events as:
    “events that focus the attention of the movement supporter, members of the public, and authorities on particular issues, creating threats and opportunities that movement mobilizations and outcomes.” (Staggenborg 2023, 213).

• Events that spark national attention, raise concern, spark debate, and bring issues to the surface.

• They create lasting effects:

  • Example: Sir Williams George Affair - cuz it brought racism (esp in university settings to light)

Black Lives Matter

• “Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world
  where Black Lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black Folks’ contributions to this society, our humanity and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression” (Alicia Garza, cited by Thompson 2020, 240).

• A social movement that protests against anti-Black racism, state-sanctioned violence, and white supremacy.

• BLM started in 2013 - gained widespread attention after the murder of African American man George Floyd in Minneapolis - spiked attention in Canada.

• Known for:

  • ACAB + defunding the police

  • Fighting against racially motivated violence against black people

Desmond Cole

• The Skin We're In: Pulling back the curtain on racism in Canada - CBC Docs POV

• Canadian journalist/radio host/activist

• Lives in Toronto - from Red Deer

• Reporting/fighting against police brutality and the unjust treatment of Black ppl by law enforcement.

“The Skin We’re In”

• Book and documentary by Desmond Cole on anti-black racism (specifically police brutality in Canada towards black people).

• Is the struggle against racism in Canada during the year 2017, chronicling Cole's role as an anti-racist activist and the impact of systemic racism in Canadian society.

Health from below

• Grassroot, community-led, movements

• against the stigma around aids and the failure of governments to help with AIDS

  • no gov help with:

    • research

    • funding

    • kinda j ignored it

Political opportunity structures (POS)

• An approach of social movements influenced by sociology.

• Argues that the success/failure of movements is affected primarily by political opportunities.

• There needs to be political injustice to help create the movement.

  • ppl need to feel mistreated to join/support.

Liberationist approaches

Equal rights approaches

Operation SOAP

AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs)

Identity-defined organizations

Political Consumerism

• “Consumers’ use of the market as an arena for politics to change the institutional or market practices found to be ethically, environmentally, or politically objectionable.” - Micheletti and Stolle 2015: 478)

• Boycott or buycott.

• The practice of using buying power to influence politics and ethics, essentially spending money on things that you want to support or boycotting.

• Voting with ur wallet.

• Choosing to buy (or not buy) specific products based on personal, ethical, or political beliefs

  • example: elbows up - Gordie Howe

Consumer Activism

• Jessica Vredenburg and Amanda Spry state:

  • “Consumer activism is one of the most widespread forms of Political participation illustrated by consumers’ ability to affect corporations and the marketplace both directly and indirectly.... While one individual may not be able to influence the market, the combined power of a group of consumers, acting as a unified force in various forms, can effect change... Consumer activism is based on a belief that consumption is an inherently political act embedded in a complex network of social and economic relationships” (2022, 111)

• Organized, collective efforts by groups of people to pressure companies to change their behaviour.

• Example:

  • r/loblawsisoutofcontrol Reddit movement:

    • where over 75,000 members organized a boycott against Loblaws and its subsidiaries (No Frills, Shoppers Drug Mart) to protest high food prices and corporate greed.

Sugar Boycott (1792)

• British Quakers - an abolitionist group (anti-slavery) that protested slavery in the Caribbean

  • Canada was British at the time

• They stopped buying sugar from the West Indies (Caribbean islands) to oppose the slave trade

  • switched to sugar produced in the East Indies or by free labour

  • Consumer activism - boycott

  • Mainly women - because of roles

• Outcome:

  • Act Against Slavery: In 1793, inspired by this rising abolitionist sentiment, Upper Canada became the first British colony to pass legislation restricting slavery.

    • prohibiting the importation of new slaves and freeing children born to enslaved women at age 25

      • Did not free those already enslaved - just couldn’t enslave anyone else

Boycott vs Buycott

• Boycott: Not buying things from a company over another cuz of values and beliefs.

  • Example:

    • Starbucks and McDonald’s for Palestine

    • Loblaws for supporting isreal

• Buycott: Buying things to support a company over another cuz of values and beliefs.

  • Example:

    • Ketchup wars

    • Elbows up

Fair Trade

• A shopping approach ensuring farmers and artisans in developing countries receive fair payment, safe working conditions, and fair labour terms for their goods.

• Aims to reduce poverty, prohibit child labour, and promote eco-friendly farming through ethical supply chains.

• ETHICAL

• Examples:

  • IS FAIR TRADE:

    • Kicking Horse Coffee

      • Farmers farming beans (central and south america) have living wages, safe conditions, and eco-friendly

  • IS NOT FAIR TRADE:

    • Shein - Primarily China

      • sweatshops

      • child labour

“Ketchup Wars”

• Refers to a 2016 consumer-led campaign in Canada

• In 2014, Kraft Heinz closed its historic plant in Leamington, Ontario, resulting in job losses.

• In 2016, a Facebook post by Brian Fernandez went viral, urging people to buy French's, which used Ontario tomatoes and supported local jobs.

• Consumers rallied behind French's, which started adding a maple leaf to its label, leading to shortages on store shelves.

• Heinz subsequently returned to using Canadian tomatoes in 2020 following the backlash.

Brand Activism

• Businesses taking a stand on issues

  • Patagonia Canada: Recognized for authentic environmental activism:

    • advocating for the preservation of wild salmon populations

      • Artifishal docu

    • Sponsored Jumbo Wild - supporting the protection of Jumbo Valley, BC.

Resilient Bath Bomb - Lush

• Lush Originates in the United Kingdom – 1995

  • Products – Soaps, lotions, moisturizers, scrubs, shampoo

  • Found in 49 countries, 951 stores globally, with manufacturing plants in Canada, Germany, and Australia

• Brand Activism

• Bath Bomb serves as a fundraising tool, with 75% of the purchase price (minus taxes) donated to organizations supporting refugee and immigrant communities.

• A limited-edition bath bomb (July 2025), designed to provide an uplifting, sensory bathing experience while supporting community advocacy. It is specifically created in partnership with the Canadian Council for Refugees (CCR) to raise funds for organizations supporting belonging and human rights.

Voice of Women Canada

• Emerges in 1960 in response to a threat of nuclear war

• Key campaign: Give a tooth to science” 1962-1965

• Encouraged women to give baby teeth to be tested for Strontium 90 to scientists

• Raises public awarness f the environmental effects of the nucclear arms race

Rachel Carson

• American marine biologist, writer, and conservationist

• Wrote a book in 1962: Silent Spring (exposed the dangers of pesticide misuse and sparked the modern environmental movement)

  • warned of the widespread contamination of the food chain by chemical pesticides, challenging the practices of chemical industries and government agencies

Rio Earth Summit 1992

• A meeting of officials, scientists, media, and NGOs from 179 countries to adopt sustainable development principles.

• Part of the third wave of environmental mobilizations.

Greenpeace

• An independent global environmental organization founded in 1971.

• Aims to protect biodiversity, prevent pollution, and promote peace, focusing on systemic change regarding climate change, fossil fuels, plastic pollution, and ocean protection.

• Known for direct action and peaceful protest to highlight environmental issues and hold corporations and governments accountable.

• Global campaigning organization.

  • Does not accept donations from corporations or governments, relying instead on individual supporters to maintain independence.

Climate Action Network

• A worldwide coalition of over 1,500 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in 130+ countries working together to fight the climate crisis.

• Promotes non-governmental organization involvement in efforts to avert global warming.

The Paris Agreement

A legally binding international treaty adopted in 2015 by 195 parties at COP21 (21st century conference of the parties) to fight climate change.