Reviews
The Empire Within: Postcolonial Thought and Political Activism in Sixties Montreal, by Sean Mills
stevendedalus's review against another edition
4.0
A very accessible look at the history of leftist activism in Montreal, taking key and at times repetitive pains to show the context for all that roiled Quebec and that city in that turbulent decade.
The FLQ is a brief feature, but only a cameo for showcasing the variety of groups fighting for justice in that era. Mills continually refers to the whiteness and maleness of the groups and their actions and in general shows what made the fight in Quebec so unique as well as linking it with today.
It's surprisingly accessible given the detail and, while not revelatory, does exactly what a history of an era should do: firmly rooting in a time and place and all that gave those things life.
He shows the revolutionary fervour and how it was broken by state violence and exhaustion. The parallels to our current era and the same arguments are intense. Plus ça change...
The FLQ is a brief feature, but only a cameo for showcasing the variety of groups fighting for justice in that era. Mills continually refers to the whiteness and maleness of the groups and their actions and in general shows what made the fight in Quebec so unique as well as linking it with today.
It's surprisingly accessible given the detail and, while not revelatory, does exactly what a history of an era should do: firmly rooting in a time and place and all that gave those things life.
He shows the revolutionary fervour and how it was broken by state violence and exhaustion. The parallels to our current era and the same arguments are intense. Plus ça change...
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