{"id":338,"date":"2015-10-05T02:55:32","date_gmt":"2015-10-05T06:55:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/postconfederation2e\/chapter\/7-1-introduction\/"},"modified":"2020-07-17T17:36:17","modified_gmt":"2020-07-17T21:36:17","slug":"7-1-introduction","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/postconfederation2e\/chapter\/7-1-introduction\/","title":{"raw":"7.1 Introduction","rendered":"7.1 Introduction"},"content":{"raw":"[caption id=\"attachment_337\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"400\"]\"Three<\/a> Figure 7.1 The Salvation Army (aka: Sally Ann) was one of many social reform movements that included a strong religious element. Organized in ranks, the Salvation Army exemplifies the crusading zeal of some of these movements. The Rat River Salvation Army band, 1898.[\/caption]\r\n\r\nThere are many ways in which to contextualize reform historically. There are important economic and demographic contexts\u00a0\u2014 such as booms and busts, or a surfeit or dearth of children or workers\u00a0\u2014 and so one might be inclined to study reform as a response to those particular circumstances. While it is true that there are often identifiable catalysts to reform movements, it is also the case that most reform movements outlive their initial context and become much more: they become ways of viewing the world.\r\n\r\nIf this sounds vaguely religious, it should. Most movement cultures in Canada, over the last century or so, either had roots in denominational Christianity or were a reaction to the influence of organized religion. It seems safe to say that all were sustained over the longer term by a commitment to goals that were redemptive, a little millenarian, and sometimes purifying. All of the great reform movements of the post-Confederation era shared a few common catalysts and structural elements as well, not the least of which were a sense of pending disaster and a support base that was multi-provincial, if not national in its reach. There are exceptions but they are fewer than the commonalities.\r\n\r\nThese shared characteristics make it both possible and necessary to consider many of the reform\u00a0movements side-by-side, regardless of their place on the nation\u2019s timeline. There is spillover between them and the same faces show up in a variety of movements; there are also deep schisms between a few and, from time to time, unflinching hostility felt by participants in one movement to the champions of another. Social reform themes arise, in large measure, from a kind of deductive logic. There is poverty and therefore there must be causes of poverty; there is crime and fear and therefore there must be causes of disorder; there is inequity and unhappiness, danger and ugliness and all of these things must arise from some cause. The answers that social reformers offered up became banners\u00a0\u2014 the\u00a0other kind of\u00a0 cause \u2014and thus rallying points for citizens from many backgrounds. This chapter begins with the 19th century\u2019s great social movements, and concludes with the environmental movements of the 20th century.\r\n
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Learning Objectives<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

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