Violence, liberty and constitutionalism: A historical and contemporary reflection from Atlantic Canada

This paper reflects on violence, liberty and constitutionalism through a focus on patriarchal developments over time and on feminist attempts to create women’s political spaces that would permit women to exercise liberty. It draws from two very different types of historical data: (1) my recent secondary macro-historical research focused on Europe and colonial America over the last millennium and (2) my feminist action research in Atlantic Canada from 1967 to the present as part of local, national and international women’s movement organizations, as a feminist sociologist and as a member of the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women. These two types illustrate macro and micro changes over time.

It begins historically with brief findings that challenge contemporary versions of women’s political progress in the west by presenting four case studies from the last millennium that suggest an alternative interpretation. It reflects on these case studies and on the radically changing paradigms that characterize the last millennium over time and space. It then focuses briefly different historical relationships to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women or CEDAW throughout its history. These include: (1) participating in actions for its ratification from Atlantic Canada, (2) relative indifference because of the growing acceptance of the legitimacy of women’s rights in Canada during the 1980s; (3) feelings of its growing significance in legitimizing the human rights of  women in light of conservative forces within Canada in the 2000s and new forms of patriarchy starting in the 1990s; and (5) concerns about challenges to CEDAW in Canada that need action via the Optional protocol. The paper concludes with a reflection on CEDAW, human rights and Constitutionalism from several paradigmatic perspectives, including one from North America’s first nations.