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The article reviews the books "Am I That Name?: Feminism and the Category of Women in History," by Denise Riley and "Gender and the Politics of History," by Joan Wallach Scott.

The National Action Committee on the Status of Women marked the twentieth anniversary of its founding in 1992. Today, it is the umbrella organization for roughly six hundred women’s groups in Canada. The authors of this study argue that, if women’s movements are to achieve their equality goals, they must develop enduring institutions that allow women’s efforts to be organized over the course of several generations. The authors examine the process of institutionalization through an in-depth study of the National Action Committee. In the belief that women’s movements in Canada have become more or less permanent features of the political system, operating parallel to its official structures, the author argue the need for a feminist political science that can accommodate the study of both women’s politics in their autonomous movements and women’s conventional activities in official politics. Indeed, this book undertakes political analysis ‘as if women mattered’: it focuses on women’s interests and draws on feminist theory while remaining connected to the broad framework of political science. The book documents NAC’s evolution as a ‘parliament of women.’ It shows how the organization moved from a fairly narrow status-of-women focus in its policies to a broadly conceived policy framework that linked such apparently sex-neutral issues as free trade, federalism, and taxation to feminism. Although the more comprehensive feminist approach to public policy proved dangerous for NAC in a conservative era, it also solidified its role and reputation as a major play in equality-seeking politics in Canada. --Publisher's description. Contents: Introduction : NAC and women's politics in Quebec ; NAC and women's politics in the first nations ; NAC and the politics of the 'new force' ; NAC as the coordinating institution of the English-Canadian women's movement ; Highlights of NAC's development -- The intellectual and political context for the development of NAC : An overview of women's movements and the National Action Committee ; Canadian political culture and Canadian women's movements ; Radical influences on feminist political culture ; NAC's political-opportunity structure: the Canadian political system -- NAC in the shadow of the royal commission: the founding era, 1972-1978 : 'Social' movements and the political process ; The founding of NAC -- The struggle for NAC: the transitional era, 1979-1982 : The issues in conflict: grafting on a radical grass roots ; Two coalitions competing for the future of NAC -- A new Parliament of women: institutionalizing NAC, 1982-1988 : Getting NAC 'back on track' ; The great leap forward: the expansion examined ; Opposition on the right ; Organizational review -- Agency, leadership, representation, and democracy in NAC : A revolution of rising expectations: NAC member groups ; Leadership and accountability: is anyone here in charge? ; Representation: the heart of the matter ; Process and democracy in NAC -- The policy process: structures for a new Parliament of women : Changing conceptions of the policy process in NAC ; Evolving policy structures in NAC ; NAC's ability to deal with short-term policy issues ; NAC's approach to long-term policy issues -- Feminist ideology and policy making in NAC : In search of a framework: understanding the ideological trends in NAC ; The development of a feminist ideological spectrum in NAC: some benchmark issues ; From a status-of-women approach to a feminist politics -- Conclusion : What is success? ; Can NAC's role as a Parliament of women continue? ; Is radical liberalism outmoded as a cultural basis for NAC politics? ; Will NAC survive? -- Appendixes : A. Ideological forces among Anglophone NAC delegates, 984 AGM ; B. Groups affiliated with NAC by type, circa 1987-1988.

The article reviews the book, "Santé et sécurité du travail," by Micheline Plasse.

The paper presents data from a study of workers' knowledge, perceptions and actions regarding occupational health and safety. The correlates of workers' knowledge of health and safety legislation are analyzed, as well as the links between their knowledge and their resistance to hazardous work. The data suggest that workers who are most disadvantaged in the workplace are least likely to be aware of their rights. The correlates of action regarding health and safety are less clear, though knowledge of the legislation was related to resistance to hazardous work.

The article reviews the book, "L'entreprise à l'écoute," by Michel Crozier.

The article reviews the book, "The New Unionism: Employee Involvement in the Changing Corporation," by Charles C. Heckscher.

The article reviews the book, "The Commercial Fishery of the Canadian Great Lakes," by A. B. McCullough.

La planification des ressources humaines en tant que nouveau style de gestion des ressources humaines est en train d'émerger dans le secteur privé. La présente étude montre qu'elle commence également à apparaître dans le secteur public. À partir d'une enquête par entrevue (n = 11) et par questionnaire (n = 76), cette recherche indique que la planification des ressources humaines a fait son apparition dans certaines parties de la fonction publique fédérale.

The subject of this research is the conflicting policy interests and ideas of Canadian organized labour and the federal Conservative government between 1984 and 1988. This conflict is placed within the context of the political and economic changes accompanying the international restructuring of capital and focusses on the opposition of the Canadian trade union movement to federal economic development policies. The struggle of ideas and interests surrounding specific policy areas is detailed. These areas include deficit reduction, the privatization of Crown corporations and government services, deregulation of certain economic activities and sectors and comprehensive bilateral free trade with the United States. Labour's opposition is shown to have manifested in a new strategy for building a broad-based coalition with other popular interests, in an effort to defeat the Conservative government and their policies at the polls. The research work concludes with speculation as to the future of labour and popular-coalition politics.

The article reviews the book, "The Canadian Labour Movement: A Short History," by Craig Heron.

This thesis studies the historically varied political strategies pursued by the Canadian branch of the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers in the union's attempts to shift the balance of power in its favour between 1936 and 1984. In so doing, the thesis examines and explains the Canadian UAW's changing relations to governments, corporations and political parties. Particular emphasis is placed on explaining the conditions under which this union pursued militant forms of political action. The analytical framework used in this work is constructed around an understanding of unions as strategic actors which make choices under limits arising from the historical, political-economic and internal conditions in which the union operates. In turn, a union's strategic capacity--defined as its ability to pursue a particular course of action successfully--is understood as being determined by both external conditions, such as the state of the economy, and by the internal resources and dynamics of the union. The most important external constraint on the Canadian UAW's strategic pursuits was the construction/destruction of the Fordist mode of regulation, which was organized around a wage/productivity trade-off and encouraged the institutionalization of labour-management relations, union control of membership militancy and the practice of 'responsible' unionism. At the same, it is argued that the Canadian UAW shaped the nature of this compromise and the timing of its own acceptance of this arrangement. More specifically, the Canadian UAW's distinctive organizational structure and collective identity are argued to have delayed the union's acceptance of the practices of 'responsible' unionism and influenced the particular regulatory mechanisms put into place in the Canadian auto industry. Overall, this study finds that, in contrast to current interpretations of union postwar political behaviour, Canadian Autoworkers continued to pursue militant, mobilization-based forms of political action until the early 1960's. It was only at this time that Canadian Autoworkers appeared to accept constraints on their militancy in exchange for improved wages and benefits and greater access to political decision-making. This period of detente between the UAW, governments and corporations was short-lived, however, owing both to emergent strains within the union between the rank and file and the leadership and the crisis of Fordism. Consequently, the UAW, in an attempt to protect its organizational integrity and position of strength in the workplace and society, returned to militant forms of political action, the effects of which were a shift in the balance of power in favour of the union and Canadian Autoworkers' split from their International union.