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  • This thesis explores the political participation of the Montreal ltalian-Canadian community in an urban context, from 1945-1990. Concentrating on the local level, it examines the ltalian-Canadian contribution to municipal politics, the Quebec labour movement, mobilization with regards to the language debate, and' feminist activism. This historical account relies mainly upon the Montreal-based, Italian-language newspaper, Il Cittadino Canadese, as well as papers published by Italian-Canadian community organizations. The first chapter exammes the role ltalian immigrant elites played in the construction of a politicized ltalian-Canadian identity, as well as the establishment of numerous community institutions in the city. As a result of their efforts, several politicians of ltalian descent were elected to municipal government. Addressing the 1960 to 1977 years, the second chapter investigates the ltalian-Canadian contribution to Quebec's labour movement and language debate. Provoking the unification of the collectivity's institutions, the linguistic conflict solidified the Italian-Canadian identity, while it, also, paradoxically, led to internaI dissent and political heterogeneity amongst community members. The focus of Chapter 3, ltalian-Canadian feminist activism illustrates another form of political schism, when' a group of young students came together in 1978 to found the Centra Donne Italiane. Disassociated from the collectivity's mainstream institutions, ltalian feminists formed their own community,equally as politicized. As this thesis concludes, though originating with the language debate of the1960s and 1970s, the political heterogeneity present amongst Italian immigrants only heightened with time. With their basic needs met and a reasonable level of integration attained, Italian-Canadians, could afford both literally and figuratively, to distance themselves from the established cominunity leadership.

Last update from database: 8/18/25, 4:10 AM (UTC)

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