From Left to Right

Know about the book -

From Left to Right is written by Brian T. Thorn and published by UBC Press. It's available with International Standard Book Number or ISBN identification 0774832118 (ISBN 10) and 9780774832113 (ISBN 13).

In From Left to Right, Brian Thorn explores what motivated Canadian women to become politically engaged in the 1940s and ’50s. Although women in these decades are often depicted as being trapped in the suburbs – caring for children, baking pies, and leaving politics to men – they joined diverse political parties, including the Social Credit Party, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, and the Communist Party of Canada. Thorn argues, controversially, that while women on the left and right had different goals, their activism continued to be informed by maternalism. They used their roles as wives and mothers to influence their parties’ positions on war and unions, to break down barriers between the private and public spheres, and to push for a new world order. Along the way, they laid the foundations for the 1960s feminist movement.