Unit 3
Race, Gender, and Canadian Labour, 1890s to 1920s

This unit focuses on selected themes in the history of the working class in Canada between 1890 and 1930. It looks particularly at how race and gender organized the Canadian labour market and ultimately affected the Canadian labour movement. Although all working people struggled to keep up with the social and economic changes that were occurring around them, these struggles were uneven. Race and gender affected the lives of the workers in various ways; race and gender also had an impact on worker relationships.

Objectives

After completing Unit 3, you should be able to

1. describe how race affected employment patterns in Canada during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
2. describe how whiteness affected Canadian unionism during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
3. describe how craftsmen in Canada viewed masculinity during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
4. outline the process of feminization in white-collar office work in Canada during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.