Welfare and Poverty in Canadian History
History 24.356*
Winter 2005
Lectures: Tuesday and Thursday, from 13:50 to 14:35 in SA 520
Instructor: Dominique Marshall

Course Outline

Course Description:

The purpose of this course is to provide an analysis of the political history of the Canadian welfare state, in the
context of the social history of poverty. Structured along a chronological examination of welfare arrangements in
Canada since the 17th century, the course will help students to:

-build a chronological and factual framework to anchor their knowledge;

-acquire some vocabulary of social policy analysis;

-be familiar with the various interpretations of the development of social policies in Canada;

-learn the techniques of interpretation of primary documents;

-examine the capacity of key actors to influence the history of social welfare, economic elite, political elite of all levels of government, churches, trades unions, professional corporations and, especially, poor people themselves;

-be sensitive to the ideological dimension of social policy making, especially changing definitions of poverty, changing ideas about the causes of poverty, about the role of the family, the role of the state and about social justice.

-reflect on the role of large economic and demographic changes on the making of welfare arrangements;

-reflect on the impact of social policies on families;

-discuss the specificity of Canadian institutions of social welfare in comparison with other countries;

-replace the history of welfare in its international context;

-be sensitive to the regional variations of welfare developments within the country;

Whilst lectures and readings are a way to become aware - and critical - of prominent trends and major works of historians, the discussions on the readings and on the progress of students’ essays are an occasion to share information and test elements of analysis. A series of workshops will familiarize students with the various methods of historical work.

In addition, each student will work on essays around problems of welfare policy of their choice. This independent work is a way to look more closely at the larger problems investigated in class. It is also an opportunity to improve research and reading abilities, to enhance the capacity for personal analysis and criticism, and to exercise the faculty of proposing an original argument.

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