Ted McCoy

The work of Bryan D. Palmer, one of North America’s leading historians, has influenced the fields of labour history, social history, discourse analysis, communist history, and Canadian history, as well as the theoretical frameworks surrounding them. Dissenting Traditions gathers Palmer’s contemporaries, students, and sometimes critics to examine and expand on the topics and themes that have defined Palmer’s career, from labour history to Marxism and communist politics.

Tracing the rise and evolution of Canadian penitentiaries in the nineteenth century, this book examines the concepts of criminality and rehabilitation, the role of labour in penal regimes, and the problem of violence.

Filled with stories of pain, regret, and resistance, this chilling account of how four women survived their time at Kingston Penitentiary stands as an indictment of the idea that prisons and punishment are society’s answer to crime.