Deindustrializing Montreal : Entangled Histories of Race, Residence and Class

The author points out that Point Saint-Charles, a historically white working-class neighbourhood with a strong Irish and French presence, and Little Burgundy, a multiracial neighbourhood that was home to the city’s English-speaking Black community, faced each other across Montreal’s Lachine Canal, once an artery around which work and industry in Montreal were clustered and by which these two communities were formed and divided. The author challenges the deepening divergence of class and race analysis by recognizing the intimate relationship between capitalism, class struggles, and racial inequality. He argues that deindustrialization is a process of physical and social ruination as well as part of a wider political project that leaves working-class communities impoverished and demoralized. He notes that Point Saint-Charles was left to rot until it was revalorized by gentrification, whereas Little Burgundy was torn apart by urban renewal and highway construction. The author traces the history of these two communities from their earliest years to their decline and their current reality.

Montreal and Kingston

McGill-Queen's University Press

2022

xvii-419p.

en

978-0-228-01075-3