Amanda Ricci, a professor in the Department of History at York University’s Glendon College, has received multiple recognitions for her 2023 book Countercurrents: Women’s Movements in Postwar Montreal (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2023), a new history of the feminist movement in Montreal from the post-war period to the 1990s.
Ricci’s book was awarded the Canadian Committee on Women’s & Gender History’s English Language Book Prize – given to the best book in the field every two years – for its new approach to women’s and gender history and its findings that have the potential to shape future research and advocacy.
Countercurrents was also shortlisted for the Canadian Historical Association’s Best Scholarly Book in Canadian History prize, an annual book prize awarded by the Canadian Historical Association to a non-fiction work of Canadian history believed to have made the most significant contribution to an understanding of the Canadian past.
In recognition of its focus on Quebec, the book was also named a finalist for the Prix de la présidence de l’Assemblée nationale, a literary contest celebrating authors of published works relating to the province’s political landscape.
Countercurrents looks to write a new history of feminism that incorporates parallel social movements into the overarching narrative of the women’s movement. Case studies compare and reflect on the histories of the Quebec Native Women’s Association, the Congress of Black Women, the Front de libération des femmes du Québec, various Haitian women’s organizations and the Collectif des femmes immigrantes du Québec – and the political work they did.
“Amanda Ricci’s history of diverse Montreal feminist groups gives us a new perspective on contemporary feminist activism,” wrote reviewer Denyse Baillargeon from the Université de Montréal. “Clear and complex, Countercurrents shows that the roots to this vast social movement run deeper than we thought, and that its aspirations and struggles go well beyond the borders of Quebec.”
Bringing to light previously overlooked archival and oral sources, Ricci introduces a new cast of characters to the history of feminism in Quebec. The book presents a portrait of the resurgence of feminist activism, demonstrating its deep roots in Indigenous and Black communities, its transnational scope, and its wide-ranging inspirations and preoccupations.
For more information about the book and where to purchase it, visit the publisher’s website.