Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T05:48:42.990Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Which Genocide Matters the Most? An Intersectionality Analysis of the Canadian Museum of Human Rights

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 February 2014

Olena Hankivsky  and
Rita Kaur Dhamoon
Olena Hankivsky*
Affiliation:
Simon Fraser University
Rita Kaur Dhamoon*
Affiliation:
University of Victoria
*
Olena Hankivsky, School of Public Policy, and Institute for Intersectionality Research and Policy, Simon Fraser University at Harbour Centre, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver BC V6B 5K3, email: [email protected]
Rita Kaur Dhamoon, Department of Political Science, University of Victoria, PO Box 1700 STN CSC, Victoria BC, V8W 2Y2, email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Abstract. The Canadian Museum of Human Rights, scheduled to open in 2014, is envisioned as a place to learn about the struggle for human rights in Canada and internationally. Yet the museum has faced controversy because of the centrality of the Holocaust in the overall human rights story, prompting other groups whose nations and populations have experienced genocide to make demands that the museum provide equal treatment of other national and international atrocities. Through a feminist intersectionality lens, we examine this “Oppression Olympics,” whereby groups compete for the mantle of the most oppressed, as a case study of the problem with hierarchies of difference. Drawing on intersectionality theory, we ultimately provide an alternative lens and policy direction to the apparent impasse between competing communities.

Résumé. Le Musée canadien pour les droits de la personne, dont l'ouverture est prévue en 2014, est envisagé comme un lieu d'apprentissage sur la lutte pour les droits humains au Canada et dans le monde. Cependant, le Musée a suscité la controverse en raison de l'accent qu'il met sur l'Holocauste dans l'histoire générale des droits de la personne, et il a incité d'autres groupes dont les nations et les populations ont connu le génocide à demander un traitement équitable d'autres atrocités nationales et internationales. Sous l'angle de l'intersectionnalité féministe, nous examinons ces « Jeux olympiques de l'oppression », dans lesquels des groupes concourent pour le titre de plus opprimé, comme une étude de cas du problème des hiérarchies de la différence. En s'appuyant sur la théorie intersectionnelle, nous fournissons une optique et une orientation politique alternative pour aborder l'impasse apparente entre des communautés concurrentes.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 46 , Issue 4 , December 2013 , pp. 899 - 920
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abdou, Mohamed, Day, Richard J.F. and Haberle, Sean. 2009. “Towards a Grassroots Multiculturalism? A Genealogical Analysis of Solidarity Practices in Canadian Activism Today.” In Racism and Justice: Critical Dialogues on the Politics of Identity, Inequality, and Change, ed. Hier, Sean P., Bolaria, B. Singh and Lett, Daniel. Halifax: Fernwood, 207–24.Google Scholar
Adams, James. 2010a. “Group Says Rights Museum Slights Suffering of Ukrainians.” The Globe and Mail (Toronto), December 10. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/group-says-rights-museum-slights-suffering-of-ukrainians/article1319258/ (August 23, 2012).Google Scholar
Adams, James. 2010b. “Ukrainian Group Wants Review of Human-Rights Museum Plan. The Globe and Mail (Toronto), December 21. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/ukrainian-group-wants-review-of-human-rights-museum-plan/article573615/ (August 23, 2012).Google Scholar
Adams, James. 2011. “Protest Grows over Holocaust ‘Zone’ in Canadian Museum for Human Rights.” Globe and Mail (Toronto), February 3. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/protest-grows-over-holocaust-zone-in-canadian-museum-for-human-rights/article566190/ (September 15, 2012).Google Scholar
Basen, Ira. 2011. “Memory Becomes a Minefield at Canada's Museum for Human Rights.” The Globe and Mail (Toronto), August 20. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/memory-becomes-a-minefield-at-canadas-museum-for-human-rights/article555660/?page=all (September 15, 2012).Google Scholar
Bauer, Yehuda. 2001. Rethinking the Holocaust. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Beachler, Donald W. 2011. The Genocide Debate: Politicians, Academics, and Victims. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Blackstock, Cindy. 2008. “Reconciliation Means Not Saying Sorry Twice: Lessons from Child Welfare in Canada.” In From Truth to Reconciliation: Transforming the Legacy of Residential Schools, ed. Castellano, Michael B., Archibald, Linda and De Gagne, Mike. Ottawa: Aboriginal Healing Foundation, 163–78.Google Scholar
Bloxham, Donald. 2008. “Organized Mass Murder: Structure, Participation, and Motivation in Comparative Perspective.” Holocaust and Genocide Studies 22 (2): 203–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, Wendy. 1995. States of Injury: Power and Freedom in Late Modernity. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Cardinal, Harold. 1999. The Unjust Society: The Tragedy of Canadian Indians. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre.Google Scholar
Carter, J. and Orange, J.. 2012. “Contentious Terrain: Defining a human rights museology.” Museum of Management and Curatorship 27: 2111–2127.Google Scholar
Chatterley, Catherine. 2011. “The War against the Holocaust.” Winnipeg Free Press, April 2. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/the-war-against-the-holocaust-119110699.html (September 24, 2012).Google Scholar
Churchill, Ward. 1997. A Little Matter of Genocide: Holocaust and Denial in the Americas 1492 to the Present. San Francisco CA: City Lights.Google Scholar
CMHR. 2013. CMHR “Mandate and Museum Experience.” http://museumforhumanrights.ca/about-museum/mandate-and-museum-experience#.UioQjOhTvL8 [date last accessed May 1, 2013].Google Scholar
CMHR CAC (Canadian Museum for Human Rights Content Advisory Committee). 2010. Content Advisory Committee Final Report to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (May 25, 2010). http://humanrightsmuseum.ca/sites/default/files/CAC-Report-Final-EN-sep22.pdf (October 27, 2012).Google Scholar
Collins, Patricia H. 1990. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. Boston: Unwin Hyman.Google Scholar
Collins, Patricia H. 2000. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Cooper, John. 2008. Raphael Lemkin and the Struggle for the Genocide Convention. Basingstoke UK: Palgrave MacMillan.Google Scholar
Coulthard, Glen. 2007. “Subjects of Empire: Indigenous Peoples and the ‘Politics of Recognition’ in Canada.” Contemporary Political Theory 6 (4): 437–60.Google Scholar
Crenshaw, Kimberle. 1997. “Intersectionality and Identity Politics: Learning from Violence against Women of Colour.” In Reconstructing Political Theory: Feminist Perspectives, ed. Shanley, Mary Lyndon and Narayan, Uma. University Park PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.Google Scholar
Dhamoon, Rita. 2009. Identity/Difference Politics: How Difference Is Produced and Why It Matters. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Dhamoon, Rita. 2011a. “Considerations on Mainstreaming Intersectionality.” Political Research Quarterly 64 (1): 230–43.Google Scholar
Dhamoon, Rita. 2011b. “Navigating Settler-Colonialism through Intersectionality: Unsettled Solidarities.” Paper presented at the 2011 American Political Science Association Annual Meeting, Seattle. Google Scholar
Finkel, Evgeny and Strauss, Scott. 2012. “Macro, Meso and Micro Research on Genocide: Gains, Shortcomings, and Future Areas of Inquiry.” Genocide Studies and Prevention 7 (1): 56–67.Google Scholar
Hancock, Ange-Marie. 2007. “When Multiplication Doesn't Equal Quick Addition: Examining Intersectionality as a Research Paradigm.” Perspectives on Politics 5 (1): 63–79.Google Scholar
Hancock, Ange-Marie. 2011. Solidarity Politics for Millennials A Guide to Ending the Oppression Olympics. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.Google Scholar
Hankivsky, Olena, ed. 2011. Health Inequities in Canada: Intersectional Frameworks and Practices. Vancouver: UBC Press.Google Scholar
Hankivsky, Olena and Cormier, Renee. 2009. Intersectionality: Moving Women's Health Research and Policy Forward. Vancouver BC: Women's Health Research Network.Google Scholar
Hinton, Alexander Laban. 2012. “Critical Genocide Studies.” Genocide Studies and Prevention 7 (1): 4–15.Google Scholar
International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies. 2011. “Genocide is not genocide in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.” August 22. http://www.zoryaninstitute.org/Announcements/Genocide%20Multiculturalism%20and%20the%20CMHR.pdf (September 20, 2012).Google Scholar
Jacobs, Beverley and Williams, Andrea J.. 2008. “Legacy of Residential Schools: Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women.” In From Truth to Reconciliation: Transforming the Legacy of Residential Schools, ed. Castellano, Marlene. B., Archibald, Linda and DeGagne, Mike. Ottawa: Aboriginal Healing Foundation.Google Scholar
Jones, Adam. 2010. A Comprehensive Introduction to Genocide, 2nd ed. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Katz, S. 2001. “The Uniqueness of the Holocaust: The historical dimension.” In Is The Holocaust Unique? Perspectives on Comparative Genocide, ed. Rosenbaum, A.S.. 2nd ed. Boulder CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Kay, Jonathan. 2011. “Three Reasons Why Winnipeg's Human Rights Museum is Doomed to Failure.” National Post, December 21. http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/12/21/jonathan-kay-three-reasons-why-winnipegs-human-rights-museum-is-doomed-to-failure/ (October 12, 2011).Google Scholar
Luciuk, Lubomyr. 2011. “An Open Reply to Ms. Rhonda Spivak re: The Canadian Museum for Human Rights.” Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association. http://www.uccla.ca/An_Open_Reply_to_Ms_Rhonda_Spivak_re_CMHR.pdf (October 14, 2012).Google Scholar
MacDonald, David. 2008. Identity Politics in the Age of Genocide: The Holocaust and Historical Representation. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
MacDonald, David. B. 2010. “Daring to compare: The debate about a Maori ‘holocaust’ in New Zealand.” Journal of Genocide Research 5 (3): 383–403.Google Scholar
MacDonald, David B. and Hudson, Graham. 2012. “The Genocide Question and Indian Residential Schools in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 45 (2): 427–49.Google Scholar
Mahabir, Mark. 2008. Bill C-42: An act to amend the Museums Act and to make Consequential Amendments to Other Acts. Library of Parliament Legislative Summary, February 22, 2008, Parliament of Canada. http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/LegislativeSummaries/39/2/c42-e.pdf (October 24, 2012).Google Scholar
Martinez, Elizabeth. 1993. “Beyond Black/White: The Racisms of Our Time.” Social Justice 20 (1-2): 22–34.Google Scholar
McCall, Leslie. 2005. “The Complexity of Intersectionality.” Signs 30 (3): 1771–1800.Google Scholar
Moses, A. Dirk. 2010. “Conceptual blockages and definitional dilemmas in the ‘racial century’: Genocides of indigenous peoples and the Holocaust.” Patterns of Prejudice 36 (4): 7–36.Google Scholar
Moses, A. Dirk. 2012. “The Canadian Museum for Human Rights: The ‘Uniqueness of the Holocaust’ and the Question of Genocide.” Journal of Genocide Research 14 (2): 215–38.Google Scholar
Murdocco, Carmela. 2010. “‘There is Something in that Water’: Race, Nationalism and Legal Violence.” Law and Social Inquiry 35 (2): 369–402.Google Scholar
Murray, Stuart. 2011. “Speech.” Delivered by President and CEO Stuart Murray to University of Manitoba's Thinking about Ideas Museums speaker series. http://museumforhumanrights.ca/about-museum/speeches-our-museum-leaders/speech-delivered-president-and-ceo-stuart-murray-university#.UipCbehTvoA Google Scholar
Neu, Dean, and Therrien, Richard. 2003. Accounting for Genocide: Canada's Bureaucratic Assault on Aboriginal People. Blackpoint NS: Fernwood.Google Scholar
Novick, Peter. 2000. The Holocaust in American Life. Bel Air CA: Mariner Books.Google Scholar
Orange, J.A. and Carter, J.J.. 2012. “'It's Time to Pause and Reflect': Museums and Human Rights.” Curator: The Museum Journal 55 (3): 259–66.Google Scholar
Razack, Sherene. 1998. Looking White People in the Eye: Gender, Race, and Culture in Courtrooms and Classrooms. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Rollason, Kevin. 2013. “Discontent remains on CMHR, Holodomor,” Winnipeg Free Press, April 9. A5. http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/discontent-remains-on-cmhr-holodomor-202065521.html.Google Scholar
Rosenbaum, Alan S., ed. 2009. Is the Holocaust Unique? Boulder: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Rothberg, Michael. 2009. Multidirectional Memory: Remembering the Holocaust in the Age of Decolonization. Stanford: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Rothberg, Michael. 2011. “From Gaza to Warsaw: Mapping Multidirectional Memory.” Criticism 53 (3): 523–48.Google Scholar
Smith, Andrea. 2005. Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide. Cambridge, MA: South End Press.Google Scholar
Smith, Andrea. 2006. “Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy.” In Color of Violence: The Incite! Anthology, ed. Smith, Andrea, Riche, Beth and Sudbury, Julia. Cambridge MA: South End Press.Google Scholar
Smith, Roger W. 2011. “How Genocide Should Be Represented in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.” International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies. February 24. http://www.ucc.ca/2011/02/26/how-genocide-should-be-represented-in-the-canadian-museum-for-human-rights-pdf/ (September 15, 2012).Google Scholar
Stannard, David. E. 1992. American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World. New York: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thobani, Sunera. 2007. Exalted Subjects: Studies in the Making of Race and Nation in Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Turenne, Paul. 2012a. “Human Rights Museum a Flop? Canadians Not Too Keen to Visit New 'Peg Attraction: Poll.” Toronto Sun, January 31. http://www.torontosun.com/2012/01/31/human-rights-museum-a-flop (September 24, 2012).Google Scholar
Turenne, Paul. 2012b. “Human Rights Museum Pleased by Poll Numbers.” Winnipeg Sun, February 1, 2012. http://www.torontosun.com/2012/02/01/human-rights-museum-pleased-by-poll-numbers (September 25, 2012).Google Scholar
Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC). 2008. “Holodomor Recognized as Genocide by Canadian Parliament.” December 8. http://www.holodomorsurvivors.ca/Canadian%20Recognize/Holodomor%20recognized%20as%20genocide%20by%20Canadian%20Parliament.html (September 25, 2012).Google Scholar
UCC. 2009. “The Canadian Museum for Human Rights: A Canadian Ukrainian Perspective.” June 11, 2009. http://www.ucc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/CMHR_11June091.pdf (September 16, 2012).Google Scholar
UCC. 2011. “UCC Asks for Clarification Before Election.” April 13, 2011. http://www.ucc.ca/2011/04/13/ucc-asks-for-clarification-before-election/ (October 24, 2012).Google Scholar