State of Struggle: Feminism and Politics in Alberta

State of Struggle offers a unique perspective on Alberta’s recent political history. Viewed through the lens of feminist and anti-feminist efforts to gain political legitimacy, the book observes the consequences of Alberta’s oil and gas economy and the province’s peripheral location from the locus of Canadian political decision-making on the effectiveness of feminist efforts to both challenge and contribute to provincial governance. The book traces the dynamic interaction between the development of second wave feminist organizing and the shift from Alberta’s peculiar variant of a welfare state to its neoliberal form. Using archival data from feminist organizations and various provincial government departments as well as interviews with activists, policy makers and politicians, the book’s chronologically organized chapters offer a series of rich tales illuminating the transformations within both the feminist movement and the Alberta state from the election of Lougheed’s Conservatives through Ralph Klein’s second term of office. It is a kind of ‘we laughed, we cried’ drama composed of dialogues of the deaf, strategic missteps, organizational cunning and occasional policy change that is sure to leave readers shaking their heads in amusement, disbelief or outrage.