The anglican church of Canada and the Indian residential schools : a meaning-centred analysis of the long road to apology
Year: 2012
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The Canadian residential school system, which operated from the 1880s until the 1970s, was a \nchurch-state enterprise designed to assimilate Aboriginal children into Euro-Canadian culture \nand was characterized by poor sanitation and widespread abuse. Recently, it has been the \nobject of the most significant and most successful struggle for redress in Canadian history. \nHowever, for most of its long history, the many failings of the residential school system went \nunacknowledged by the organizations formerly involved in its operation. In this thesis, I seek to \nexplain why. In doing so, I provide a framework for further study on the residential schools and \non comparable cases. \nTo resolve my question, I conduct a comparative historical analysis of the Anglican Church of \nCanada, which was formerly an important partner in the operation of the residential schools. \nMy data is drawn from a wide range of archival material. My analysis is framed by a meaningcentred approach to social behaviour referred to as the Strong Program. In sum, I argue that the \ninitial meaning of the school system as a sacred enterprise hindered acknowledgement of its \nfailings. For the church to acknowledge the failings of the residential schools, such a meaning \nneeded to be replaced with a new meaning emphasizing the tragic consequences of the school \nsystem. This could only occur once the balance of social power had shifted away from the \ndefenders of the sacred meaning and towards its detractors.
Author: Eric Taylor Woods
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2000622189