Before and After the State
Politics, Poetics, and People(s) in the Pacific Northwest
Documenting the profound impact of state formation on individuals and communities in the Pacific Northwest of the nineteenth century, Before and After the State reveals how national narratives and constructed identities were used in the service of nation building.
Description
The creation of the Canada–US border in the Pacific Northwest is often presented as a tale of two nations, but beyond the macro-political dynamics is the experience of individuals. Before and After the State examines the imposition of a border across a region that already held a vibrant, highly complex society and dynamic trading networks. Allan McDougall, Lisa Philips, and Daniel Boxberger explore fundamental questions of state formation, social transformation, and the (re)construction of identity to expose how the devices and myths of nation building affect people’s lives.
Reviews
The authors show that histories on both sides of the border have downplayed pioneering before large-scale western migration.
- David R. Conn
After reading this book one may never look at the Pacific Northwest in quite the same way.
- Tracie Lea-Scott, Heriot-Watt University, Dubai