As part of the Vancouver Historical Society’s free lecture series, Lara Campbell, professor and Chair of the Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at Simon Fraser University will speak on Thursday, April 28 at 7:30 p.m. in the Museum of Vancouver.
Her talk, entitled Local Protest and Transnational Politics: Vietnam War Resistance in Vancouver and British Columbia, will focus on the role of women and gender within the antiwar movement, especially considering local case studies in light of the Women’s Liberation Movement.
Draft resisters gathered in Vancouver
Lara Campbell. | Photo courtesy of Lara Campbell
Thousands of American draft resisters once came to Canada to protest the Vietnam War. Between 1964 and 1973, Vancouver became a centre for transnational antiwar activism where local organizations, activists and support networks resisted and criticized American geopolitical and cultural influence in Canada.
“The upcoming talk will focus on the context of groups in Vancouver and the community who supported draft dodgers and deserters. Overall these Vancouver stories are set against the backdrop of the antiwar resistance,” Campbell says.
The current project grew naturally from Campbell’s interest in women’s and gender history and North American political protest history. It was sparked by a simple conversation.
“One evening we were out with American friends who had been active in the resistance to the Vietnam War. The chat quickly grew rich in anecdotes as friends remembered circumstances like where one could find the best border points with sympathetic border guards to cross. I also became interested in women’s history of the era to find out about the women that came with the men,” says Campbell.
As explained by Campbell, the young men who resisted the draft formed several distinct groups. The war resistance community reclaimed and used the term ‘draft dodgers’ as a practical means to distinguish this larger group from deserters. Desertion came with more severe legal implications and accordingly put different demands on the resistance.
“While women were not drafted, they were nonetheless directly impacted. Hence, women were draft and war resisters in a broader sense and part of this larger community,” she says.
Campbell says it is also important to remember that American women who immigrated to Canada played an important role in helping to build community and supporting their families. They were able to move back and forth across the border, keeping up family relationships and friendships. Women were sometimes the initiators of immigration to Canada.
“For example, some women worried that the Vietnam War would drag on for years, making their teenage sons vulnerable to the draft,” says Campbell.
Lasting implications and renewed interest
Lara Campbell’s book, Worth Fighting For: Canada’s Tradition of
War Resistance from 1812 to the War on Terror. |
The Vietnam era coincided with the expansion of higher education in Canada. The humanities and social sciences saw many new hires from the United States in the 1970s. The war resistance thus had a nuanced impact on Canadian culture and society on many levels.
“[More recently] the Iraq War discussion rekindled interest in revisiting the Vietnam War as we ask, ‘Who goes to fight during an American war?’ Hence the memories and experiences of Vietnam gained renewed urgency in the face of Iraq,” says Campbell.
Campbell’s most recent book is entitled Worth Fighting For: Canada’s Tradition of War Resistance from 1812 to the War on Terror.
“This book, while not about Vietnam, was inspired by the research I did on draft resistance more generally. It looks at Canada’s long history of war resistance from the 18th century to the present day, with several articles on draft resistance and resistance to the Iraq war,” says Campbell.
For more information, please visit www.vancouver-historical-society.ca
