Canadian historians have examined the intersection of groups of youth and new “rebellious” political ideas that emerged in the postwar period.26 A cohort of from the mid-1960s to “rebel youth” early 1970s was energized by a culture of protest and forged a movement of New Left activists and young workers.27 Labour was a defining feature in these social, political and cultural developments, including a new wave of labour militancy and radicalism shaped by a defiance of existing conditions and systems of belief.28 This emerging youth-based movement of disabled people dovetailed with other social movements in Canada during the late twentieth century. The decades of the 1960s and 1970s reflected an upsurge in social movement activism, characterized by the introduction of varied new activist groups representing particular interests.29 In contrast to the previous generation of parent advocates and professional-dominated lobby groups, disability rights activists forged new social movement organizations alongside their nondisabled peers.30 was comprised of Canada’s “rights revolution” rights activists, and other civil rights activists who advanced a new discourse women’s liberationists, gay and culture of respect for social rights.31 Disability rights organizations lagged behind other civil rights groups, but social activism by disabled people emerged directly out of an ongoing culture of protest that engulfed the 1970s political discourse of human rights in Canada.32 Disability rights movement and poverty issues From the 1970s, Canadian disability rights activists were influenced by a developing poor movement in Canada and the United States. The emergence of disability rights activism in peoples’ Canada was partly based on combating various forms of marginalization as activists recognized early on that it was necessary to intense unemployment and poverty experienced by a majority of address “the disabled Disability rights activists in Canada encouraged disabled people to assert their rights people.”33 as consumers of social and community services, following the example of poor movements in peoples’ Canada and the US.34 The development of independent living centres in Canada and the US from the 1970s onward echoed the views of anti-poverty activists by advocating people with disabilities “that were 'clients' who had the right to determine their own The Coalition of Provincial treatment.” Organizations of the Handicapped (COPOH), forerunner to the Council of Canadians with Disabilities
Canadian historians have examined the intersection of “rebellious” groups of youth and new political ideas that emerged in the postwar period.26 A cohort of “rebel youth” from the mid-1960s to early 1970s was energized by a culture of protest and forged a movement of New Left activists and young workers.27 Labour was a defining feature in these social, political and cultural developments, including a new wave of labour militancy and radicalism shaped by a defiance of existing conditions and systems of belief.28 This emerging youth-based movement of disabled people dovetailed with other social movements in Canada during the late twentieth century. The decades of the 1960s and 1970s reflected an upsurge in social movement activism, characterized by the introduction of varied new activist groups representing particular interests.29 In contrast to the previous generation of parent advocates and professional-dominated lobby groups, disability rights activists forged new social movement organizations alongside their nondisabled peers.30 Canada’s “rights revolution” was comprised of women’s liberationists, gay rights activists, and other civil rights activists who advanced a new discourse and culture of respect for social rights.31 Disability rights organizations lagged behind other civil rights groups, but social activism by disabled people emerged directly out of an ongoing culture of protest that engulfed the 1970s political discourse of human rights in Canada.32 Disability rights movement and poverty issues From the 1970s, Canadian disability rights activists were influenced by a developing poor peoples’ movement in Canada and the United States. The emergence of disability rights activism in Canada was partly based on combating various forms of marginalization as activists recognized early on that it was necessary to address “the intense unemployment and poverty experienced by a majority of disabled people.”33 Disability rights activists in Canada encouraged disabled people to assert their rights as consumers of social and community services, following the example of poor peoples’ movements in Canada and the US.34 The development of independent living centres in Canada and the US from the 1970s onward echoed the views of anti-poverty activists by advocating “that people with disabilities were 'clients' who had the right to determine their own treatment.” The Coalition of Provincial Organizations of the Handicapped (COPOH), forerunner to the Council of Canadians with Disabilities