Calm, cool, and collected: Canadian multiculturalism (domestic globalism) through a Cold War lens.

The Canadian government adopted a multicultural policy in 1971, complicating the binary of ‘two founding peoples’ by acknowledging the diversity of its settler populations. This redefinition took place against the backdrop of the Cold War in which Canada was a strategically located junior partner in the Western alliance. This article draws parallels between photographic representations of Canadian diversity and the photographic culture of the Cold War as complementary programmes of nation-building and national defence. The study focuses mainly on the activities of the Still Photography Division of the National Film Board of Canada in its coincident evolution from a government information agency to a proto-museum with a mandate to collect and circulate Canadian contemporary photography. A curious mixture of communitarian ideals, countercultural impulses, and institutional ambitions is displayed across a number of documentary projects. The power of photography as a silent language is put into question by a modest compilation of words and images that situates both global and local uncertainties in a Winnipeg grocery store. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Visual Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)