In 1899, a group o f Russian peasants called the Doukhobors immigrated to
Canada, after suffering centuries of persecution in Russia. Soon after their arrival,
conflict emerged between these new immigrants and the state over such issues as
land ownership, refusal to register births and deaths, and to send their children to
school. As positions hardened, a group known as the Sons of Freedom emerged that
used nudity, arson, and bombings as their means o f protest and retaliation. These
practices continued on for the better part of a century.
Numerous unsuccessful attempts were made to address the conflict, ranging
from commissions of inquiry to child apprehensions for truancy. Finally, in 1985 an
accord was reached among the groups and government that marked the beginning of
the end to violence. What enabled this intervention to succeed was the focus of this
study.
This study applies a narrative approach that examined the discourse of the
Doukhobor groups, government and others to learn how certain perceptions and
meanings led to bombings and arson and how co-constructing competing narratives
into a new narrative provided a means for change. The analysis is based on
transcripts o f the proceedings, along with the narrative renderings and epiphanies of
those who played a key strategic role in helping the groups reach an accord.
Resulting from this study were findings that challenged conventional conflict
resolution practices, particularly when applied in an ethnopolitical context. / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uvic.ca/oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/7891 |
| Date | 07 April 2017 |
| Creators | Cran, Gregory |
| Contributors | Cassidy, Frank |
| Source Sets | University of Victoria |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | Available to the World Wide Web |
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