School of Cities / Event

City Visions | Deindustrializing Montreal: Entangled Histories of Race, Residence, and Class

City Visions - Book talks exploring urban issues and visionary transformations

Deindustrializing Montreal: Entangled Histories of Race, Residence, and Class challenges the deepening divergence of class and race analysis by recognizing the intimate relationship between capitalism, class struggles, and racial inequality. Fundamentally, deindustrialization is a process of physical and social ruination as well as part of a wider political project that leaves working-class communities impoverished and demoralized.

Book cover for Deindustrializing Montreal

The book is by Steven High, Professor of History and Founding Member, Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling, Concordia University. Prof. High is an interdisciplinary oral and public historian with a strong interest in transnational approaches to working-class studies, forced migration, community-engaged research, as well as oral history methodology and ethics. He is currently President of the Canadian Historical Association (2021-23).

From February – June 2023, the School of Cities hosted the City Visions book series, featuring leading urban experts and authors exploring the urban issues and visionary transformations captured in their recent books.Topics ranged from de-industrialization to single-family housing and from innovation districts to housing market segregation, and every event featured the author in conversation with a moderator and fellow urban affairs expert.