Just Words : : Constitutional Rights and Social Wrongs / / Joel Bakan.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Toronto Press eBook-Package Archive 1933-1999
• VerfasserIn: Bakan, Joel,
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2016]; ©1997
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English
• Series: Heritage
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (272 p.)

The Canadian Charter of Rights is composed of words that describe the foundations of a just society: equality, freedom, and democracy. These words of justice have inspired struggles for civil rights, self-determination, trade unionism, the right to vote, and social welfare. Why is it, then, that fifteen years after the entrenchment of the Charter, social injustice remains pervasive in Canada?Joel Bakan explains why the Charter has failed to promote social justice, and why it may even impede it. He argues that the Charter's fine-sounding words of justice are 'just words.' Freedom, equality and democracy are fundamental principles of social justice. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms entrenches them in Canada's highest law, the constitution. Yet the Charter has failed to promote social justice in Canada. In Just Words, Joel Bakan explains why. Sophisticated in its analyses but clearly written and accessible, Just Words is cutting-edge commentary by one of Canada's rising intellectuals.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction -- Part I. -- 2. Constitutional Interpretation and the Legitimacy of Judicial Review -- Part II. -- 3. Equality and the Liberal Form of Rights -- 4. Freedom of Expression and the Politics of Communication -- 5. Freedom of Association and the Dissociation of Workers -- 6. Power to the Powerful -- Part III. -- 7. Judges and Dominant Ideology -- Part IV. -- 8. Rights as Political Discourse: The Charter Meets the Charlottetown Accord -- 9. What's Wrong with Social Rights? -- 10. Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- Cases Cited -- Index