During the Cold War, nationalism fell from favour among theorists as
an explanatory factory in history, as Marxists and liberals looked to
class and individualism as the drivers of change. The resurgence of
nationalism after the collapse of the Soviet Union, however, called for
a reconsideration of nationalism and its role in history.

Against Orthodoxy uses case studies from around the world
to critically evaluate more than a quarter-century of scholarship. The
essays in this volume reveal that although theories of nationalism have
benefitted from fresh insights, they have also ossified into a new set
of orthodoxies: some scholars characterize nationalism as an outgrowth
of modernity, others view it as a European export, and still others see
it as the brainchild of intellectuals. From North America to the
Balkans and from Japan to Ethiopia, these theoretically informed and
empirically grounded studies challenge some of these orthodoxies and
offer new ways of thinking about nationalism as they explore four key
themes: theory and history, minorities and multiculturalism in the
nation-state, politics and the state, and the projection of nationalism
onto the international stage.

Collectively, the authors demonstrate that nationalism is not a
singular phenomenon but rather a generative force reflecting complex
historical, political, and cultural arrangements that defy simplistic
explanations.

Trevor W. Harrison is a professor of sociology at the
University of Lethbridge, associate director of the same
university's Prentice Institute for Global Population and
Economics, and co-founder and director of the Parkland Institute at the
University of Alberta. Slobodan Drakulic was an
associate professor of sociology at Ryerson University.

Education has become a battlefield, the classroom the arena where the contest is fought. The 1997 Ontario teachers' strike, the federal government's Millennium Scholarship, and a wave of protests across the country are among the signals that the war is heating up. Alberta stands as a Canadian model of radical education reform, propelled by economic necessity. But is all reform necessarily right or good?-and who decides? A range of commentators-teachers, scholars, parents, and others-discuss the conflict in Alberta's schools.

Gay never recorded an album, never won a Juno. His music existed in the moment, appreciated by the few who were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time. For the rest of us, those late-night jam sessions in a shack in an alley on the bad side of Edmonton never happened. We never got to hear him play the Cole Porter songs he loved with Carlos Montoya, never got to watch the ashes build dangerously on the end of his menthol cigarette. And when Frank Gay died, only the guitar players gently wept. - Shelley Youngblut Until his death in 1982, Edmonton luthier and guitarist Frank Gay built guitars for several famous musicians, including country stars Johnny Cash, Don Gibson, Webb Pierce, and Hank Snow. He captivated listeners with his singular talent on guitar and other instruments, and was well known within the music industry. Trevor Harrison's detective work uncovers the story of this private, charming, and bohemian man, doing a tremendous service to Canadian culture and music history. Harrison pieces together Frank Gay's life through interviews with people who knew him and saw him play. Very few recordings of him playing exist, and the sparse accounts of Gay's life and work raise more questions than they answer. Musicians and instrument makers, as well as those interested in Canadian music or Edmonton's colourful past, will be fascinated by this biography of western Canadian luthier, musician, and guitar virtuoso Frank Gay.