Preston Manning and the Politics of Postmodernism in Canada

Abstract

AbstractSince his rise to national importance in Canada, commentators have been trying to make sense of Preston Manning and his Reform party. For the most part, however, such commentary has refused to see his political thinking as new at all, but instead regards it as a throwback to previous examples of western-based political protest movements. Yet Manning should be regarded as a postmodern conservative. His politics are a response to the process of postmodernization that has characterized Canada in recent years. This article traces the rise of postmodern politics in the Western world; examines the specifically Canadian manifestation of this process; discusses the Reform party in the context of the cultural tension driving Canada's recent political debates; and concludes with a commentary on Manning's contribution to the fragmentation of Canada's traditional party system.