Ian MacPherson (historian)
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Ian MacPherson (1939 – November 16, 2013) was a
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
, and a supporter of the
co-operative movement The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement bega ...
. MacPherson was born in
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
.


Education

MacPherson received his
B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
from the
University of Windsor , mottoeng = Goodness, Discipline and Knowledge , established = , academic_affiliations = CARL, COU, Universities Canada , former_names = Assumption College (1857-1956)Assumption University of Windsor (1956-1963) , type = Public universit ...
in 1960. After working as a high school teacher for four years, he returned to school, earning his
M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...
and
Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...
degrees in History from the
University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...
.Dr. Ian MacPherson
, BCICS Website


Academic life

MacPherson taught at the
University of Winnipeg The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg, UW) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, that offers undergraduate faculties of art, business and economics, education, science and kinesiology and applied health as well as gr ...
for 8 years, and founded the
Canadian Studies Canadian studies is an interdisciplinary field of undergraduate- and postgraduate-level study of Canadian culture and society, the languages of Canada, Canadian literature, media and communications, Quebec, Acadians, agriculture in Canada, natura ...
program there. In 1976, he moved to the History Department at the
University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary instit ...
, serving as Chair from 1981 to 1989. He became Dean of the Faculty of
Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
in 1992, but stepped down in 1999 to establish the B.C. Institute for Co-operative Studies (BCICS), later renamed the Centre for Co-operative and Community-Based Economy (CCCBE). He retired from BCICS in 2008. From 2005 to 2013 he served as co-director and Principal Investigator of the National Hub of the Canadian Social Economy Research Partnerships.


Focus of scholarship

Most of MacPherson's work focused on the Canadian and international co-operative movement, but he also wrote on a nineteenth-century
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
family (the Buells of Brockville),
Canadian Prairie The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie Provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...
rural history,
urban history Urban history is a field of history that examines the historical nature of cities and towns, and the process of urbanization. The approach is often multidisciplinary, crossing boundaries into fields like social history, architectural history, urb ...
, the history of the
Canadian north Bradley Air Services, operating as Canadian North, is a wholly Inuit-owned airline headquartered in Kanata, Ontario, Canada. It operates scheduled passenger services to communities in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Nunavik region o ...
, and the history of the University of Victoria. Over the course of his career he wrote, edited or co-edited over twenty books and 190 articles. He also participated in over 300 conference sessions and workshops in more than 70 countries. The main goal of his work was to establish Co-operative Studies as a legitimate and important field of study.


Involvement with the Co-operative movement

MacPherson served as an elected leader in numerous
co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
s, including
consumers' cooperative A consumers' co-operative is an enterprise owned by consumers and managed democratically and that aims at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of its members. Such co-operatives operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a fo ...
s in
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
and Victoria, health co-operatives in Winnipeg and Victoria, a child care co-operative in Victoria, and several
credit union A credit union, a type of financial institution similar to a commercial bank, is a member-owned nonprofit organization, nonprofit financial cooperative. Credit unions generally provide services to members similar to retail banks, including depo ...
s in Victoria, including Pacific Coast Savings. He was a member of the
BC Central Credit Union BC most often refers to: * Before Christ, a calendar era based on the traditionally reckoned year of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth * British Columbia, the westernmost province of Canada * Baja California, a state of Mexico BC may also refer to: ...
board, the
Canadian Co-operative Credit Society The Canadian Credit Union Association (CCUA; french: Association canadienne des coopératives financières) is the national trade association for credit unions in Canada (outside the province of Quebec). Founded in 1953, it rebranded to its curre ...
, the
Co-operative Union of Canada A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
, and the
International Co-operative Alliance The International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) is a non-governmental co-operative federation or, more precisely, a co-operative union representing co-operatives and the co-operative movement worldwide. It was founded in 1895 to unite, represent an ...
(ICA). He was the founding President of the
Canadian Co-operative Association The Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) is a not-for-profit co-operative that is dedicated to ending poverty around the world through co-operative action. CCA's mission is to establish and grow co-operatives, credit unions, and community-bas ...
in 1989. As part of his work with the ICA, he led the process and wrote the basic documents for the Co-operative Identity Statement adopted by the ICA at its Manchester Congress in 1995. It included the first internationally accepted definition of a co-operative, a statement of the basic values of the movement, and a revised set of principles for co-operative organisations.


Awards

* Rochdale Pioneers Award, International Co-operative Alliance, 2005 * Canadian Association for Studies in Co-operation (CASC) – CASC Merit Award 2002 * 2002 Association of Co-operative Educators award for outstanding contributions to co-operative education and training. * First Recipient, Canadian Co-operative Association Achievement Award, Canadian Co-operative Association, 2001 * BC Credit Unions – Distinguished Service Award (twice) * Canadian Co-operative Association (BC Region) – Distinguished Co-operator Award, 2000 * World Council of Credit Unions (WOCCU) - Credit Union Ambassador Award, 2000. * Canadian Credit Union Hall of Fame Member, 2000


Selected bibliography

* Reaching Outward and Upward: The University of Victoria, 1963-2013 (Montreal and Kingston: McGill University Press, 2012) * (with Peter Hall, eds.), Community-University Research Partnerships: Reflections on the Canadian Social Economy Experience (Victoria: University of Victoria e-books, 2012). *Responding, Remembering, Restructuring: Presentations in Japan and Korea, March, 2008. (Victoria: New Rochdale Press, 2008) (Japanese edition published by The Siekatsu Club, Japan, 2009). * A Century of Co-operation, (Ottawa: the Canadian Co-operative Association, 2009) * Ed., One Path to Co-operative Studies: A Selection of Papers and Presentation (Victoria: New Rochdale Press, 2008). * (with Erin McLaughlin-Jenkins. eds.), Integrating Diversities within a Complex Heritage: Essays in the Field of Co-operative Studies (Victoria: New Rochdale Press, 2008). *Hands around the globe : a history of the international credit union movement and the role and development of World Council of Credit Unions, Inc. (Victoria: Horsdal & Schubart Publishers Ltd., 1999.) *Co-operative principles for the 21st century (Geneva: International Co-Operative Alliance, 1996) *Co-operation, conflict and consensus : B.C. Central and the credit union movement to 1994 (Vancouver: B.C. Central Credit Union, 1995.) *Building and protecting the co-operative movement: a brief history of the Co-operative Union of Canada, 1909-84 (Ottawa: Co-operative Union of Canada, no date.) *Matters of loyalty : the Buells of Brockville, 1830-1850 (Belleville: Mika Pub. Co., 1981) *Co-operative movement on the prairies, 1900-1955 (Ottawa : Canadian Historical Association, 1979.) *Each for all : a history of the co-operative movement in English Canada, 1900-1945 (Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, 1979.)


References


External links


BC Institute for Co-operative Studies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macpherson, Ian 1939 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Canadian historians Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian cooperative organizers Historians of Canada Academic staff of the University of Victoria University of Western Ontario alumni University of Windsor alumni Academic staff of University of Winnipeg Writers from Toronto Date of birth missing 21st-century Canadian historians