MUN professor wins Governor General award

Robert Sweeny’s book argues that history is shaped by our choices

Memorial University professor Robert Sweeny was honoured on Thursday with an award for scholarly research.

Sweeny was named the winner of the 2016 Governor General’s History Award for Scholarly Research — the Sir John A. Macdonald Prize — for his book “Why Did We Choose to Industrialize? Montreal 1819-1849.”

Sweeny will be presented with the award by Gov. Gen. David Johnston at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Nov. 28.

“Industrialization was a choice and people actively participated in the process, even though most of them were worse off as a result,” Sweeny stated in a news release Thursday.

“The choices we all make shape history. Our decisions about how we live, how we invest our money, who we work with and so on collectively determine our future world. That was true in the 19th century and is true today,” he said.

The book examines how choices made by citizens of Montreal in the 19th-century changed their relationships with each other and with nature, and led to industrialization.

“‘Why Did We Choose to Industrialize?’ is much more than a stellar manuscript on Canadian history,” said Michel Duquet, executive director of the Canadian Historical Association. “It is also a deep reflection on the profession of historian and the meaning of Canadian history.”

The Sir John A. Macdonald prize has been awarded annually since 1977 for the work in Canadian history judged to have made the most significant contribution to understanding Canada’s past.

It was integrated into the Governor General’s History Awards in 2010.

It is presented by the Canadian Historical Association with support from Manulife Financial, and administered by Canada’s History Society.

The award comes with a $5,000 prize.