The Fate Of Labour Socialism: The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation And The Dream Of A Working-class Future
by James Naylor /
2016 / English / PDF
32.7 MB Download
Almost a century before the New Democratic Party rode the first
“orange wave,” their predecessors imagined a movement that could
rally Canadians against economic insecurity, win access to
necessary services such as health care, and confront the threat
of war. The party they built during the Great Depression,
the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), permanently
transformed the country’s politics.
Almost a century before the New Democratic Party rode the first
“orange wave,” their predecessors imagined a movement that could
rally Canadians against economic insecurity, win access to
necessary services such as health care, and confront the threat
of war. The party they built during the Great Depression,
the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF), permanently
transformed the country’s politics.
Past histories have described the CCF as social democrats
guided by middle-class intellectuals, a party which shied away
from labour radicalism and communist agitation. James Naylor’s
assiduous research tells a very different story: a CCF created by
working-class activists steeped in Marxist ideology who sought to
create a movement that would be both loyal to its socialist
principles and appealing to the wider electorate.
Past histories have described the CCF as social democrats
guided by middle-class intellectuals, a party which shied away
from labour radicalism and communist agitation. James Naylor’s
assiduous research tells a very different story: a CCF created by
working-class activists steeped in Marxist ideology who sought to
create a movement that would be both loyal to its socialist
principles and appealing to the wider electorate.The Fate of Labour Socialism
The Fate of Labour Socialism is a fundamental
reexamination of the CCF and Canadian working-class politics in
the 1930s, one that will help historians better understand
Canada’s political, intellectual, and labour history.
is a fundamental
reexamination of the CCF and Canadian working-class politics in
the 1930s, one that will help historians better understand
Canada’s political, intellectual, and labour history.
