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THIS IS IMPORTANT! : Mitch Podolak, the Revolutionary Establishment, and the Founding of the Winnipeg Folk Festival

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THIS IS IMPORTANT! : Mitch Podolak, the Revolutionary Establishment, and the Founding of the Winnipeg Folk Festival THIS IS IMPORTANT! : Mitch Podolak, The Revolutionary Establishment, and the Founding of the Winnipeg Folk Festival. By Michael MacDonald, B.A., School of Canadian Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa. [August 2006] A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Canadian Studies Ottawa, Ontario August 1st, 2006 © 2006, Michael MacDonald Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Library and Bibliotheque et Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-18282-6 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-18282-6 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce,Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve,sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet,distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform,et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be includedBien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. i * i Canada Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Mitch Podolak founded the Winnipeg Folk Festival (WFF) in the summer of 1974 as an extension of his decade long involvement with the Trotskyist party in Canada. This thesis is based on interviews with him in which he explained his motivations and revolutionary expectations for the WFF, a new breed of Canadian folk festival, significantly different from the first generation of Canadian folk festivals. Podolak adapted Trotsky’s theory of Permanent Revolution to create a Revolutionary Establishment capable of supporting an expected revolution in Canada. He built upon the Communist Party of the United States’ definition of folk music, a strain of folk which became successful, ironically, due to its integration with the capitalist economy. The Revolutionary Establishment would be undermined but the WFF would remain politically charged. The WWF would become an important social and political event and an admired and influential model for second generation folk festivals in Canada. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 Literature Review............................................................................................................... 2 Methodology....................................................................................................................... 3 Chapter Outlines................................................................................................................ 7 Chapter 1: Folk Music and the Canadian Folk Festival 9 Defining Folk M usic .......................................................................................................... 10 Canadian Folk M usic ......................................................................................................... 19 The Music Festival............................................................................................................. 20 Canada: A Celebration of Empire.................................................................................... 21 The First Generation of Folk Festivals............................................................................ 24 First the CPR - then the Folk .......................................................................................... 26 J.M .Gibbon .......................................................................................................................... 27 Gibbon and the Fabians ..................................................................................................... 28 Gibbon and the Folk Music Dialogue ............................................................................. 31 The Folk Festival and Nationalism ................................................................................. 32 Folk Nationalism: A Celebration of Multiculturalism .................................................. 34 Folk Music Goes To School.............................................................................................. 35 Canada: A Celebration of Nation ..................................................................................... 38 Chapter 2: Communism and Folk Music in Mid-Twentieth Century America 43 The New School and The New D eal............................................................................... 46 Song as a Weapon............................................................................................................... 47 The Popular Front............................................................................................................... 49 Folk Music and the Labour Battle .................................................................................... 50 The Almanac Singers......................................................................................................... 56 Sing Out!.............................................................................................................................. 59 Chapter 3: Mitch Podolak, Trotsky and the Use of Folk........................................ 64 Mitch Podolak ..................................................................................................................... 66 Trotskyism........................................................................................................................... 71 Resistant Folk Music .......................................................................................................... 74 Party Politics........................................................................................................................ 75 Education ............................................................................................................................. 76 Organization........................................................................................................................ 79 Trotsky and Podolak.......................................................................................................... 87 The Fourth International and Permanent Revolution..................................................... 88 iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chapter 4: The WFF as a Revolutionary Establishment....................................... 94 From the Russian Revolution to a Community Picnic.................................................. 97 Organizing the Festival....................................................................................................... 98 Built Upon Mariposa........................................................................................................... 100 The Status of the Volunteer ............................................................................................... 101 Community Factor.............................................................................................................. 103 The Devolution of Authority............................................................................................. 107 The Democracy of Space................................................................................................... 109 Internationalism, Culture, and the Folk Song ................................................................. 113 WWF as Bourgeois Culture ............................................................................................... 114 The Popular Folk ................................................................................................................. 116 From Revolution to Ethical Coffee: A Surprising Denouement................................... 118 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 121 Appendices.......................................................................................................................
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