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Class Struggles and Worker Co-Operatives in English

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Class Struggles and Worker Co-Operatives in English CLASS STRUGGLES AND WORKER CO-OPERATIVES IN ENGLISH CANADA: 1844-1914 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master of Arts in Sociology University of Regina by Dawn Annette Johnson Regina, Saskatchewan April, 2010 Copyright 2010: D. Annette Johnson Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-88512-3 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-88512-3 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives 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 le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, 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 this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. Canada UNIVERSITY OF REGINA FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH SUPERVISORY AND EXAMINING COMMITTEE Dawn Annette Johnson, candidate for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology, has presented a thesis titled, Class Struggles and Worker Co-Operatives in English Canada: 1844~1914, in an oral examination held on December 10, 2009. The following committee members have found the thesis acceptable in form and content, and that the candidate demonstrated satisfactory knowledge of the subject material. External Examiner: Dr. Dimitrios Diamantopoulos, School of Journalism Supervisor: Dr. John F. Conway, Department of Sociology and Social Studies Committee Member: Dr. JoAnn Jaffe, Department of Sociology and Social Studies Committee Member: Dr. Robert M. Stirling, Adjunct Professor, Department of Sociology and Social Studies Chair of Defense: Dr. Darlene Juschka, Department of Women's and Gender Studies ABSTRACT This thesis traces the root causes of the failure of the worker co-operative movement in English Canada to socialise production by examining class relations at the turn of the twentieth century. It attempts to establish why it is that this type of production failed to become a successful, wide-spread and viable alternative to capitalist relations of production. It is an exercise in historical materialism and thus seeks to unearth the mechanisms at work that not only formed this type of co-operation in the first instance, but also stunted its implementation, growth and therefore any of its revolutionary potential. As such, this thesis attempts to reinstate long-silenced voices into the discourse surrounding the worker co­ operative movement itself through re-visiting the rise and the fall of the Knights of Labour in North America. The past is dredged up in order to learn the lessons of these early co-operators so that the same mistakes are not repeated. This is critical because contemporary national and international industrial relations of production are on the cusp of important change as witnessed by the recent collaborative agreement between the United Steelworkers of America (USW) and the MONDRAGON industrial co-operative organisation of Spain1. The lessons of the past documented in this thesis are, therefore, important for two reasons. First of all, they teach us what does not work. Secondly, by teaching what does not work, they point the way to what will. Co-operatives tend to thrive when there is structural upheaval, economic crises, and when capitalism spreads. This is what happened in the past and it is 1 See Appendix D for full text. what is happening now. Globally, co-operatives now employ more workers than all multi-national corporations combined (CCA, 2009) and the annual aggregate turnover of the top 300 mutuals and co-operative organisations is equal Canada's national output. The resources and the sheer numbers for a potential revolution of the social relations of production do exist. And yet the workers remain unorganised and worker co-operatives remain the smallest contributors to this global output. The historical reasons for this contemporary situation are explored throughout this thesis by i) examining the initial rise of co-operation in Britain during the Industrial Revolution, ii) tracing how the British and European movements influenced the pioneers of the Canadian co-operative movement, and iii) exploring what the lessons of the past mean for the future in the final chapter. The conclusion reached in this thesis is that if the past teaches us anything, it is that only by politicising and centralising alternatives to capitalist relations of production can the movement's potential for reformation be realised. Worker co-operatives need to be politicised. Local, grassroots movements need to be connected to a universal project of emancipation that can act as the glue that holds the movement together. Because local spaces "...are subject to the power of capital over the co-ordination of universal fragmented space and the march of capitalism's global historical time lies outside the purview of any particular one of them" (Harvey, 1990: 239), collective, co-operative action by local communities is the only strategy that will work. A co-ordinated, international effort must be grow out of this that is capable of supporting this undertaking in order to try to match the powers of global capitalism. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The work involved in writing this thesis did not simply fall on my shoulders. Many others have played a part and made its completion possible. First and foremost, it was the tireless efforts of the old guards at the little 'red' school on the Prairies that inspired me and helped me to understand that change is always possible. This includes, amongst others, Dr. Murray Knuttila who taught my first sociology class and inspired me by his passion, Dr. Bob Stirling who took me under his wing many years ago and taught me patience and persistence, Dr. John Conway who pushed me to greater heights, even when I didn't want to go there, and Dr. JoAnn Jaffe who believed in me at moments I did not believe in myself. The countless discussions and debates with friends and colleagues were also invaluable. Thank you to Pam for being the voice on the 'other* side. Thank you to the teachers at Grand Coulee elementary school who laid the foundations that taught me to love to learn. Special thanks must be given to Dr. Rozzet Jurdi for all the support, understanding and great advice. I would also like to acknowledge the funding that made this work possible. Thank you to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research for the scholarships that carried me through and to the Douglas-CokJwell Foundation for your much appreciated financial support. The unwavering support of my husband Matt and my family saw me through this journey. iii DEDICATION For our son, Lukas. May you never forget that change is possible. The wellsprings of human freedom lie not only where Marx saw them, in the aspirations of classes about to take power, but perhaps even more in the dying wails of a class over whom the wave of progress is about to roll [Barrington Moore, Jr., quoted in Laxer (1991: 228)]. POST-DEFENSE ACKOWLDGEMENTS I want to extend a very special thank you to Mitdi Diamantopoulos who served as the external examiner at the defence. His knowledge and insights into worker co­ operation have been invaluable on this journey las has his willingness to share his own intellectual works. I wish to also extend my thanks to Dr. Darlene Juschka who served as Chair. Lastly, I would like to thank my fellow students (both past and present) who were there to lend their support to me in this process. V TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEGEMENTS DEDICATION POST DEFENSE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF APPENDICES PREFACE: A NEW BEGINNING CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS 2.1 Filling the Void 2.2 What is a Worker Co-operative? 2.3 Social Class 2.4 Class in the Making 2.5 The Limits of Capitalism 2.6 Hegemony and the Role of the State 2.7 The Worker Co-operative Difference? CHAPTER 3 EUROPEAN BACKGROUND 3.1 Setting the Scene: England, 1844 3.2 Rochdale as a Reaction to Utopian Socialism 3.3 Rochdale Practices 3.4 The Persistence of Ideals 3.5 National Co-ordination in Britain: The Movement
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