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National Fate and Empire: George Grant and Canadian Foreign Policy

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National Fate and Empire: George Grant and Canadian Foreign Policy National Fate and Empire: George Grant and Canadian Foreign Policy by Scott Staring A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Department of Political Science University of Toronto © Copyright by Scott Patrick Staring 2010 National Fate and Empire: George Grant and Canadian Foreign Policy Doctor of Philosophy, 2010 Scott Staring Department of Political Science University of Toronto Abstract This study examines the foreign policy views of the Canadian thinker, George Grant. It focuses on the years between Mackenzie King’s re-election in 1935 and the Liberal party’s return to power under Lester Pearson in 1963. During this period, Grant argued, Canada was transformed from a British dependent to a satellite of the United States, a process that he believed had been accelerated by the continentalist economic and security policies of successive Liberal governments. As a young man during World War II, Grant admired the United States of F. D. Roosevelt. But as he began to contemplate the threat that a postwar Pax Americana posed to the societies of the Old World, and, ultimately, to Canada, his misgivings grew. His attempts to understand the emerging order led him to a critical study of modern liberalism, which he believed provided the chief philosophical justification for America’s expansion. Unlike Marxists who saw liberalism as simply an ideology of ii individual greed, Grant claimed that it succeeded largely by appealing to our hopes for social progress. These hopes found their loftiest expression in the belief that liberalism’s internationalization would produce the conditions for the overcoming of war within and between nations. Grant feared that this ideal could only be achieved through the annihilation of all real cultural diversity—the realization of what he called the universal and homogeneous state. One of his unique claims was that the Liberal policy of rapprochement with the United States after 1935 signaled the growing dominance of this ideal within Canada. This dominance was fed during the Cold War by “realists” like Pearson who decried the utopianism of communism, while failing to reckon with the utopian aspirations of his own society. Fearful of Marxist one- worldism, Pearson committed himself to a single-minded defence of a liberal order that tended to produce even greater homogeneity around the world. Grant’s own practical aim in writing about foreign policy, I argue, was neither to defend liberalism against its “utopian” critics, nor to reject it for an alternative like Marxism, but to highlight the utopian aspirations of liberal society, and thereby subject it to the moderating influence of doubt. iii To Hang-Sun Kim and Douglas Muir. iv Acknowledgments Whatever the merits of this dissertation, they are owed largely to the involvement of many other people. I would like to offer my sincere thanks to all of those who played a role, beginning with my supervisor, Don Forbes, who shared his deep understanding of George Grant and patient help over many years. Some teachers avoid investing themselves in what they teach; Don has never taken this easy route, and I have reaped the benefits of his thoughtful attention. Ed Andrew has also been present from the conception of this project to its completion. Throughout the writing process, I had near real-time e-mail access to his vast knowledge of Grant and Canadian political history. His guidance was invaluable, as were his reminders to breathe deeply. I would also like to thank the other members of my committee, Clifford Orwin, Gad Horowitz, and my external reader Louis Greenspan for their very useful contributions to this project. I should also mention Janet Ajzenstat here, who first convinced me to pursue a PhD in political philosophy, and who has provided support and advice over many years. Sun-Young Kim offered extensive editing assistance, abundant encouragement, and much hard-won practical advice on getting through a doctorate. Stefan Bird-Pollan and Alex Gourevitch both read and commented on my thesis. Their friendship and sharp insight are deeply appreciated. In addition, I would like to thank my writers' group in the Social Studies program at Harvard, who cheered and chastened me in just the right proportions to get me through the final push. And I would be remiss not to mention Anya Bernstein here, who has been one of the most considerate bosses I’ve had the v good fortune of working for. Thanks as well to Bev Everest, who has engaged me in many interesting conversations about Grant over the years. She also transcribed the proceedings of a seminar course by Grant, which she had the foresight—not to mention the courage, given his attitude toward intrusive technologies—to tape. I must likewise express my gratitude to those close to me who helped in a simpler way, by not losing faith that I would see this project through. This includes the expanding Staring clan, as well as In Suk and Seung Rhyon Kim, who have welcomed me so warmly into their own family and offered me endless support. It also includes my relatives in Korea, especially Hyun Jae Cho and Kyung Sook Kim, who have taken such a generous interest in my academic career. I must mention as well my friends Greg Nickles and Stephanie Dutrizac who put me up/put up with me during my stays in Toronto, and Francois Medzalabenleth and Brigitte Morris who did the same for me in Montreal. Thanks is also due to Boris and Sonja Graeber-Magocsi, who provided many evenings of fine conversation and fine dinner, and Patti Lenard, who has been a good friend to me. Finally, and most importantly, I thank my wife Hang-Sun Kim. She has helped in ways that are truly too numerous to list. This dissertation could not have been written without her. vi Table of Contents Abstract..................................................................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgments.................................................................................................................v Introduction............................................................................................................................1 Grant’s Critique of Modernity ......................................................................................................................3 Liberalism.............................................................................................................................................................4 Technology........................................................................................................................................................14 Grant and the Political..................................................................................................................................21 Outline of the Project ....................................................................................................................................26 Chapter 1 The Lessons of the War: The British Empire in George Grant’s Early Thought ................................................................................................................................. 34 The Early War Years......................................................................................................................................36 The American Hope.......................................................................................................................................41 Reassessing the Empire...............................................................................................................................46 The Empire: Yes or No?................................................................................................................................54 War and the Fate of British Imperialism..............................................................................................58 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................................................61 Chapter 2 “Above All Nations is Humanity”: Canadian Liberalism and the Continentalist Ideal ........................................................................................................... 63 King and the Liberal Party..........................................................................................................................68 The Corporation and the Administrative State .................................................................................76 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................................................95 Chapter 3 Marxism and Technological Society: The Socialist Option in Canada .................................................................................................................................................. 99 Left-Nationalism in Canada..................................................................................................................... 102 The World-Economy Tradition ............................................................................................................. 110 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................... 126 Chapter 4 Dragged by Fate: Diefenbaker, Green and the Mandarins
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