Document généré le 29 sept. 2021 16:23 Labour/Le Travailleur Reviews / Comptes Rendus Volume 6, 1980 URI : https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/llt6rv01 Aller au sommaire du numéro Éditeur(s) Canadian Committee on Labour History ISSN 0700-3862 (imprimé) 1911-4842 (numérique) Découvrir la revue Citer ce compte rendu (1980). Compte rendu de [Reviews / Comptes Rendus]. Labour/Le Travailleur, 6, 215–264. All rights reserved © Canadian Committee on Labour History, 1980 Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d’auteur. L’utilisation des services d’Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d’utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne. https://apropos.erudit.org/fr/usagers/politique-dutilisation/ Cet article est diffusé et préservé par Érudit. Érudit est un consortium interuniversitaire sans but lucratif composé de l’Université de Montréal, l’Université Laval et l’Université du Québec à Montréal. Il a pour mission la promotion et la valorisation de la recherche. https://www.erudit.org/fr/ REVIEWS/COMPTES RENDUS Avery, 'Dangerous Foreigners:' European Immigrant Workers and Labour Radicalism in Canada, 1896-1932 by Varpu Lindstrom-Best / 217 Wilson and Dahlie, eds., Ethnic Radicals by Jim Turk/218 Avakumovic, Socialism in Canada: A Study of the CCF-NDP in Federal and Provincial Politics by John Herd Thompson / 219 English and Stubbs, eds., Mackenzie King: Widening the Debate and Levant, Capital and Labour: Partners? by Paul Craven / 220 Traves, The State and Enterprise: Canadian Manufacturers and the Federal Government 1917-1931 and Finkel, Business and Social Reform in the Thirties by Colin D. Howell / 222 Alexander, The Decay of Trade by L. Gene Barrett / 225 Richards and Pratt, Prairie Capitalism: Power and Influence in the New West by Allen Seager / 227 Kavic and Nixon, The 1200 Days —Dave Barrett and the NDP, 1972-75 and Persky, Son ofSocred by Andrew Jackson / 231 Wherrett, The Miracle of the Empty Beds: A History ofTuberculosis in Canada by Joel Lexchin / 233 Nash, The Urban Crucible: Social Change, Political Consciousness, and the Origins of the American Revolution by Robert W. Malcomson / 235 Lindstrom, Economic Development in the Philadelphia Region, 1810-1850 by Douglas McCalla / 236 216 LABOUR/LE TRAVAILLEUR Dublin, Women at Work: The Transformation of Work and Community in Lowell, Massachusetts, 1826-1860 by Florence Bartoshesky / 238 McLaurin, The Knights of Labor in the South by W.M.Dick/240 Green, Grass-Roots Socialism: Radical Movements in the Southwest, 1895-1943 by A. Ross McConnack / 242 Gieske, Minnesota Farmer-Laborism: The Third-Party Alternative by David Montgomery / 243 Betten, Catholic Activism and the Industrial Worker by Gregory Baum / 246 Belfrage and Aronson, Something to Guard. The Stormy Life of the National Guardian, 1948-1967 by Harvey Levenstein / 247 Williams, Marxism and Literature by Richard Twomey / 248 Tilly and Scott, Women, Work and Family by Bettina Bradbury / 251 Strumingher, Women and the Making of the Working Class: Lyon 1830-1870 by Arthur Borghese / 254 Meller, Leisure and the Changing City, 1870-1914 and Bailey, Leisure and Class in Victorian England: Rational Recreation and the Contest for Control, 1830-1885 by Angus McLaren / 255 Kiraly and Jonas, eds., The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 in Retrospect by Mary Gluck / 258 Sher, Praxis: Marxist Criticism and Dissent in Socialist Yugoslavia by Edith S.Klein/ 260 Bernstein, Japanese Marxist: A Portrait of Kawakami Hajime, 1879-1946 by Howard Schonberger / 262 REVIEWS 217 Donald Avery, 'Dangerous Foreigners:' given a date that it did not publish and a European Immigrant Workers and Labour page number 6S0 which it never reached.) Radicalism in Canada, 1896-1932 In addition to Finns the only other radi­ (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart 1979). cal foreigners discussed in any depth are the Ukrainians. The book gives only THEOOVERPftffiKTS recent willingness to spon­ scanty treatment to the Italians and almost sor multiculturalism, coupled with an totally neglects the Jews, Hungarians, increasing number of scholarly articles in Poles, Croatians, Slovaks, and Czechs. The ethnic studies, have made it difficult for role of immigrant women in Canadian historians to continue to ignore the role of labour radicalism has once again been the foreign worker in Canadian society. ignored. Instead, the book offers general­ Donald Avery's 'Dangerous Foreigners' izations; diverse ethnic groups are lumped is the first serious attempt to interpret together as a grey mass with no cultural immigrant radicalism within the Canadian differences. Avery quotes the following context. The book, however, is not about description of Russian workers' protest European immigrant workers and labour movement and states that it would proba­ radicalism as the title suggests, but about bly apply equally to their Italian, Austro- the attitudes and policies of the Dominion Hungarian, and Finnish counterparts: authorities toward the immigrants. "[they represented] a relatively undif­ Avery gives an admirable exposition of ferentiated mass of frightfully exploited, the working conditions and the exploit­ illiterate labourers, cut off from the ation of the immigrants and shows that an world...." This guesswork is con­ important aspect of the government's tradicted by Avery who later explains that immigration policy was systematically to the Finns had a "higher level of literacy" recruit cheap labour. In the first two chap­ (in fact, they were 98 per cent literate). ters the author demonstrates how the Cana­ Furthermore Avery concludes that dian immigration policy between "despite their limited world view, such 1896-1914 served above all else "the dic­ people might constitute the suitable raw tates of the capitalist labour market." material for a militant working class," and Immigrant radicalism is seen by Avery as a later contradicts this by pointing out that countervailing force to their alienation and the Italians were a group "which appeared exploitation. The remainder of the book relatively immune to Communist influ­ discusses the changing attitudes toward the ence." immigrants beginning with the enemy Avery does not acknowledge the use of alien hysteria of World War I and culminat­ translators and seems to have had problems ing in the "Red Scare" of 1931-32. with his primary ethnic sources resulting in The author is the first to admit that his irritating factual errors. Although these do English language sources give a some­ not necessarily detract from his major times distorted view and further suggests arguments they do raise questions about that "the bias can be partly offset by refer­ the sources used. For example, A.T. Hill, ence to the record left behind radicals who, the author says, was an organizer of themselves." A closer examination of the Finnish Socialist locals in Canada between Finnish radicals (who play a major role in 1908-1911, was in fact 11 years old in Avery's book) indicates that the author has 1908 and still living in Finland (he did not not followed his own advice for studying immigrate until 1913). Numerous other the ethnic record. To illustrate, the Finnish Finns who supposedly influenced Finnish Canadian newspaper given as a source of Canadian radicalism, never came to Can­ Finnish Radicalism, Vapaus, translated by ada. Avery as "Worker" or "Truth" instead of More serious, perhaps, than the factual "Freedom," is directly cited only once, errors and generalizations, is Avery's and even then incorrectly. (The paper is acceptance of the view that the foreigners 218 LABOUR/LE TRAVAILLEUR were indeed dangerous and that they pos­ Matti Kurikka, A.B. Makela, Pavlo Krai, sessed inherent traits of violence which set Sam Scarlett, Ole Hjelt, and Tomo Cacic them apart from the rest of the society. An are not likely to be known by most students examination of the Socialist Party of Can­ of Canadian society, although Arthur Put­ ada reveals that its immigrant member­ tee will be familiar to some. The collection ship, mainly composed of Finns, Ukrain­ does succeed in introducing immigrant ians, Italians, and Jews supported parlia­ radicals who were active in Canada but mentary democracy and reformism, leav­ have been ignored to date. Unfortunately, ing the "dangerous" English language most of the articles are little more than locals alone with their dogmatic revolu­ expanded biographies of the sort found in tionary ideology. Further study might Who's Who. Each subject is presented reveal that many of the violent incidents on from birth to death, noting key events in picket lines or street demonstrations were the intervening years. The accounts are in fact reactions to police provocation or to simply descriptive with, at most, a half­ the intimidation of company-hired thugs. hearted attempt to relate the subject to the Violence was surely not the exclusive social context in which his life took domain of the immigrant workers. place. 'Dangerous Foreigners' remains a The major exception is Ross McCor- pioneering effort in understanding govern­ mack's article on Arthur Puttee. McCor- ment attitudes to foreign workers and in mack uses the example of Puttee to explore providing a framework for the study of how the immigrants' lives were shaped by immigrant labour radicalism. The prob­ experiences prior to emigration and by life lems that Avery experiences with ethnic in the society to which they came. He sources will only be rectified by more shows the importance of various mecha­ studies and translations of foreign lan­ nisms (sojourning, visiting home, receiv­ guage sources, thus opening the field to ing travelling leaders) for keeping alive the all historians. Until such studies are pub­ immigrants' old world radicalism. Resi­ lished, writers like Avery, are forced to dential segregation facilitated by chain rely on the available sources and run the migration and the welfare function of radi­ risk of perpetuating the bias of the early cal parties also helped keep their former twentieth-century authorities, but at least political traditions alive in Canada.