EdifJJdnl Notes
L
astNovember's federal election was largely fought over
the single issue of joining the United States in a continental free trade area, with the two major parties taking
opposite positions. The issue, according to Janine Brodie writing
in "The 'Free-Trade' Election," was not really a new one; it
represented the culmination of a debate over Canada's development strategy, which had been going on since the mid1970s. Neo-liberal supporters of the 'market-directed' economy
carried the day over supporters of the Keynesian welfare state,
yet it remains of considerable political interest to understand
exactly how this happened and why in 1988. For Brodie the
most striking aspect of the election was not the volatility of
the Canadian electorate, much remarked upon by media pundits, but rather the unanimous and aggressive support which
'free trade' received from the capitalist class. Her account of
unfolding electoral strategies in this regard is both perceptive
and disturbing.
Rudolf Meidner has been a key figure in the Swedish labour
movement's largely successful program to influence public
policy in favour of the working class. As a research director
of the La (federation of blue collar unions) for almost twenty
years, he is 'father' to the wage earner funds, and a consistent
critic from the left of Swedish social democracy. At this crucial
juncture for the Swedish working class, SPE is pleased to
publish a wide-ranging interview conducted by Rianne Mahon
with the assistance of Rob Ryan, in which Meidner discusses
recent critical developments in relations among labour, capital
and the state in Sweden, as well as more general strategic
questions of interest to socialists everywhere.
Two articles in this issue deal with 'unfree labour.' One, by
Sedef Arat-Koc, examines the growing demand for live-in domestic workers as a solution to the lack of universally accessible,
affordable childcare. Poorly paid and notoriously lacking in
the benefits accorded to 'free wage' labour, domestic service
holds little attraction for Canadian women. Governments over
the years have devised various schemes to attract immigrant
women, as a cheaper alternative to the provision of a daycare
system, but have demonstrated a lack of willingness to offer
Studies in Political Economy 28, Spring 1989
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Studies in Political Economy
permanent status or protection to them. Arat-Koc argues convincingly that feminists should oppose all such employment
schemes - which deprive women of the rights of citizenship
- and support domestic workers in their struggle for equal
treatment with other workers. Ultimately the radical reorganization of domestic life provides the only acceptable solution
to the current 'domestic crisis.'
Vic Satz.ewich focuses on yet another instance of 'unfree
labour.' Drawing upon original research, he considers the case
of Polish war veterans who were brought to Canada to work
as farm labourers after the Second World War. Their treatment bears many similarities to the role assigned prisoners of
war, the refugees known as displaced persons, and presentday migrant domestic and agricultural workers. Satzewich documents the Polish veterans' resistance to their 'unfree' labour
assignments, and shows how the image of a free market in
labour in twentieth century Canada must be revised.
Responding to Daniel Salee's and Gerald Bernier's examination of state power in Canada in the early 19th century
(SPE #22), Bruce Curtis insists that the process of rule is at
once more problematic and more creative than they have
suggested. Focusing on educational administration at the local
level in Canada West after the Durham Report, Curtis draws
extensively upon literature concerned with the 19th century
revolution in government in Great Britain. The exercise of
state power in this period, he argues, cannot be understood
simply by examining the interests of the hegemonic classes,
but must be complemented by an understanding of the difficulties of constructing local institutions which would inculcate
"habits and beliefs congenial to bourgeois hegemony." If the
artificial, nature of the process of rule is recognized, we may
be better able to conceive of alternatives.
During the labour conflict of the 1970s in Canada, West
Germany was held up as an example of labour/business/government consensus: a society that had not only overcome its
horrific fascist past but had worked out a modus vivendi which
allowed for both participation and stability. In "The Politics of
Limited Pluralism" Thomas Hueglin argues that this consensus,
even at its apogee in the late 1960s, was more apparent than
real, masking a "deficiency of democratic legitimacy," rooted
in the historical traditions and legacy of the West German
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state. The fragility of the consensus, predicated on the exclusion of radicals and marginals was revealed increasingly by the
world-wide accumulation crisis. The numbers of permanently
unemployed and the threat posed by refugees has been greeted
with intensified repression and a widening definition of marginals - those who remain permanently unentitled to the
benefits of inclusion in the polity itself. From this situation has
come the rise of the Green Party, Germany's version of the
rainbow coalition, and a most 'unGerman' political development, the success or failure of which has massive implications
for the future of West German democracy.
The enthusiasm of the Macdonald Commission and the
Forget Commission for guaranteed income appears curious in
light of the seemingly progressive nature of such programs.
Yet, in a thorough discussion of current proposals, Mario
Iacobacci and Mario Seccareccia note that the early Keynesian
supporters of guaranteed income schemes always regarded
them as a supplement to full employment policies. Going
beyond political rhetoric to look at the real impact of proposed
income supplement programs, they conclude that the introduction of such schemes would have negative consequences
for the Canadian economy. The net result would be the encouragement of low-wage, part-time, precarious work with
increased cyclical instability to follow. They underscore the
importance of full employment as a policy objective.
Paul Bowles review essay examines the debate on the left
about the impact of imperialism in the Third World. He
clarifies the key theoretical differences between those who
suggest that the capitalist centre has succeeded in keeping the
underdeveloped periphery in a state of dependence, and those
who insist that the penetration of the market has initiated a
process of capitalist development in the periphery not unlike
that which occurred in the Western world in the 19th century.
He concludes that there is little consensus about what constitutes capitalist development and even less agreement about
the kinds of policies which should be pursued in the Third
World.
SPE 27 contained a page of text omitted from
David Langille's "The Business Council on National Issues and
the Canadian State" (SPE 24) which was incorrectly identified
as Author's Errata. This ommission was the sole responsibility
of SPE and should have been titled Editor's Erratum.
Our Apologies
5
Contributors to this issue:
Rudolf Meidner is Professor Emeritus at the Swedish
Centre for Working Life (Arbetslivscentrum) in Stockholm.
Sedef Arat-Koc is a graduate student in the Department of
Sociology at the University of Toronto.
Bruce Curtis teaches in the Department of Sociology and
Anthropology at Wilfrid Laurier University.
Vic Satzewich was a member of the Research Unit on
Migration and Racism at the University of Glasgow and
now teaches in the Department of Sociology at the
University of Saskatchewan.
Thomas Hueglin teaches in the Political Science
Department of Wilfrid Laurier University.
Mario Iacobacci is a doctoral candidate in Economics at the
University of Cambridge, England.
Mario Seccareccia teaches in the Economics Department of
the University of Ottawa.
Janine Brodie teaches in the Political Science Department
of York University.
Paul Bowles teaches in the Economics Department of Saint
Mary's University, Halifax.
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Printed by members of:
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ISSN 0707 . 8552
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