Canadian arts, culture & society
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Hint: it's not just for capital-L Liberals. Find the full interview with Ian McKay here: https://www.sweaterweatherpod.com/home/a-century-of-canadian-socialism-feat-ian-mckay
In episode 8 I talk to Ian McKay, professor of history at McMaster University and director of the L.R. Wilson Institute for Canadian History. He is the author and co-author of numerous books and articles about the Canadian left, including Reasoning Otherwise: Leftists and the People’s Enlightenment in Canada, 1890-1920, as well as Rebels, Reds, Radicals: Rethinking Canada’s Left History. This is an absolute gem of an episode, a must watch for anyone craving a comprehensive historical perspective on socialism and social movements in Canada.
We begin our discussion, however, talking about liberalism and Prof. McKay’s now classic essay, “The Liberal Order Framework: A Prospectus for a Reconnaissance of Canadian History” which frames Canadian history as the progress of a ‘passive revolution’ towards liberalism as it became the dominant ideology in Canada. With this groundwork in place, we move through several historical periods of Canadian socialism, at times a competitor to liberalism, as laid out in another of Prof. McKay's influential papers, “For a New Kind of History: A Reconnaissance of 100 Years of Canadian Socialism.”
The boys from The Alberta Advantage—Clinton, Rory, Tyler—visit Sweater Weather to gab about the boys from the trailer park—Ricky, Julian and Bubbles. That’s right, we’re talking Trailer Park Boys!
It's one of the best Canadian television shows ever, and one of the few to find an international audience. And while its heyday was 2001-2007, Trailer Park Boys has an enduring appeal to leftists because of its depictions of class, community, and for just being so damn funny. Rory is our resident East Coaster and he shares his deep knowledge of Nova Scotia political economy and anecdotes about that region's love of pepperoni. That's well worth the price of admission alone, but then Clinton drops snappy TPB trivia while Tyler plumbs the humanistic heart of life in Sunnyvale.
Will the next federal election spell doom for the NDP, out maneuvered by the Conservatives for working-class voters?
I talk to Steven C. High, professor of history at Concordia University and author of the recent article for Canadian Dimension, "Right-wing populism and the realignment of working-class politics in Canada." Find the article here: https://canadiandimension.com/article...
How has deindustrialization impacted the working class in Canada and around the world? How is deindustrialization, which is a side effect of global capital constantly seeking cheaper labour, shaping the politics of our time? Will the next federal election spell doom for the NDP, out maneuvered by the Conservatives for working-class voters?
This week I talk to Steven C. High, professor of history at Concordia University, who has published extensively on deindustrialization and the post-industrial transformation of North American cities. His books include Industrial Sunset: The Making of North America’s Rust Belt (U of T Press, 2003), The Deindustrialized World: Confronting Ruination in Post-Industrial Places (UBC Press, 2017), and One Job Town: Work, Belonging and Betrayal in Northern Ontario (U o T Press, 2019). We also discuss a piece he wrote for Canadian Dimension, “Right-wing populism and the realignment of working-class politics in Canada,” as well as a new international research project he is leading titled Deindustrialization and the Politics of our Time. Steven High’s piece in Canadian Dimension: https://canadiandimension.com/article... 
I'm very excited to announce that Sweater Weather's full-length episodes will now be available as an audio podcast too! This is in addition to the video versions available on YouTube and Facebook. You can now follow the show on all major podcast platforms:
I've added the excellent episode with Sam Gindin to the feed just to kick things off:
I took a sleigh ride into the heart of darkness that is the Canadian middle class. That's right: I watched a bunch of Hallmark movies. |
Sweater Weather is a podcast about Canadian arts & culture hosted by Aaron Giovannone & co-produced by Naomi K. Lewis. Donate to
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February 2022
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