State intervention, the community movement and the Neighbourhood Improvement Program in James Bay, Victoria
Date
1981
Authors
Tozer, David J.
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Abstract
The 1960s and 1970s saw the emergence and development of an urban community movement in Canadian cities. This thesis examines this social phenomenon in James Bay, Victoria. It derives its theoretical guidance from the contributions of Marxist theory to urban studies in geography and the social sciences generally. The study investigates the struggles between classes and class fractions within the general dialectic between the state's quest for social control and the community movement's pressure for social change. More specifically, examination is given to property development, the restructuring of living conditions and the provision of collective consumption in James Bay focussing particularly on the implementation of the Neighbourhood Improvement Program (NIP) as an act of state intervention. Consultation with various archival records and interviewing constituted the principal research methods employed.
The study shows that in the early 1970s, resistance grew in opposition to local state support for the redevelopment of James Bay in accordance with the 1967 plan. The actions of property developers resulted in a loss of single family dwellings and a general deterioration of living conditions for the established residents. Under the ideological hegemony of environmentalism, a broad-based populist movement confronted the conservative local bourgeoisie. The James Bay community gained several reforms including down-zoning and the establishment of NIP. This conjuncture (1974-1975) marked a critical phase in the development of the community movement. NIP was partly instrumental in determining whether or not there would be increased radicalization of the movement, or it would remain satisfied with the immediate reforms gained.
Conflict developed between the municipality and the James Bay NIP Committee over the content of the programme. The former advocated a public works, maintenance orientated programme, while the latter stressed the need for social facilities. Simultaneously, the conservative wing of the community movement advocating beautification schemes and aesthetic considerations was defeated. In the finalization of the plans, the core of the community's demands were acceded to, but the populist alliance had been broken. Tensions remained under the local state's initial domineering implementation of the programme especially over the community centre and land acquisition for low-income housing.
Despite bringing some significant gains to the neighbourhood, the NIP period was marked by an ambiguous reorganization of collective consumption. Contradictory housing policies impacted upon James Bay during 1975-76. New stimulation for construction opposed the principles of NIP dedicated to the rehabilitation and stabilization of the neighbourhood. By its tacit support for redevelopment the local state did not assert the primacy of NIP. The reluctance of the community movement as a whole to deal with this contradiction created a cleavage between its moderate and radical fractions. This split became reflected on the NIP Committee.
The dominant moderate fraction treated NIP in an administrative manner rather than as a vehicle for furthering social change. The local state's turn towards an advocacy role resulted in the re-integration of the moderate fraction into the state's conception of the political process, while the radical wing became alienated and disaffected. The benefits and failures of the programme tended to be distributed accordingly.
The thesis thus uncovers the shifts in social relations within the community movement and the internalization of contradictions within the municipal state apparatus. It concludes with some comments that arise from the study pertaining to the urban reform movement and the social conditions at the time of writing.