The search for solidarity: the industrial and political roots of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation in British Columbia, 1913-1928
Date
2013-09-04
Authors
Isitt, Ben
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Abstract
Born out of the industrial and political struggles of organized labour at the end of the
First World War, the BC CCF was a product of organizational and ideological conflict in
the 1910s and 1920s. This study explores the shift of BC socialism towards industrial
action, which culminated in the One Big Union and the sympathetic strikes of 1919. It
then examines the emergence of anti-Communism on the Left, shaped by the experience
of political unity and disunity during the 1920s. These two factors fundamentally
influenced the ideology and strategy adopted by the Cooperative Commonwealth
Federation (CCF) in British Columbia.
The ideological and tactical divisions of the 1930s were contested during the
1910s and 1920s. The collapse of the One Big Union, combined with deteriorating
relations with the Communist Party, shifted BC socialists away from industrial militancy
and toward parliamentary forms of struggle.
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Keywords
British Columbia, CCF, Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, labour