Abstracts Category : Other

Industry, ideology, and social formation in British Columbia, 1849-1885

by Jamie Morton

This study examines how the systems of production of the commodity exporting industriesof pre-1885 British Columbia contributed to the social formation of the region. Suchindustries provided the economic base for post-contact development and non-Nativesettlement of the region, mediated by the cultural values of immigrant and indigenouspopulations. The intent here is to synthesize a more inclusive model to clarify how theseeconomic and cultural factors intersected to produce a distinct regional society.Beginning with Ian McKays suggestion to interpret the history of Canada as a process ofnaturalizing the liberal order, this study moves the analysis away from microstudies ofindividual industries or social groups in order to emphasize the way in which a broadervision became naturalized. This approach avoids some of the simple dichotomies of classand race that have informed much of the historiography of BC, in favour of a morenuanced analysis that emphasizes the negotiated process that leads to social consensus.Beginning with the merchant capitalist relations of the fur trade, and acceleratingwith the 1858 gold rush, BC became understood as a place that provided opportunities foreconomic and social mobility through participation in commodity exporting ventures. Aconsensus emerged that emphasized the producer ethic [the economic and cultural valueof independent producers], and the creation of a meritocratic socio-political environmentto support opportunities for achieved, rather than ascribed, social position. This attractedEuro-North American immigrants hoping to escape social restrictions or proletarianizationby achieving independent producer status.Such a goal meant that these immigrants resisted waged labour, creating a chronic shortage that impeded industrial development. This was filled with Chinese immigrants orAboriginal participants, attracted by the prospect of converting earnings into increasedstatus in their originating societies. Combining the demand for labour with racialideology, certain jobs were racialized, and BC industries were typified by split labourmarkets, with an upper echelon comprised of occupationally-mobile Euro-North American workers, and a lower echelon defined by race as well as skill, with little opportunity formobility. In turn, this contributed to naturalizing ideology concerning race, class, andsocial position.The emphasis on the producer ethic contributed to an artificial division betweenproducers and agents, with the former celebrated, while the latter, arguably moreimportant to the systems of production by providing links to export markets, are portrayedless favourably. A commodity exporting, producer-centric variant of the liberal order wasnaturalized in nineteenth century BC, providing the logic for social and politicaldevelopment, and explaining how certain groups were valued, and either integrated into or excluded from hegemonic society. The degree to which individuals or groups conformedto the naturalizedAdvisors/Committee Members: Baskerville, Peter A. (supervisor).