Hobohemia and the Crucifixion Machine: Rival Images of a New World in 1930s Vancouver
In the early years of the Great Depression, thousands of unemployed homeless transients settled into Vancouver’s “hobo jungle.” The jungle operated as a distinct community, in which goods were exchanged and shared directly, without benefit of currency. The organization of life was immediate and cons...
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| Formaat: | Online |
| Taal: | Engels |
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Athabasca University Press
2021
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| Online toegang: | 19407 |
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| _version_ | 1869514918730924032 |
|---|---|
| author | Todd McCallum |
| author_browse | Todd McCallum |
| author_facet | Todd McCallum |
| author_sort | Todd McCallum |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | In the early years of the Great Depression, thousands of unemployed homeless transients settled into Vancouver’s “hobo jungle.” The jungle operated as a distinct community, in which goods were exchanged and shared directly, without benefit of currency. The organization of life was immediate and consensual, conducted in the absence of capital accumulation. But as the transients moved from the jungles to the city, they made innumerable demands on Vancouver’s Relief Department, consuming financial resources at a rate that threatened the city with bankruptcy. In response, the municipality instituted a card-control system—no longer offering relief recipients currency to do with as they chose. It also implemented new investigative and assessment procedures, including office spies, to weed out organizational inefficiencies. McCallum argues that, threatened by this “ungovernable society,” Vancouver’s Relief Department employed Fordist management methods that ultimately stripped the transients of their individuality. Vancouver’s municipal government entered into contractual relationships with dozens of private businesses, tendering bids for meals in much the same fashion as for printing jobs and construction projects. As a result, entrepreneurs clamoured to get their share of the state spending. With the emergence of work relief camps, the provincial government harnessed the only currency that homeless men possessed: their muscle. This new form of unfree labour aided the province in developing its tourist driven “image” economy, as well as facilitating the transportation of natural resources and manufactured goods. It also led eventually to the most significant protest movement of 1930s’ Canada, the On-to-Ottawa Trek. Hobohemia and the Crucifixion Machine explores the connections between the history of transiency and that of Fordism, offering a new interpretation of the economic and political crises that wracked Canada in the early years of the Great Depression. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-49489 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | Athabasca University Press |
| publisherStr | Athabasca University Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-494892022-01-31T09:49:20Z Hobohemia and the Crucifixion Machine: Rival Images of a New World in 1930s Vancouver Todd McCallum HN1-995 hobos Vancouver On-to-Ottawa homeless Fordism labour camps In the early years of the Great Depression, thousands of unemployed homeless transients settled into Vancouver’s “hobo jungle.” The jungle operated as a distinct community, in which goods were exchanged and shared directly, without benefit of currency. The organization of life was immediate and consensual, conducted in the absence of capital accumulation. But as the transients moved from the jungles to the city, they made innumerable demands on Vancouver’s Relief Department, consuming financial resources at a rate that threatened the city with bankruptcy. In response, the municipality instituted a card-control system—no longer offering relief recipients currency to do with as they chose. It also implemented new investigative and assessment procedures, including office spies, to weed out organizational inefficiencies. McCallum argues that, threatened by this “ungovernable society,” Vancouver’s Relief Department employed Fordist management methods that ultimately stripped the transients of their individuality. Vancouver’s municipal government entered into contractual relationships with dozens of private businesses, tendering bids for meals in much the same fashion as for printing jobs and construction projects. As a result, entrepreneurs clamoured to get their share of the state spending. With the emergence of work relief camps, the provincial government harnessed the only currency that homeless men possessed: their muscle. This new form of unfree labour aided the province in developing its tourist driven “image” economy, as well as facilitating the transportation of natural resources and manufactured goods. It also led eventually to the most significant protest movement of 1930s’ Canada, the On-to-Ottawa Trek. Hobohemia and the Crucifixion Machine explores the connections between the history of transiency and that of Fordism, offering a new interpretation of the economic and political crises that wracked Canada in the early years of the Great Depression. 2021-02-11T15:28:22Z 2021-02-11T15:28:22Z 2016-08-09 22:40:46 2014 book 19407 19256485 9781926836287 9781926836294 9781771991094 9781926836638 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/49489 eng Fabriks: Studies in the Working Class series image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International http://www.aupress.ca/index.php/books/120215 Athabasca University Press 10.15215/aupress/9781926836287.01 10.15215/aupress/9781926836287.01 6b1b8af7-79e4-4b18-b297-b983df0f073f 9781926836287 9781926836294 9781771991094 9781926836638 332 open access |
| spellingShingle | HN1-995 hobos Vancouver On-to-Ottawa homeless Fordism labour camps Todd McCallum Hobohemia and the Crucifixion Machine: Rival Images of a New World in 1930s Vancouver |
| title | Hobohemia and the Crucifixion Machine: Rival Images of a New World in 1930s Vancouver |
| title_full | Hobohemia and the Crucifixion Machine: Rival Images of a New World in 1930s Vancouver |
| title_fullStr | Hobohemia and the Crucifixion Machine: Rival Images of a New World in 1930s Vancouver |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hobohemia and the Crucifixion Machine: Rival Images of a New World in 1930s Vancouver |
| title_short | Hobohemia and the Crucifixion Machine: Rival Images of a New World in 1930s Vancouver |
| title_sort | hobohemia and the crucifixion machine rival images of a new world in 1930s vancouver |
| topic | HN1-995 hobos Vancouver On-to-Ottawa homeless Fordism labour camps |
| topic_facet | HN1-995 hobos Vancouver On-to-Ottawa homeless Fordism labour camps |
| url | 19407 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT toddmccallum hobohemiaandthecrucifixionmachinerivalimagesofanewworldin1930svancouver |