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David Bedford and Danielle Irving, (Halifax: Fernwood Publishing 2000)
THIS BOOK IS ABOUT Marxism, the Canadian left, and the Aboriginal national question. The main thesis of the book is that the Canadian left has been ineffective in addressing the Aboriginal national question mainly because of their interpretation of Marxism as "a variant of modernity that, like liberalism, capitalism, scienticism and fetishized technology, is seen as flowing from the enlightenment idea of unceasing progress through the application of an instrumental rationality." (15) More specifically, the left interprets Marxism and conceptualizes socialism in terms of metaphysical economism, and fails to address issues of human alienation and emancipation.
The book raises the important question of the right of national self-determination for Aboriginal peoples in Canada. The authors argue in post-modern terms that what is at the basis of the Aboriginal question today is a fundamental conflict between a traditional culture based upon non-modern political economy, and modern industrial culture. Can the left then, as the authors question, develop an analysis and alternative that can transcend this dichotomy between a non-modern and modern culture, or are Aboriginal societies doomed to inevitable extinction?
Though the book is short, comprising four chapters overall, it makes a far from negligible contribution to radical critical ideas and possibly Marxism. There are actually two interrelated discussions taking place throughout the book. One addresses the narrow application of mechanical or "orthodox" Marxism by the Canadian left to the Aboriginal question. The other deals with Marx's thinking, including his concept of historical materialism, the "orthodox" and "dialectical" interpretations of his thought, and their application to subject peoples, -- Aboriginal -- in defining the right of national self-determination.
In forming their criticism of the left the authors draw upon the works of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation/New Democratic Party, the Communist Party of Canada, three Trotskyist groups -- the International Socialists, the Trotskyist League of Canada, and the Communist League/Young Socialists -- as well as an assortment of Native and non-Native intellectuals whom they consider as typical of the left. It is made clear from the outset they are not advancing a comprehensive analysis of the ideology of the overall left. Rather, the focus is on the left's understanding of the causes and nature of Aboriginal peoples' oppression,...