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The Coalition of Progressive Electors : a case study in post-Fordist counter-hegemonic politics

University of British Columbia

This dissertation is a case study of The Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE), a municipal political party in Vancouver, British Columbia. Founded in 1968, COPE claims to represent a coming together of "ordinary citizens" united around a programme of people's needs. In direct opposition to its chief political opponent, the corporatesponsored Non-Partisan Association (NPA), COPE has attempted to articulate the diverse issues and objectives of progressive movements within the civic electoral arena. Following a neo-Gramscian approach, the research highlights both the internal and external challenges confronting COPE throughout the party's long history in Vancouver politics. A neo-Gramscian perspective emphasizes the process of coalition-formation—that is, the creation of a broadly inclusive and widely endorsed counter-hegemonic project. In the advanced capitalist democracies, the task of building electoral coalitions has generally been taken up by political parties that have either tried to gain the active support of social movements, or dismissed their concerns as unwelcome 'distractions' from the main goal of winning state power. However, as the limitations of conventional party politics became increasingly apparent, and as new social movements began to challenge established political boundaries, many experiments in constructing a "new" kind of party have taken place. I have examined COPE as an instance of a "new politics" or movement-oriented party. My research focuses on COPE's efforts to articulate the aims of "new" and "old" political agendas, and to adopt a new social movement style within the realm of electoral politics, thereby serving as a counter-hegemonic vehicle within the local political context. The analysis begins with a review of the concrete practices and experiences of several exemplary movement-oriented parties in various political settings. Based on this literature, the conceptual framework of the study is narrowed to a focus on the content of political debate and the style of political action expected of a movement-party. The COP case study is also situated within the political-economic context of Vancouver's development as a post-Fordist "global city." Systematic examination of COPE's archival documents, observation of the group, and interviews with COPE members reveal that, in its present form, COPE does not rise to the status of a counter-hegemonic force in Vancouver politics, although its particular experience is instructive. Analysis of COPE underscores the necessity of coalition-building around multiple issues and identities, and the need to reconceive the notion of politics to include both electoral and extra-parliamentary struggles. An examination of COPE's historical evolution also points to the need for a greater degree of political flexibility in order to effectively respond to the limits and possibilities presented by specific historical moments. In a post-Fordist era, COPE's electoral appeals to "working people" or "ordinary people" assume a homogeneity among progressive movements that is belied by interrelated processes of economic polarization and political demobilization/exclusion, as well as by the social diversity of the global city. A post-Fordist counter-hegemonic project requires a vision and a political strategy capable of bridging the gaps between disparate interests and movements.

Thesis/Dissertation

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2009-07-20

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/10981

Sociology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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