The smokestack leaned toward capitalism: An examination of the Middle Way program of the Antigonish Movement

Abstract

The article explores the ideological underpinnings of the Antigonish Movement of co-operative development and adult education which established itself in Nova Scotia in the 1930s. It is concluded that the ideology of the Antigonish Movement represented consent to, and reinforcement of, capitalist hegemony. This argument is contrary to the position taken by many Movement activists and writers who resent the Movement as attempting to create a middle way between capitalism and socialism.