01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Manufacturing Consent

Chomsky and Montreal There are several lines, many of which may be traced through Avukah, that connect Chomsky and Harris to the city of Montreal. A significant number of Chomsky acquaintances and commentators were originally from Montreal, among them Sam Abramovitch, Norman Epstein, Meyer Mendelson, and Willie Segal. One of the presses that has published or reprinted many of Chomsky's political works, Black Rose (the others are South End, Pantheon, and Z Magazine), is located in Montreal. "Manufacturing Consent", the National Film Board of Canada film about Chomsky, was produced in that city by two Montrealers, Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick. There are quite a few Chomsky-trained linguists teaching at various Montreal universities and colleges, including McGill University. In May 1942, an article entitled "McGill Rallies Students to Fight Anti-Semitism" appeared in Avukah Student Action. It described an anticonscription rally, held in Montreal on 24 March 1942, which turned into a riot against Jews. McGill Avukah members claimed that the melee was part of a "well coordinated plan of fascist groups in Quebec," such as L'Ordre de Jacques Cartier and the Canadian Party and observed that the rally had been publicized in the violently anti-Semitic newspaper Chez Nous. The article also pointed a finger at certain individuals: Adrian Arcand (an anti-Semitic fascist), M. Raymond, M.P., and M. Bourassa (Quebec isolationist nationalists), and M. Bouchard. Rather than simply reporting on the activities of these profascists, the article asks, "Why has fascism grown in Quebec?" The answer recalls Harris's analysis of the social basis of fascism: "Because of the atrociously low standard of living in Quebec, the poor education system, the dire poverty, many thousands were swayed by these reactionary movements. The underpaid and oppressed French-Canadian workers in, for example, Dominion Textiles, took faith in organizations which promised to alleviate this condition." The approach taken in 1942 to address Quebec's problems is particularly interesting in light of contemporary discussions concerning the future of Quebec as a province of Canada. Class analysis, which would emphasize the fascistic aspects of corporate capitalism and nationalism, is as conspicuously absent from the debate today as it was then.