Raised in the Spirit of the Class Struggle: Children, Youth, and the Interwar Ukrainian Left in Canada

This paper focuses on the experiences of children and youth who were born into the Ukrainian Labour Farmer Temple Association (ulfta) during the 1920s and 1930s. It examines the priorities of the movement’s parents and male leaders and their efforts to implement activities that would serve to politicize and impart a strong sense of Ukrainianness in youngsters. It also considers the ways in which young people themselves contributed to the shape of the movement. Children and youth, because of their particular positions at specific intersections of class, ethnicity, age, and gender, experienced the ulfta in ways that were distinct from their parents. Because of the ulfta’s emphasis on Ukrainian culture, their childhoods were also significantly different from other socialist children. The movement’s emphasis on Marxist-Leninism and the class struggle also divided these children from their non-socialist Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian peers. By applying an intersectional perspective to the interwar Ukrainian left, this paper also seeks to broaden our understanding of the movement’s connection with the Communist Party of Canada (cpc). The ulfta and the cpc enjoyed a consistently difficult relationship through much of this period, particularly where Ukrainian cultural expression was concerned. An examination of youngsters’ activities illustrates some of the many ways in which the ulfta leaders and rank-and-file members (including the young people themselves) resisted the cpc’s attempts to control the ulfta and its resources. Resume Cet article se concentre sur les experiences des enfants et des jeunes nes dans la Ukrainian Labour Farmer Temple Association (ulfta) pendant les annees 1920 et 1930. Il examine les priorites des parents et des chefs du mouvement ainsi que leurs efforts de mettre en place les activites qui pourraient servir de politiser et faire connaitre un sens commun d’etre Ukrainiens chez les jeunes. Il prend en consideration egalement les moyens par lesquels les jeunes eux-memes ont contribue a faconner le mouvement. Etant donne leurs situations particulieres aux intersections precises de classe, caractere ethnique, âge et genre, les enfants et les jeunes ont connu la ulfta dans des manieres differentes de leurs parents. Etant donne l’emphase de la ulfta sur la culture ukrainienne, leur enfance etait aussi remarquablement differente de celle des enfants socialistes. L’emphase du mouvement sur le Marxiste-Leninisme et la lutte des classes avait aussi separe ces enfants de leurs pairs ukrainiens non socialistes et non ukrainiens. En appliquant la perspective d’intersections a la gauche pendant la guerre, cet article cherche aussi a elargir notre comprehension du lien du mouvement avec le Parti communiste du Canada (pcc). La ulfta et le pcc entretenaient une relation constamment difficile tout au long de cette periode, particulierement a l’egard de l’expression de la culture ukrainienne. Un examen des activites des jeunes montre certains moyens parmi beaucoup d’autres par lesquels les chefs de la ulfta et les membres ordinaires (y compris les jeunes gens eux-memes) ont resiste les tentatives du pcc de controler la ulfta et ses ressources.

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