Farson, Stuart

English

Histoire sociale / Social History (E-Journal, York University)

122 Histoire sociale / Social HistoryHistoire sociale  Social History, vol. XXXVII, no 73 (mai-May 2004)(p. 230). Principalement destinées à la formation professionnelle, les écoles pri-maires supérieures (EPS) sajoutaient à ce système. Elles préparent surtout à desemplois de subalternes dans les bureaux ou les entreprises, bien quelles nenassurent pas moins une certaine mobilité sociale ascendante. Cependant, en 1906,« EPS et cours complémentaires confondus, représentaient toujours moins de 2 %de la scolarisation élémentaire » (p. 234). Le système français mit donc beaucoupmoins daccent sur cet enseignement intermédiaire que sur lenseignement primaireproprement dit, attendant au XXe siècle pour le faire significativement, « laissantbourgs et villages en marge du mouvement » (p. 237).Létude se termine sur la question budgétaire. Il est révélateur dy voir que le bud-get total consacré au primaire en 1907, habituellement sans le coût des bâtiments,est de 25 fois supérieur à ce quil était en 1837. Pendant la même période, « le bud-get global de lÉtat central navait que quadruplé » (p. 249). Comme ailleurs, létudedécortique ensuite beaucoup cette donnée synthèse. On y retrouve pratiquement tousles thèmes précédemment évoqués, sous langle financier.En somme, une telle analyse quantitative est un moyen efficace pour en percevoirles exceptions régionales, les tendances générales et, surtout, pour en situer leslignes de force plus globales. Dans ce cas-ci, les auteurs ont raison de souligner quelécole primaire est dune « importance remarquable dans lhistoire sociale, cul-turelle et politique de la France moderne » (p. 301).Félix BouvierSociété des professeurs d’histoire du QuébecSteve Hewitt  Spying 101: The RCMP’s Secret Activities at Universities, 1917–1997. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002. Pp. xiv, 295.Examining the relationship between intelligence agencies and academe is not new.In Britain and the United States, the countries with which Canada has enjoyed thelongest and most intimate intelligence-sharing relationship, it has been a recurringtheme. British studies have explored the subject from two perspectives. Writers havefocused primarily on the recruitment of a small group of students at Cambridge Uni-versity in the 1930s as future Soviet spies. While some of these studies consider theinfluence of certain Marxist professors, they do not discuss what university life waslike or what activities intelligence agencies performed on campus, either to recruitspies or to thwart such recruitment. During the Second World War British intelli-gence drew heavily on universities. This was evident at Bletchley Park where Ger-man codes were broken. Though code breaking relied primarily on advancedmathematical skills, studies of the practice touched on the relationship between aca-deme and intelligence only in passing.In the United States, where the Central Intelligence Agencys (CIA) headquartersare often referred to as the campus, the so-called cloak-and-gown relationshiphas been depicted as waxing and waning between periods epitomized by positiveworking partnerships and unhealthy conflicts. During the Second World War andHistoire sociale  Social History, vol. XXXVII, no 73 (mai-May 2004)Comptes rendus / Book Reviews 123immediately thereafter, U.S. intelligence also drew heavily on academe for theresearch and analytical skills universities could provide. Not surprisingly, somehave seen this period positively, particularly the contribution of Ivy League univer-sities like Yale. The period has not been without its critics, however, as more recentstudies have viewed it as compromising the universitys integrity. By the1960s, therelationship soured after Ramparts magazine revealed that the CIA had secretlyfunded the National Students Union and a project to train South Vietnamese Policeat Michigan State University. The subsequent Katzenbach Commission concludedthat the U.S. government should not provide covert financial assistance to any edu-cational facilities. More recently, the relationship has again been seen positively asfresh demands for analytical skills and scientific expertise have grown. The univer-sity as a place to be watched also appears in the literature, focusing on the role of theFederal Bureau of Investigation. Here again the relationship is time-specific andtends to concentrate on the years when the university was perceived as a hotbed ofanti-war sentiments and New Left philosophies.Though the Canadian Association of University Teachers has long been interestedin the activities of intelligence agencies on Canadian campuses and has persistentlylobbied government for better controls, the area remained without a major Canadianstudy until the timely publication of Steve Hewitts Spying 101.Why academic researchers study the subjects they do has been the subject ofmuch debate. Some argue it is simply a matter of intellectual choice. Others posit ithas all to do with the writers background and social experience. Little, however, hasbeen said about the role of serendipity in subject selection and approach. Clearly,with Spying 101 it played a significant part. Steve Hewitt admits that, when trying toavoid work on his dissertation one hot afternoon in the Canadian National Archives,he started to examine a finding aid concerning the Royal Canadian MountedPolices (RCMP) records. This showed that the RCMP had collected information atseveral Canadian universities, including his own, the University of Saskatchewan.He made a request for these records and subsequently wrote an article about thepractice, which generated much publicity. Encouraged to broaden the scope into abook, he began the study which is the subject of this review.Spying 101 differs in three important respects from the British and American lit-erature. First, it covers a much longer time frame, some 80 years. Secondly, insteadof focusing on a few elite universities, it covers a broad sample from across thecountry. Finally, it concentrates on how and why the RCMPs Security Serviceplaced professors, students, and staff under surveillance and what the service drewfrom the ideas disseminated. As such, the book makes a significant contribution tothe social and political histories of two important Canadian institutions, the coun-trys federal police force, arguably the quintessential symbol of Canada, and the uni-versity.The works lengthy span shows these institutions to be moving in opposite direc-tions. When the RCMP came into being in 1920, recruits were almost entirely white,English-speaking, working-class males. Pay scales were such that few from theupper echelons of society were attracted to policing as an occupation. The relativecost of education  annual university tuition being equal to the income of many124 Histoire sociale / Social HistoryHistoire sociale  Social History, vol. XXXVII, no 73 (mai-May 2004)working-class families  meant such families could not afford to send their chil-dren to college. University education was thus a bastion of conservatism for theprivileged few.By the end of the century things were different. The RCMP had changed from aninstitution with low educational requirements to one that recruited from a muchbroader segment of society and openly encouraged university graduate entrants, in-service education, and bilingualism. By contrast, the university had become, thanksto broadly available financial support, a mass educator. Anyone with the necessaryeducational skills could now aspire to attend. Instead of cultivating morality and cul-ture within the elite, university faculties now openly encouraged critical thinking.What had once been dogma was now routinely challenged.Hewitts study consists of four parts. While the first provides the necessary theo-retical underpinnings and background for the study, it also reveals how the authorhimself became a person of interest to the RCMP. The remaining three parts coverdistinct historical periods and rely heavily on released government documents andin-depth interviews with former participants. Part 2 covers the first four decades ofthe organizations life. During this period the RCMP was mainly concerned aboutleft-wing ideas spreading to the university from outside. The third concentratesentirely on the crisis years of the 1960s, when the universities became radicalizedby New Left ideas and the anti-war movement. The last part focuses on the finalyears of the RCMP Security Service, its replacement by a civilian organization, theCanadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), in 1984, and subsequent develop-ments within the force. By the beginning of the 1970s the RCMPs concerns hadreversed. Now emphasis was placed on the spread of subversive ideas from the uni-versity to the external community.Collectively the chapters show that surveillance of academe was practised acrossthe country over a long period of time without independent oversight until the Secu-rity Services replacement by CSIS in 1984. Such surveillance was conducteddespite little substantive evidence of a real threat. Consequently, much effort andconsiderable resources were spent on an endeavour for little reward. Too often theactivities took on the appearance of make-work projects and sometimes focused onillusionary groups. Significantly, Spying 101 shows that the RCMPs capacity tounderstand and analyse subversive activity and ideologies was found by the late1960s not to be its strong suit. To its credit the Security Service took steps to becomemore professional and to rely more heavily on civilian analysts with academic qual-ifications. At CSIS all aspiring intelligence officers now need a university degree asa minimum entry requirement to the Service.Stuart FarsonSimon Fraser UniversityNancy Janovicek and Joy Parr, eds.  Histories of Canadian Children and Youth.Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2003. Pp. 317.

Steve Hewitt — Spying 101: The RCMP's Secret Activities at Universities, 1917-1997

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Steve Hewitt — Spying 101: The RCMP's Secret Activities at Universities, 1917-1997

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Histoire sociale / Social History (E-Journal, York University)