Análisis por cada competencia de manera general

This whole thread reminds me why Cape Breton is where dreams go to die. - Lachie MacDonald, Halifax resident originally from Cape Breton,

commenting on the discussion of Dylan's banning and the comparisons to the HalifaxLocals messageboard

(Posted on CBLocals board: Tue Mar 08, 2005 5:03 pm, repeated in several threads thereafter)

The only people who have ever given me any grief for living in cape breton were from halifax or had spent a lot of time in halifax. west of new

brunswick, people either don't know where it is, or immediately say, "OH, it's supposed to be so BEAUTIFUL there! do you play the FIDDLE?" - Jackson E. MacIntosh, esq, expatriate Cape Bretoner in Montreal (Posted on CBLocals board: Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:46 pm)

Indie rock is not only noted for being primarily geared to white men but it also possesses a certain middle-class and lower middle-class sensibility (Hibbett, 2005, Hesmondhalgh, 1999). Frith & Horne (1987) argue that British punk music and indie rock draw much of their influence from the movement from art students within the UK. As art school is not exactly an endeavor just anyone can afford, it is not surprising that it fails to attract a significant amount of the lower class economically. Art school students also possess a cosmopolitan sensibility, a worldliness and sophistication.

This sophistication works in stark contrast to what Paul Wills (1981) describes in

Learning to Labor as the "strangled muted celebration of masculinity in labour power" in British

factories and workshops (p. 174). In his analysis of young working-class men, Willis concluded that the subjects of his analysis exercise their agency by rejecting any sense of school's authority. This "relegates" them to working class jobs, which they celebrate as an assertion of their

masculinity—as industrial labour jobs represent a counter to the feminine connotations of intellectual work. Willis describes this as an "anti-mentalism."

Frith & Horne and Willis wrote about a 1970s Britain that stands in stark contrast to the Britain of today, as Stanley Aronowitz notes in the Foreword to Learning to Labor in New Times (2004). Aronowitz notes that "the factory jobs that were still available in the early 1970s, when Willis engaged the lads, are now gone…from many major industrial cities in Britain, continental Western Europe, and the United States" (p. x). Yet he argues that there is still a reproduction of working-class oppositional culture to schooling and to the deindustrialization of labor.

In accordance with this argument, I argue that the CBLocals scene offers us an example of the class dissonance felt by Cape Bretoners in light of a deindustrialization that has greatly affected their economy. As cited in Chapter 1, the top three industries in Cape Breton prior to

the 1990s were coal, steel and local fisheries. All three industries collapsed. In 1995, Cape Breton possessed the highest population percentage with less than a high school education (Lee, p. 57). The deindustrialization of the area produced great economic pains and also affected the working-class identity propagated within the area.

Their closest point of comparison for a music scene and an economy is Halifax, which possesses a stronger educational industries footing. The Halifax area is closer to the art school environment that bred punk; with Nova Scotia School of Art and Design (NSCAD) students permeating the scene in addition to eight other postsecondary institutions. Industrial Cape Breton only hosts Cape Breton University and one campus of the Nova Scotia Community College. My interview subjects did not discuss issues of class as a matter of race, gender or sexual orientation. Many, however, did frame issues of class through the lens of discussion over differences between the CBLocals scene and the HalifaxLocals scene.

Cape Breton itself is comparatively lower class to the rest of Nova Scotia and Canada, both in terms of economics and cosmopolitan makeup. In 2006, the most popular ―indie rock‖ bands from Canada were Broken Social Scene and the Arcade Fire, based in Toronto and Montreal respectively. Both cities are decidedly metropolitan, with multiple races and cultures, and economically sound compared to their Atlantic counterparts.

Most of those I interviewed identified positively with being a Cape Bretoner. The reactions of my interviewees ranged from the very few who had negative connotations with being a Cape Bretoner to those who were indifferent to regional pride. (―I didn't do anything, I just got born!,‖ said one woman with a laugh). These quotes represent the majority of the interviewees, proudly identifying with their home region and generally associating Cape Breton with laid-back people, beautiful scenery and camaraderie:

- You can walk down the street and say hi to a million people and they don‘t look at you like you‘re some freak…laid back, easy going, like to have a good time: shows, music, dance, parties…

- You‘re always so close to the water. As soon as it‘s warm enough to go to the water, we‘re there. We‘ve already had three bonfires at the beach and it‘s just the beginning of June.

- The stereotypical Cape Bretoner to the rest of the country is similar to that of the stereotypical Native… unemployed, lazy. Those who don‘t know us. Those who do just realize that we like to party and have a good time…we work hard and play hard.

Despite these proclamations, many interviewees acknowledged inferiority complexes living in Cape Breton. Everyone that identified positively with Cape Breton also expressed frustration with the area‘s atypical qualities for an indie rock scene. Their frustrations with the island‘s class politics were most visibly noticed in discussions about the capital of Nova Scotia, Halifax. A number of interviews and discussions on the board reflect that regionalism is the lens by which people within the CBLocals scene view class negatively. Yet they are distinctly aware of class cultures within the area, from this vantage point they view the scene positively.

Discussions of class reflect that both localism and glocalism matter in the CBLocals scene and that the scene possesses both typical and atypical qualities of indie rock scenes. It is typical in that the CBLocals participants view themselves as more cosmopolitan and middle-class in comparison to their surroundings, but atypical in that they are decidedly lower-class in comparison to their Halifax counterparts.

“If It Means Working in Retail, I Don’t Care!”

In my life, I have encountered a number of people that subscribed to the stereotype of the "lazy Cape Bretoner." Amongst friends, it has not been uncommon for a large group of us to mock the perceived accents and dialects of the area while portraying the typical "uneducated Cape Bretoner." Whenever an "outsider" dares attempt this humor, it is usually greeted with derision. I have come to find this is not unusual as most social groups prefer to keep humor about their characteristics insular.

I have also come to understand that Cape Breton is considered to be very rural— Sydney is the highest populated area and its 20,000+ pales in comparison to most North American urban centers. In the Western world, there is an ongoing perception of difference between rural and urban residents. Urban environments are often portrayed as housing liberal values, as do music communities, especially indie rock. I have never personally found the people with whom I interacted outside of Cape Breton to necessarily be more or less liberal, educated or

"enlightened" than within the area. Still, among myself and my friends in the music scene, the belief persisted that we would probably not feel as much like outsiders in other parts of the country or the world.

For that reason, many people I observed felt that Cape Breton was not a place to make a life, regardless of whether or not you grew up there. This attitude was reflected in the responses from many users who either left or planned to leave Cape Breton. Their reasoning ranged from ―I would like to stay but I have to leave Cape Breton to live my life‖ to ―only those without initiative would ever stay,‖ as this interviewee implied:

There's an expression : "I'm right set in me ways" and Cape Breton is indeed stuck in its ways, for the most part. So yeah, it's a place that has limited potential

for self-improvement, self-enrichment…(some Cape Bretoners) say "the government oughta do something about that," it's entitlement. A large part of the Cape Breton economy is the dole, it's pogey, it's welfare.

This perspective touches on issues that I discuss in Chapter 3 regarding a negative perspective on government intervention on Cape Breton affairs. It is economically middle-class conservative, socially liberal logic: Cape Breton is not progressive because few people are developing opportunities to enrich oneself financially or culturally. Specifically, people are too reliant on government to resolve these problems rather than initiating solutions.

In the 2000s, Halifax still attracted CBLocals participants for school. Many of the people that frequented shows and social outings, like RJ Good, Christian Young and Megan

MacDonald, had scheduled postsecondary treks to Halifax. However, Alberta's booming

economy became the new primary source of outmigration. My few teenage interviewees already resigned that Cape Breton would not be where they would make their home. One of them

specifically mentioned Alberta as a future destination:

There‘s no work here whatsoever. (Most) of my family live out in

Edmonton….plus if you plan on having a music career, you don‘t stay in Sydney. You just don‘t do it…I want to come back here and be the main act that someone is going to pay to see.

Another teenager empathized, stating that they would only stay if "there was a lot of musical opportunities." As far as he was concerned, only pride kept the outmigration of youth from being total: " regional patriotism in Cape Breton is a good thing… it‘s the only thing that‘s keeping this place from becoming an old folks‘ home."

The new phenomenon was Cape Bretoners travelling out west to Alberta (especially Fort McMurray) to partake of the booming oil community. Into my 20s, I observed many significant figures that I knew from the formation days of CBLocals settling in Halifax, including Sean MacGillvary, Mark Black, Mike Slaven, Alfred Remo and Allison Mackie. This tradition of uprooting combined with Halifax‘s geographical proximity (close enough to visit frequently, far enough away to not be home) made it the common comparison point for Sydney. Prior to municipal amalgamations, Halifax, Sydney and Dartmouth were the only recognized cities in Nova Scotia. They are still considered as such unofficially. Halifax is the most prosperous of these areas with a much higher employment rate and multiple universities.

Aaron Corbett wrote his own Cape Breton parable (by his admission, somewhat by accident) in the late 1990s comedy sketch compilation, ―All Title, No Practice II.‖ In his short play, someone is driving home to North Sydney from work. He picks up a variety of hitchhikers, all of whom are in a hypnotic trance. Despite his insistence that he is only returning home from work, they continue their efforts to persuade him to continue on to Halifax. They eventually hijack his car as they are on a mission to go to Halifax ―where the streets are paved with gold.‖ The sketch ends with the driver becoming an entranced hitchhiker himself: he is off to Halifax to get his car back.

The metaphor stuck with a number of CBLocals users that had either left Cape Breton or planned to leave but there were exceptions. For example, some of the people I observed who had left Cape Breton either temporarily or permanently attributed it to a geographically non- specific attitude that it is regressive for anyone to stay in their hometown for their entire life. One person cited his frustration with his experience at Cape Breton University, feeling like he "wasn't growing up" being surrounded by people he already knew. He eventually sought refuge

in Halifax for a short period of time to meet new people. A woman in her 20s was more explicit: ―I just find it weird when people live in their hometown.‖ Yet another musician noted that while the shift had gone from Halifax to Alberta, the emphasis on moving out remained:

I guess right now it would be ―go out west.‖ Growing up, it was: "go to Halifax!"…I was being raised to believe that you can‘t do anything here. Once you graduate, you have to make plans to get off the island…right now it‘s the ―out west‖ boom and people are ―well, I don‘t know what I want to do with my life so I‘ll go out west: they‘ll tell me what to do…I‘ll go where the money is.

Those who stay in Cape Breton wrestle with negative perceptions. I interviewed one musician who found it particularly frustrating when people moved away to pursue their goals, but did not understand the goals of those that wanted to remain. This person had prioritized ambition to remain at home over professional goals:

Interviewee: It's hard…to make a living here without living with your parents and ruining their retirement…we do whatever it takes including not going to shows, not going to bars and not going out to eat so we can stay. Because you don‘t need money to be happy here. You need money to be happy in Halifax, I think. If you have that perfect route of graduating high school, going to university, getting your professional degree after that and then doing what you want to do? Sure, go do it!…the only thing that I knew for sure since I was very little was that Cape Breton is home and that's where I'm staying. If that means working a retail job or something like that, I don't care!

Bryce: Do people look down on that? Interviewee: Yes! Absolutely.

Bryce: Friends of yours?

Interviewee: Yes! Absolutely. ―Is that what you‘re going to do with the rest of your life?‖ Who cares about what I‘m doing with the rest of my life? I‘m (young) and I‘m really happy right now. I‘m having a really good time and nothing stresses me out.

This person was not alone. A sympathizer underscored the point about economic

differences between life in Sydney and in Halifax: ―You're gonna buy a house (in Sydney) that's actually nice for $65,000. If you go to Halifax…you're going to have to go $120,000 to find anything that's livable...I would never live in Halifax.‖ Both interviewees also deemed experiences living in or visiting Halifax unpleasant.

Both, working service jobs, also rejected the rhetoric of "moving up" beyond the rural area of Sydney. One of the interviewees specifically resisted what they perceived to be enforced schooling— essentially reinscribing the British working class sensibility described by Willis. I found it particularly telling that coal mining, steel working and fishing all ran in this

interviewee's family and that they discussed the subject at greater length than any of my other interviewees.

These interviewees did not directly articulate their opinions through the language of class, but it was indirectly implied. People looked down upon them for placing regional preference over professional development. The cosmopolitan, worldly thing to do, their critics argued, was to move to a bigger city to obtain a better paying job. However, these people expressed dissatisfaction with living in Halifax and had no interest in pursuing a higher cost of living.

“The Rest of the Civilized World vs. Cape Breton”

One of the most heated debates in the summer of 2006 within the CBLocals scene was whether or not poorhaus, identified as Sean MacGillvary, was too heavy-handed in banning people for usage of homophobic language. However, a shadow discussion that grew in significance when I analyzed many of my interviews was the differences between Halifax and Cape Breton. Sean MacGillvary is from Cape Breton but lives in Halifax. This was not lost on some of his critics, who felt that Sean was selective in applying his messageboard standards towards Cape Bretoners.

One of Sean‘s most vocal backers was thedeadwalk, identified as a Halifax musician living in Cape Breton. He felt that excessive moderation on HalifaxLocals was unneeded because everyone already knew how to conduct themselves. He spoke ill of Cape Breton on the messageboard:

no one on this island seems to want to do anything that could even be deemed remotely progressive and that is why this island will always be a gigantic shithole. it's still really pretty to look at. you can all slam me for being a "kjzhsdkjhasdf" or a "faget" but really, it's all you low iq'd small minded individuals who hold this place back.

(Posted on CBLocals board: Thu Jun 22, 2006 11:59 pm)

thedeadwalk received resistance from some of the users he intended to displease, several who called into question his judgment given that he had lived in the area for a short period of time. deadwalk also grated against users who were not considered targets of his original address. He received angry responses from JamesFW and ap (identified as musicians James F.W.

Thompson and Alicia Penney). In an early 2007 thread, he got into a messageboard argument with mrk bd, although the two reconciled.

One of mrk bd's criticisms of deadwalk's negativity was echoed in the comments of my interviewees. They lamented the lack of progress in Sydney yet they also felt that the Halifax scene was not a model scene. They also criticized the lack of personability they felt from "mainlanders":

- Halifax had a very impersonal aura, probably just because I didn't know anybody but the city was so much bigger compared to Sydney. A lot less friendly.

- They have some of the very similar problems to us: lack of venues. They're losing their venues actually a lot faster than we are. All of their best venues are pretty much gone except for Stage Nine, Pavillion...I think (it) doesn't have the togetherness that Cape Breton has. One joke that somebody about a year ago told