Eroding a Way of Life

Eroding a Way of Life: Neoliberalism and the Family Farm
by Murray Knuttila
Published by University of Regina Press
Review by Toby A. Welch
$39.95 ISBN 9780889779457

I admit I had to look up the definition of neoliberalism before cracking into this book. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy explained it in a way I could almost understand: “The philosophical view that a society’s political and economic institutions should be robustly liberal and capitalist, but supplemented by a constitutionally limited democracy and a modest welfare state.” In terms of reform policies, we are talking about eliminating price controls, deregulating capital markets, and lowering trade barriers. With that in mind, I dove into Eroding a Way of Life. 

This book looks at the history and trajectory of farms in Western Canada and specifically Saskatchewan. Once that is established, we see how that intertwines with national and international political economy. Social class is an essential component in these chapters as it is a vital factor at play when understanding the transformation of rural Saskatchewan. 

Knuttila begins with a look at merchant capitalism from the 1500s through to the Industrial Revolution. We move onto industrial capitalism, the period from the 1770s to the end of the American Civil War in 1865. Then we delve into conditions in the era of corporate capitalism in the Gilded Age (the last two decades of the 1800s through the 1920s.) That leads us to Confederation times, the Great Depression years, and the following decades into the modern state of farming culture. 

As you can imagine, I’ve barely touched on the sum of what Eroding a Way of Life covers but hopefully you have a decent overview. 

While heartbreaking at times, this book is eye-opening, educating us on the realities of how farming culture has changed in the past five hundred years. I appreciated that by the time I reached the epilogue, I had a grasp on how the traditional family farm arrived at the stage of prairie agriculture it is currently in. That is something I was clueless about before getting my hands on Eroding a Way of Life. 

University of Regina Press knocked it out the park yet again with another thoroughly researched and well-written nonfiction book that delves deep into a topic. At the back, you’ll find fifty-six pages listing resources Knuttila used when assembling this book. If you are looking to read and discover more on this topic, the list of hundreds of additional places you can go to continue learning is invaluable. 

This hearty tome was a labour of love in the making for Knuttila for five decades. Those of us gung-ho enough to read the enlightening book are grateful that he never shelved the project. 

Eroding a Way of Life: Neoliberalism and the Family Farm is necessary reading for anyone with an interest in past and present Saskatchewan farm life and prairie agriculture in Western Canada. 

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM