Archives
-
Next Steps in the Anti-Racist Struggle?
We have the good fortune to be living in one of those moments when we have a chance to accelerate history. The uncertainty is whether we can actually make it happen. The culture of protest that has taken such a firm hold among the racialized, young people, and women especially, over the last five years … Keep reading »
Past Imperfect, Future Unknown: Europe After Brexit and the Crisis
Better Brexit than Jeremy Corbyn. This was probably the view of well-heeled Brits who would have rather remained in the EU. It was also the tenor of German media reporting on the elections to Britain’s lower-house of Parliament last November. In the run-up to the elections, Corbyn was almost continuously portrayed as a British version … Keep reading »
A Year for Fare-Free Transit
When I made the case last year for fare-free public transit in Ottawa, it seemed like a longshot. What a difference a year can make. Since then, we’ve seen mass-organized fare evasions, fare-free campaigns launched in major cities, and, last April, Victoria’s city council even passed a motion to make municipal transit free (although the … Keep reading »
Three Measures Against Racist Policing
As protests against police brutality and racism drive policy shifts around the nation, which changes can actually bring sustained long-term improvements? Keep reading »
All of Us Began with Marta Harnecker
During an interview, then-Bolivia Vice-President Álvaro García Linera and Spanish state parliamentarian Pablo Iglesias were exchanging ideas on classic texts and their own initiation into politics when the Spanish activist proclaimed: “All of us began with Marta Harnecker.” This statement is not only true for today’s young leftists but for thousands of people who have … Keep reading »
Meng, Huawei and Canadian Law: Soap, Rinse and Dry-Laundered
Prologue One of the graver risks for big-time criminals is that investigators will be able to identify them and their deeds by ‘following the money’. The criminals have to hide the proceeds of their crimes. This is done by depositing their monies into legitimate finance houses and businesses. It often requires some fancy book-keeping tricks … Keep reading »
The Coronavirus and the Class Character of German Politics
The Pope, former UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon, Madonna and many others are in agreement: we’re all in the same boat with regard to the ‘Corona crisis’. But as the saying goes, some are rowing while others steer the boat. This article looks at German policies during the crisis from the perspective of how they … Keep reading »
Agenda for the Global South After COVID-19
In 1974, the United Nations General Assembly passed a New International Economic Order (NIEO), which was driven by the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). The resolution laid out a clear plan for the structural transformation of the world system, which was in the throes of a crisis at the time. However, the NIEO was set aside and … Keep reading »
The Politics of the Mask
Today we face the paradox of states simultaneously criminalizing masks, and mandating them because of COVID-19. In this interview, social theorist AK Thompson explores the history of masks in protests and why rioting is politically effective. Keep reading »
COVID-19: A View from the Great Depression of the 1930s
The Great Depression. It rests in our collective consciousness as a time when unemployment was rampant, when soup kitchen and bread lines were long, when misery was widespread, when dust was everywhere. In our imaginations, the Depression had a light at the end of its dark tunnel, too. In that story, the onset of the … Keep reading »
Racist Violence Can’t Be Separated from the Violence of Neoliberal Capitalism
“I don’t see an American Dream; I see an American Nightmare” — Malcolm X. As a renewed Black Lives Matter uprising fills the streets following a spate of high-profile police murders, the state-sanctioned murder of Black people continues on other fronts as well, including public health and economic injustice. In addition to protesting the widespread … Keep reading »
Public Transit, Fares and Policing in Toronto: Riders Groups Respond
Oppose the Return to Fare Enforcement on the TTC Free Transit Toronto In Toronto, Jane Finch Action Against Poverty (JFAAP) has long made the link between transit fare enforcement and racism. TTCriders also connect transit advocacy and anti-racism, emphasizing that transit underfunding and transit enforcement has especially negative consequences for Black people. They reiterate their longstanding demand … Keep reading »