BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Socialist Project - ECPv6.15.18//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:Socialist Project X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://socialistproject.ca X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Socialist Project REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Toronto BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20180311T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20181104T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20190310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20191103T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20200308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20201101T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20210314T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20211107T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20220313T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20221106T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20230312T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20231105T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20240310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20241103T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20230917T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20230917T160000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20230907T150018Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230907T152456Z UID:13791-1694959200-1694966400@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:Regularize Everyone: It’s time. DESCRIPTION:Bills are skyrocketing\, rent is beyond reach\, forests are ablaze\, and healthcare is being privatized. We are in the midst of an inequality crisis\, with migrants who grow the food\, care for the sick\, build the homes\, and keep us going bearing some of the heaviest burden. Lack of permanent resident status leaves them without basic rights and protections; yet without them\, society would grind to a halt. Combating climate change and ending the affordability crisis also requires regularizing all undocumented people. Achieving justice and equality for all requires permanent resident status for all. \nOn September 17\, 2023\, the day before Parliament returns\, let’s unite in massive cross-country actions. Prime Minister Trudeau keeps stalling and we cannot keep waiting. The time for change is now. \nIn Toronto: Sunday\, September 17\, 2023 • 2:00 PM • Bloor and Yonge intersection URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/regularize-everyone/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2023/09/sept17-status.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20230912T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20230912T210000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20230828T143042Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230828T144350Z UID:16708-1694545200-1694552400@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:System Change DESCRIPTION:The worst wildfire season in Canadian history\, worsening environmental degradation\, and the hottest week ever recorded. Amid the consequences of human impact on our planet becoming increasingly dire\, large corporations – including the fossil fuel industry – continue to hold enormous sway over environmental policy and enjoy record levels of profit. Despite numerous international climate agreements and corporate pledges\, market-based solutions have failed at every stage to offer a credible way out of our current crisis. \nIt’s in this moment that many in the environmental and climate justice movements are turning away from initiatives based on assumed economic growth and increased profits\, and toward a reorganization of the economy able to adequately address the crisis in ways the status quo cannot. \nAll are welcome to join us for a discussion of these topics and others at System Change: An ecosocialist discussion on environmental crisis\, presented by the Socialist Project and the Leo Panitch School for Socialist Education. \nFeaturing a fantastic panel of organizers active in both the labour and climate justice movements\, including: \n\nTiffany Balducci – Green Jobs Oshawa and Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)\nVinnie Collins – Socialist Project\nAniket – Climate Justice Toronto (CJTO)\nSharmini Peries (moderator) – Socialist Project\n\nRegistration required. Please visit the Ticket Tailor page for more details. URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/system-change-ecosocialist-discussion/ LOCATION:CSI Spadina\, 192 Spadina Ave\, Toronto\, Ontario\, M5T 2C2\, Canada ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2023/08/System-change-poster.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20230331T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20230401T170000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20230323T165000Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230323T165602Z UID:14963-1680285600-1680368400@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:Carceral Food Systems Summit DESCRIPTION:Bridging Food Justice and Prisoner Justice \nA two-day gathering bringing people together to connect and learn the ways in which food and carceral systems interconnect. \nOn March 31st and April 1st\, Carceral Food Systems is hosting a gathering to bring together individuals and organizations working within food justice and prisoner justice contexts and spaces. We hope to connect\, share and learn the various ways in which food systems and carceral systems interconnect\, and how we can work collectively to imagine and construct abolitionist futures through food. \nThe Summit will take place in Ottawa\, on unceded Algonquin Territory at the Social Innovation Workshop (95 Clegg St). Attendance is free\, and open to all who are activity working in these areas\, or those who are interested in learning more – activists\, scholars\, community practitioners\, students etc. URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/carceral-food-systems-summit/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2023/03/carceral-food.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20230224T093000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20230225T203000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20230223T200046Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230223T200119Z UID:16387-1677231000-1677357000@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:Peace Initiatives DESCRIPTION:Demonstrations\, conferences\, grassroots activities and other organized by peace organizations in Europe to stop the war and build the peace. \nAcross Europe\, 24 – 26 February\, 2023. URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/peace-initiatives/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2023/02/paix-feb23.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20220918T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20220918T160000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20220823T140010Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220823T141313Z UID:15842-1663509600-1663516800@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:Rights\, Regularization and Status for All! DESCRIPTION:On September 18 – one day before Canadian Parliament returns – we will gather in the thousands to demand equal rights and permanent resident status for all undocumented people\, migrant workers\, students\, families and refugees. A historic regularization program is on the horizon\, but we need to take to the streets to ensure that no one is left behind. This is the one\, ALL OUT! \nactionnetwork.org URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/rights-regularization-status-for-all/ LOCATION:Christie Pits Park\, 750 Bloor St W\, Toronto\, Ontario\, Canada END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20220515T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20220515T160000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20220513T164512Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220513T165637Z UID:16461-1652623200-1652630400@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:SR 2022: The Direction Forward DESCRIPTION:VISHWAS SATGUR: Epidemiological Neoliberalism in South Africa\nIn this presentation\, Vishwas Satgar sets out the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa as an example of polarized access to medical services shamelessly piled on top of acute polarizations of income and employment and ecological vandalism. But the ANC government’s neoliberal pandemic response\, “has also unleashed a cycle of post-apartheid progressive resistance.”\nJAMES SCHNEIDER and HILARY WAINWRIGHT: Finding a Way Forward: Lessons from the Corbyn Project\nA discussion of the lessons to be learned from the experience of Momentum as a national campaign organization for the left wing of the UK Labour Party and its achievements (despite ultimate failure to elect a government led by Jeremy Corbyn). They are optimists in their accounting of the new spaces that are now open for a radical democratic politics in Britain.\nADOLPH REED\, JR. and TOURE REED: “Race” and Racial Justice under Neoliberalism\nThis presentation links the rise of the hard right in US politics to the marginalization of the progressive pole as “the black political class” became embedded in “the Democratic Party’s commitment to a programme of retrenchment.” Addressing poverty and continuing social inequality in the black community requires building a broader working-class movement.\nSAM GINDIN: American Workers and the Left after Trump: Polarized Options\nSam argues that the inherent limits of Democratic Party “Keynesian” reflation still constitutes a difficult terrain for the left in the USA\, which needs to take care not to slip into the trap of spending all its energies defending the liberal forces exemplified by Biden as opposed to organizing labor and independent social struggles.\n\nzoom.us URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/sr22-direction-forward/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2022/05/may15.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20220410T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20220410T160000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20220321T123015Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220321T125955Z UID:4547-1649599200-1649606400@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:Global Political Struggles of the Working Class DESCRIPTION:David Harvey: The Double Consciousness of Capital\nIlya Matveev\, and Oleg Zhuravlev: Social Sources of Political Polariztion in Russia\nVirgina Fontes\, Ana Garcia\, and Rejane Hoeveler: The Far Right\, Corporate Power\, Social Struggle in Brazil\n\n \nDAVID HARVEY is Distinguished Professor of anthropology and geography at the City University of New York. \nILYA MATVEEV teaches politics at the Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration\, St. Petersburg; \nOLEG ZHURAVLEV is a researcher at the Public Sociology Laboratory\, Center for Independent Social Research\, St. Petersburg. \nVIRGINIA FONTES is professor of history at Fluminense Federal University\, Rio de Janeiro State\, and a teacher at the Florestan Fernandes National School of the Landless Workers Movement; \nANA GARCIA is assistant professor at the International Relations Institute of the Pontifical Catholic University and the graduate program in Social Sciences at the Federal Rural University\, both in Rio de Janeiro; \nREJANE HOEVELER is a lecturer in the School of Social Service at Fluminense Federal University. \nPDF poster URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/global-political-struggles/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2022/03/global-political-struggles.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20220407T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20220407T210000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20220326T134523Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220327T230603Z UID:16493-1649358000-1649365200@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:A Left Response to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine DESCRIPTION:Internationally respected linguist and analyst Noam Chomsky and well-known socialist Bill Fletcher\, Jr. will be discussing the roots of Russian aggression in Ukraine\, the background to the conflict\, the US role\, and how the Left can respond. \nThis will be live-streamed on YouTube. \nOrganized by Liberation Road\, and endorsed by 15 other organizations. \nPDF poster. URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/left-response-russian-invasion/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2022/03/2022-left-response.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20220220T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20220220T160000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20220216T210044Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220216T211543Z UID:16468-1645365600-1645372800@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:Socialist Register 2022: The Crisis of Centrism DESCRIPTION:The stage is set well for Socialist Register No. 58 in the Preface by Greg Albo and Colin Leys: [In the midst of the] “current multi-dimensional crisis\, the center-right consensus that was struck around the neoliberal policy regime has been steadily splintering\, with a phalanx of far right and neo-fascist groups inserting themselves into electoral politics and gaining prominence ‘in the streets’ (not least in motley demonstrations against pandemic measures of any kind\, from lockdowns to masking). The observation that capitalism is always characterized by just such economic and political polarizations has preoccupied – even haunted – socialist analysis from its very origins: in Marx’s and Engels’ memorable phrase of revolutionary optimism in The Communist Manifesto\, ‘the more or less open civil war\, raging within existing society\, up to the point where that war breaks out into open revolution\, and … lays the foundation for the sway of the proletariat’. In the much picked-over chapter in Marx’s Capital on ‘The General Law of Capitalist Accumulation’\, the language is just as vibrant but now stark in its imagery: ‘The greater the social wealth\, the functioning capital\, the extent and energy of its growth\, and therefore also the greater the absolute mass of the proletariat and the productivity of its labor\, the greater is the industrial reserve army… Accumulation of wealth at one pole is\, therefore\, at the same time the accumulation of misery\, the torment of labor\, slavery\, ignorance\, brutalization at the opposite pole\, i.e. on the side of the class that produces its own product as capital.’ \nFeaturing \n\nGreg Albo An Introduction to The Crisis of Centrism\, Socialist Register 58\nWalden Bello At the Summit of Global Capitalism: the US and China\nSimon Mohun Portrait of Neoliberalism: Rise of the One Percent\nSamir Sonti The Crisis of US Labor\, Past and Present URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/sr-2022-first-session/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2022/02/sr-22-01.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20220210T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20220210T110000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20220210T000021Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220210T000335Z UID:15737-1644483600-1644490800@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:Socialist Register 2022 Launch in South Africa DESCRIPTION:Speakers include Greg Albo\, Colin Leys\, Vishwas Satgar\, James Schneider and Bill Fletcher and discussants are Samantha Hargreaves and Awande Buthelezi. URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/sr2022-south-africa/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2022/02/sr22-south-africa.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20220207T090000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20220312T210000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20220207T140015Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220313T152331Z UID:4504-1644224400-1647118800@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:58th Edition of Socialist Register DESCRIPTION:The 58th annual volume of the Socialist Register takes up the challenge of exploring how the new polarizations relate to the contradictions that underlie them and how far ‘centrist’ politics can continue to contain them. Original essays examine the multiplication of antagonistic national\, racial\, generational\, and other identities in the context of growing economic inequality\, democratic decline\, and the shifting parameters of great power rivalry. Where\, how\, and by what means can the left move forward? \nEdited by Greg Albo\, Leo Panitch\, and Colin Leys. \n\nSIMON MOHUN: A contemporary portrait of neoliberalism: The rise of the one per cent\nWALDEN BELLO: At the summit of global capitalism: The US and China\nINGAR SOLTY: Market polarization means political polarization: Liberal democracy’s eroding centre\nBILL FLETCHER\, JR.: Trump and the danger of right-wing populism in the US\nMARCUS GILROY-WARE: What is wrong with social media? An anti-capitalist critique\nADOLPH REED JR.\, TOURÉ F. REED: The evolution of ‘race’ and racial justice under neoliberalism\nSAMIR SONTI: The crisis of US labour\, past and present\nSAM GINDIN: American workers and the left after Trump: Polarized options\nJAYATI GHOSH: Pandemic polarizations and the contradictions of Indian capitalism\nVISHWAS SATGAR: Epidemiological neoliberalism in South Africa\nILYA MATVEEV\, OLEG ZHURAVLEV: Loft offices and factory towns: Social sources of political polarization in Russia\nANA GARCIA\, VIRGINIA FONTES\, REJANE HOEVELER: The far right\, corporate power\, and social struggles in Brazil\nSAMIR GANDESHA: Identity crisis: The politics of false concreteness\nDAVID HARVEY: The double consciousness of capital\nJAMES SCHNEIDER INTERVIEWED BY HILARY WAINWRIGHT: Finding a way forward: Lessons from the Corbyn project in the UK\n\nPermanent online access to the current volume\, plus access to all previous volumes as long as a subscription remains current £25. PDF poster. URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/58th-socialist-register/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2022/01/SR-2022.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20211106T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20211106T150000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20211022T200054Z LAST-MODIFIED:20211022T202300Z UID:5653-1636203600-1636210800@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:Global Day for Climate Justice DESCRIPTION:The Toronto Global Day of Action for Climate Justice is being organized by a coalition of environment and justice organizations and individuals in Toronto. It is timed to coincide with the COP26 (international climate summit) meetings in Glasgow\, Scotland\, and a worldwide network of actions. \nCall to Action\nJustice won’t be handed to us by world leaders or delivered by corporations. Only we can imagine and build the future that works for all of us. \nThe Issue\nWe are living through a period of multiple breaking points – from climate to Covid to racism. We know that these crises not only overlap\, but share the same cause. \nWhile no one can escape the impacts of these crises\, those who have done least to cause them suffer the most. Across the world\, the poorest people and communities of colour are too often those bearing the brunt of the climate crisis. From coastal villages in Norfolk whose sea-defences are eroding faster than ever\, to people living by the Niger Delta rivers blackened by oil spillage. URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/global-day-climate-justice/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2021/10/climate-justice-nov6.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20210609T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20210609T140000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20210608T144904Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210608T145714Z UID:16316-1623247200-1623247200@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:EcoSocialist Alliance Challenges the G7 DESCRIPTION:Speakers from Green Left\, Left Unity\, ACR and WIN with others invited. This is discussion around the G7 meeting in Cornwall and how we as ecosocialists can present a real alternative. \nCanada\, France\, Germany\, Italy\, Japan\, the UK and the US) have a great part of the immense wealth of the richest countries in the world in 2021. This wealth is more than sufficient to provide for the needs for food\, water\, health\, housing and education of the global population. We face multiple interlinked and inseparable crises. Climate\, environment\, mass extinctions\, emergent infectious diseases and economic. Oligarchic ownership of industry and the transnational corporations are key contributors to environmental degradation and to emergent infectious diseases crises. They are inimical and a core barrier to the urgent measures needed to address the nested crises we face. \nThe world and its population need system change\, a just ecosocialist transition from the unsustainable chaos of neoliberal capitalism. The working class and the poor must not carry the cost. URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/ecosocialist-alliance-challenges-g7/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2021/06/june9.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20210530T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20210530T160000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20210414T033525Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210523T153039Z UID:18448-1622383200-1622390400@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:No Life Like It: A Tribute to the Revolutionary Activism of Ernie Tate DESCRIPTION:Join us for a tribute to the life\, activism and legacy of Ernie Tate (1934-2021) \nWe warmly welcome you to join us for a tribute to the life\, activism and legacy of Ernie Tate.  \nErnie Tate believed capitalism is a cruel and unjust system that has to be changed.  Ernie was born in Belfast\, Northern Ireland in 1934 and emigrated to Canada in 1955. As a Marxist\, union activist and revolutionary\, Ernie spent his life working to achieve that in organizing against the war in Vietnam\, in union struggles at Toronto Hydro\, for protecting universal healthcare and living wages\, and much else. Ernie\, along with Tariq Ali\, was a leading organizer of the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign in Britain\, worked for Bertrand Russell’s International War Crimes Tribunal and was a founding member of the International Marxist Group in Britain.’ In 2014\, Ernie published a memoir of his life on the far left in Canada and Great Britain called Revolutionary Activism in the 1950s and 1960s. This two volume memoir is an important resource for anyone interested in a gritty account of mid-20th century revolutionary movements. It has been a source of information for the 2020-2021 Undercover Policing Inquiry hearings\, taking place in England\, in which the illegal and immoral activities of police agents in infiltrating the left have been laid bare. \nErnie died on February 5th this year. Please join us to reflect upon and celebrate Ernie’s life\, activism and legacy with many of his comrades and friends from around the world\, including: Tariq Ali and Phil Hearse (England)\, Richie Venton (Scotland)\, Barry Sheppard and Suzanne Weiss (USA)\, Pam Frache\, Judy Rebick\, Carolyn Egan\, Sam Gindin\, Bryan Palmer\, Rob Fairley\, and John Riddell (Canada)\, and Patrick Bond (South Africa). \nThe event will be online\, on ZOOM. Please register for your free ticket on Eventbrite. After you register on Eventbrite\, the link to the ZOOM room will be emailed to you a few times in advance of the event. \nHosted by Socialist Project\, Centre for Social Justice\, Spring\, Resistance\, Green Left Weekly\, Socialist Viewpoint URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/no-life-like-it-a-tribute-to-the-revolutionary-activism-of-ernie-tate/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2021/04/Ernie-Tate.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20210516T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20210516T160000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20210422T155637Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210512T172139Z UID:18475-1621173600-1621180800@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:Far From Over: Class Struggle and Union Organizing at Amazon DESCRIPTION:A presentation and roundtable discussion on class struggle and union organizing at Amazon warehouses with Alessandro Delfanti and Amazon workers and organizers Ira and Fathia. \nA central political challenge for the Left today is to organize gig workers across the sectors of digital capitalism into unions. High-tech corporations such as Amazon\, Google\, Apple\, and Facebook have quickly become one of – if not the – most powerful sectors of contemporary capitalism\, and these and other companies have been equally creative and vicious in keeping their operations all but free of unions. The struggle to organize and unionize workers in “Big Tech” has recently become concentrated on Amazon\, the pivotal company in the new logistics of distribution and retail\, and now one of the largest employers on the planet\, next to Wal-Mart and US Department of Defense. Significant class struggles have emerged in response to the brutal conditions of work and labour in Amazon warehouses\, from Italy to Germany\, from Bessemer\, Alabama\, to Brampton\, Ontario. It was widely hoped that the pitched battle for union recognition at Bessemer would be a turning point in this struggle\, setting off a series of unions being formed elsewhere. If lessons are learned and new strategies taken up from the failed vote\, it still may be. If there is to be a renewal of the union movement and working-class politics in North America and beyond\, Amazon is surely at the centre of the firms of digital capitalism that must be conquered. \nPlease register for the event on Eventbrite\, and we will send you the link to the ZOOM room. \nThe event includes a 20-minute presentation on Amazon\, capitalism\, and class struggle by Alessandro\, and followed by a 60-minute roundtable discussion with Alessandro\, Ira and Fathia. Moderated by Jessica Ireland and Paul Gray. \n– \nAlessandro Delfanti teaches at the Institute of Communication\, Culture\, Information and Technology at the University of Toronto. He is the author of the forthcoming book The Warehouse: Workers and Robots at Amazon (Pluto Press). \nIra lives in Queens\, the best borough of the best city in the world with his partner and three cats. Ira has worked at an Amazon delivery station for over a year and a half is a cofounder of Amazonians United NYC and is a communist who believes that the working class should call the shots. \nFathia has been an Amazon worker in Maryland for 6 months and is in the process of forming an organizing committee with her coworkers to organize around issues in their workplace. She is a queer woman of color with a background in worker and student organizing. She is committed to building worker solidarity across identities and borders and taking our power back from the greedy bosses who seem to think it’s theirs. URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/not-over-yet-class-struggle-and-union-organizing-at-amazon/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2021/04/Amazon-Far-From-Over-1-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20210514T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20210514T203000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20210423T140004Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210423T174011Z UID:4519-1621018800-1621024200@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:George Elliott Clarke Presents 5 Poets Breaking into Songs DESCRIPTION:A night with poetry\, music and songs by 5 poets\, 4 composers and 2 singers with former Canadian Poet Laureate and wide audience! \nCo-hosts George Elliott Clarke and Ms. Yang Wang\, of the East and West Learning Connections\, will be pleased to bring you 5 fine poets: \n\nAyesha Chatterjee\nGiovanna Riccio\nLisa Richter\nAndrea Thompson\nAnna Yin\n\nAll of whom will recite poetry and then have a song or songs performed by singers and a pianist: They are poets become songwriters! \nRegister for zoom link. JPG poster. URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/george-elliott-clarke-presents-5-poets/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2021/04/5-poets-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20210427T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20210427T200000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20210425T141533Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210425T143303Z UID:15215-1619546400-1619553600@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:Life After the Pandemic /w Christoph Hermann DESCRIPTION:From Production for Profit to Provision for Need \nPerhaps the greatest flaw revealed by the Covid-19 crisis is capitalism’s addiction to profit. The main goal of capitalist production is the maximization of profit; the satisfaction of needs is only a by-product in the endless process of accumulation. This means that the economy cannot simply pause during a lockdown and continue when the pandemic is under control. The insecurity of future profits instantly pushed the economy into an existential crisis. As a result\, the crisis was not characterized by a lack of urgently needed supply\, as one may expect during a period of large-scale economic inactivity. \nWhile the coronavirus challenged the very foundations of the profit-driven economy\, the lockdown provided the environment with a much-needed break. The pausing of industrial production together with the restriction of transportation\, including international air travel\, significantly reduced carbon dioxide emissions and other pollution. As a result\, residents of smog-plagued cities such as New Delhi could suddenly see the sky. The crisis has shown that a focus on essential needs can provide breathing space for the global ecosystem. However\, at the same time the crisis also sounded the death knell to all attempts to solve the ecological crisis through profit-based incentives. The dramatic fall in oil prices caused by the decline in economic activities will undermine the shift to less damaging energy sources. \nIn sum\, what in a needs-based economy would be a formidable healthcare challenge and\, perhaps\, a major disruption of social life\, but not a crisis of social reproduction\, at least not as long as there is sufficient supply\, turned in the profit-driven economy of capitalism into an existential threat. The anxiety about falling profits could only be calmed by flooding investors\, businesses\, and credit institutions with massive amounts of money. As a result\, the US government will record the highest debt in its history. While debt is essential in a profit-driven economy\, it is pointless in a needs-based economy. When the goal is that everybody receives what she/he needs\, there is no need to go into debt. In this presentation Christoph will present some ideas for a needs-based economy. \nChristoph Hermann is a Lecturer in History at University of California\, Berkeley. \nJPG poster URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/life-after-the-pandemic/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2021/04/2021-04-27.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20210314T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20210314T170000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20210310T160049Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210310T232810Z UID:14935-1615730400-1615741200@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:The Big Tech Monopolies and the State /w Grace Blakeley DESCRIPTION:As the effects of the coronavirus pandemic swept through the global economy\, the average observer could have been forgiven for missing a critical piece of news: by May 2020\, the combined market capitalization of the four largest US tech companies reached one fifth of the entire S&P 500. Four companies – Microsoft\, Apple\, Amazon and Facebook – now account for 20 per cent of the combined value of the 500 largest US corporations – an unparalleled level of market concentration. Forty years ago\, these corporate entities were either just beyond being plucky start-ups\, or did not even exist. Monopolistic tendencies are not limited to the tech sector. In 1975\, the largest 100 US companies accounted for nearly half of the earnings of all publicly listed companies; by 2015\, their share reached 84 per cent. \nCapitalist corporations appear monopolistic when they are able to access the investment needed to gain total market dominance – and as the 21st Century has progressed\, this has proven easier than ever\, especially in big tech. The tech companies emerged in a world of falling profits and associated rising volatility in financial markets – both of which facilitated their access to investment. Many of these companies were initially either unprofitable or loss making\, as they had not yet developed to a sufficient size to exploit the network effects that would provide the foundation for their monopoly-like power. As a result\, they required significant amounts of upfront investment to maintain their operations and to scale up to reach a position of market dominance that would allow them to turn a profit. \nGrace Blakeley is a staff writer at Tribune and author of Stolen: How to Save the World from Financialization. \nAll events are sliding scale. No one is denied admission for inability to pay. If you are unable to pay and would like to attend the event\, please write to info@marxedproject.org. \nPart of the Socialist Register series: Beyond Digital Capitalism. URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/big-tech-monopolies/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2021/03/big-tech-monopolies.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20210228T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20210228T170000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20210215T053110Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210215T234945Z UID:18247-1614524400-1614531600@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:Take the Plant\, Save the Planet: Workers and Communities in the Struggle for Economic Conversion DESCRIPTION:Please join us for a discussion of the politics of plant conversion for an ecologically sustainable future. \nThe current pandemic crisis has dramatically exposed the need for a massive shift of new resources into the caring sector and the production of medical equipment to meet social needs. But even before the fallout for workers in many sectors from the ecological disruptions already being felt from global warming had already indicated the need for a comprehensive approach to industrial conversion. Several sectors immediately stand out in demanding an approach that goes well beyond a ‘just transition’ in moving workers from one job to another. There is a need for a more radical reworking of these sectors – transportation\, military arms and fossil fuels\, with the factories\, facilities and workers steadily re-deployed to alternate socially responsible production. Ecological strategies focusing on conversion will be particularly promising in terms of their potential to actively engage working people by offering them a response to economic restructuring that emphasizes retaining our productive capacity. We need to think through the way unions\, labour councils and communities can take the lead in campaigns for forming workplace conversion committees and regional technology and environmental hubs. We need to insist\, as workers and as communities\, that productive assets should not be abandoned at the will of the corporations\, or simply accept what is being produced now no matter how destructive the good being produced. \n\nFrancesca Hannan is an active member of We Are Oshawa\, Green Jobs Oshawa\, and the Durham Food Policy Council. She has been involved in climate justice activism with Toronto-based groups\, and her professional background is in environmental policy and law.\nStephen Buhler is an organizer with Climate Justice Edmonton and a full-time journeyman machinist currently working in the oil and gas sector.\nSimon Black teaches in the Department of Labour Studies at Brock University and is an organizer with Labour Against the Arms Trade.\n\nThe event will be on ZOOM: please click here to join the meeting. \nSpread the word on Facebook URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/take-the-plant-save-the-planet-workers-and-communities-in-the-struggle-for-economic-conversion/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2021/02/feb28-Take-the-Plant-Save-the-Planet.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20210223T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20210223T200000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20210210T160044Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210210T164923Z UID:4526-1614103200-1614110400@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:Socialists on Social Media Platforms and Imagine Platform Socialism DESCRIPTION:Communicating within and Against Digital Capitalism\nBertolt Brecht\, in the 1932 essay ‘The Radio as an Apparatus of Communication’\, made a ‘positive suggestion’ to transform radio into a dialogical medium for many-to-many communications. ‘Radio is one-sided when it should be two’ said Brecht. Brecht saw the state as the only entity capable of remaking radio in this way\, but because radio’s ‘proper application’ might make it a ‘revolutionary’ medium\, Brecht concluded the bourgeois state would have ‘no interest in sponsoring such exercises’. \nBrecht’s ‘positive suggestion’ for a many-to-many communications system seems to have come to fruition with the internet\, and more recently\, with the spread of social media platforms such as Facebook\, Twitter and YouTube. Socialists around the world are now using these platforms to produce\, distribute\, exhibit\, and consume socialist media and cultural works\, and they are openly building events\, movements\, and organizations within digital capitalism\, to go beyond it. That said\, the internet and social media platforms are surrounded by all kinds of deterministic\, optimistic\, and pessimistic rhetorics that cloud a clear view of what they give to and take from socialist communicators\, especially as compared to the twentieth century’s mass media industries\, whose state and corporate owners tended to filter out and vilify socialist ideas. \nTanner Mirrlees is Associate Professor of Communication and Digital Media Studies at Ontario Tech University \nImagine Platform Socialism\nInvestigations have demonstrated the ways that the operations of the algorithmic processes that select and sort information for users of YouTube\, Facebook\, and Twitter not only distribute such malicious content\, but also amplify its effects. In order to hold the attention of users\, platforms tend to recommend increasingly controversial and sensationalist suggestions\, leading users quickly into rabbit holes of conspiracy theories and extremist views that undermine attempts at informed and reasoned debate. Other studies showed that Google’s search engine was capable of exhibiting serious racist bias\, and that the platforms’ attempts to limit access to hate speech and misinformation were of limited effectiveness. \nAt the same time\, the monopolistic digital platforms are undeniably of great use to activists working for a more democratic world\, including socialists. The events that triggered US President Trump’s demands for stricter platform regulation were part of a mobilization of dissent that came to be known by its Twitter hashtag\, ‘Black Lives Matter’\, and numerous other examples could be found of activists raising awareness in ways that would not be possible with mass media. Social media empowers individuals to participate in the distribution of their own ideas\, although this empowerment is limited by the mediation of the flow of information by the owners of the platforms in ways that can have direct effects on how mobilizations are informed. \nThis makes it all the more necessary to explore the contradictions between our expectations of social media and the reality of its use\, and determine if there are ways to avoid the harms done to democracy while preserving the benefits. The purpose of this presentation is to inquire whether and how social media could be organized more democratically\, so that they allow our expressive capacities to be developed freely and not under conditions determined by capital. \nDerek Hrynyshyn teaches in the Department of Communication Studies at York University in Toronto\, Ontario. \nPDF poster URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/socialists-on-social-media-platforms/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2021/02/2021-02-23.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20210212T083000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20210212T110000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20210204T193005Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210204T200918Z UID:14246-1613118600-1613127600@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:Remembering Leo Panitch DESCRIPTION:Global Left\, Marxism and Democratic Socialism\nSpeakers: \n\nSam Gindin\, Ingar Solty\, Ana Garcia\, Patrick Bond\, Dinga Sikwebu\, and Vishwas Satgar.\n\nLeo Panitch was a Distinguished Research Professor of Political Science at York University\, a renowned political economist\, Marxist theorist and editor of the Socialist Register since 1985. He is the author of numerous articles and books including The End of Parliamentary Socialism\, Working Class Politics in Crisis\, and Renewing Socialism. \nOrganized by Co-operative and Policy Alternative Centre\, Johannesburg\, South Africa. URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/remembering-leo-panitch/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2021/02/2021-remembering-leo-panitch.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20210210T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20210210T203000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20210113T174155Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210204T144647Z UID:18140-1612983600-1612989000@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:Socialist Register 21: Beyond Digital Capitalism DESCRIPTION:Join us on Wednesday February 10th for the launch of Socialist Register 21: Beyond Digital Capitalism (Fernwood Press\, 2020)\, with presentations by Greg Albo\, Sam Gindin\, Bryan Palmer\, Joan Sangster\, Stephen Maher\, Pat Armstrong\, Hugh Armstrong\, Tanner Mirrlees\, and Derek Hrynyshyn. \nIn memory of Leo Panitch\, 1945-2020. \nAs digital technology became integral to the capitalist market dystopia of the first decades of the 21st century\, it not only refashioned our ways of communicating but of working and consuming\, indeed ways of living. The Covid-19 pandemic revealed not only the lack of investment\, planning and preparation that underlay the scandalous slowness of the responses by states around the world\, but also grotesque class and racial inequalities as it coursed its way through the population and the owners of high-tech corporations were enriched by tens of billions of dollars. Rejecting both technological determinism and facile ‘cyber-utopian’ thinking\, the 57th annual volume of the Socialist Register addresses how to imagine\, struggle for\, and plan for\, new democratic socialist ways of living after the pandemic. \nFor a 20% discount\, purchase your copy of the volume from York University’s bookstore with this link. \nThe event will be on ZOOM: please get your free Eventbrite ticket by clicking here to register. \nCheck out the Facebook page for the event here. \nTickets available Friday January 15\, 12pm. URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/socialist-register-21-beyond-digital-capitalism/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2021/01/SR-21TOLaunchpng.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20210125T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20210125T160000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20210122T012008Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210122T020055Z UID:14296-1611583200-1611590400@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:A Tribute to Leo Panitch\, 1945-2020 DESCRIPTION:Progressives lost one of our leading lights last month. Leo Panitch died December 19 in a Toronto hospital where he was being treated for cancer. His prognosis was good\, however he contacted Covid-19 and died in a few days from a fulminating pneumonia. He is sorely missed on both sides of the Atlantic. A man with an amazing generosity of spirit\, he was a pillar of the international left. \nThe Center for Global Justice pays tribute to Leo Panitch by rebroadcasting a webinar he did with us in July on “Capitalism\, Socialism and the Pandemic.” We are joined in this tribute by Leo’s friend and collaborator Greg Albo and Dennis Pilon\, a colleague at York\, and former student of Leo. \nFor more than a quarter of a century\, Leo Panitch was editor of one of the most important journals of Marxist thought in the world: the Socialist Register. This yearbook\, in which Leo wrote significant essays\, was on the cutting edge of Left thought. For him\, the only way out of capitalism was by building on social democracy. Born to a Winnipeg working class family\, he held firmly to the centrality of the working class if the socialist project was to have any future. Nevertheless he was deeply aware of the conservatizing trend within social-democratic parties\, the increasing distance from the working class\, and the impending disaster from the managerial takeover. His last book Searching for Socialism: The project of the Labour New Left from Benn to Corbyn was written with Colin Leys. URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/tribute-to-leo-panitch/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2021/01/cgj.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20201128T110000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20201128T123000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20201118T170040Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201125T170734Z UID:4541-1606561200-1606566600@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:UK Launch of The Socialist Register 2021: Beyond Digital Capitalism DESCRIPTION:As digital technology became integral to the capitalist market dystopia of the first decades of the 21st century\, it not only refashioned our ways of communicating but of working and consuming\, indeed ways of living. Even as the COVID-19 pandemic revealed not only the lack of investment\, planning and preparation that underlay the scandalous slowness of the responses by states around the world\, but also grotesque class and racial inequalities as it coursed its way through the population\, the owners of high-tech corporations were enriched by tens of billions of dollars. Rejecting both technological determinism and facile ‘cyber-utopian’ thinking\, the 57th annual volume of the Socialist Register addresses how to imagine\, struggle for\, and plan for\, new democratic socialist ways of living after the pandemic. \nPanelists: \n\nIntroductions: Hilary Wainwright (@hilarypepper) and Leo Panitch\n\nUK essay contributors: \n\nGrace Blakeley (@graceblakeley) ‘The big tech monopolies and the state’\nUrsula Huws (@Ursulahuws) ‘Reaping the whirlwind: Digitalization\, restructuring & mobilization in the Covid crisis’\nMatthew Cole (@matthewacole) & Charles Umney (@CharlesUmney) ‘The political economy of datafication and work’\nBenjamin Selwyn ‘Community restaurants: Decommodifying food as socialist strategy’\nMassimiliano Mollona ‘Working class cinema in the age of digital capitalism’\n\nDiscussants: \n\nMarzena Zukowska (@MarzenaZukowska)\, Red Pepper and Radical Communicators Network\nJohn McDonnell (@johnmcdonnellMP)\, Labour MP\, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer 2015-2020 URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/uk-launch-sr-2021/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2020/11/beyond-digital-cap.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20201118T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20201118T210000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20201113T150042Z LAST-MODIFIED:20201113T151627Z UID:13134-1605726000-1605733200@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:Pension Fund Capitalism and the Covid-19 Pandemic in Canada: A Socialist Perspective DESCRIPTION:The devastating social and economic impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Canada have been felt widely. But the key statistic of the death rate has been heavily concentrated: over 80% of the deaths from COVID-19 have taken place in Long-Term Care of various types. \nHow did Long-Term Care – a vital component of the healthcare system – become so privatized\, within a system that is so widely and proudly viewed as public? \nThis talk will examine the class politics of pension fund investment into for-profit Long-Term Care as a disturbing example of the commodification of social reproduction. \nKevin Skerrett is currently serving as a Fall 2020 Visiting Professor at the Institute of Political Economy at Carleton University. He was a co-editor of the Cornell University Press volume The Contradictions of Pension Fund Capitalism (2018). He is on leave from his work as a Senior Research Officer assigned to pensions at CUPE\, the Canadian Union of Public Employees. \nStephanie Ross\, Director\, School of Labour Studies\, McMaster University\, is chairing the seminar. The talk will be followed by a Q&A period. \nRegister on zoom. \nOrganizer: Institute of Political Economy\, MA in Political Economy and Diploma in Work and Labour. URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/pension-fund-capitalism-and-covid19/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2020/11/2020-11-18.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20201004T133000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20201004T150000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20200929T203311Z LAST-MODIFIED:20200930T141132Z UID:17840-1601818200-1601823600@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:Pension fund capitalism and the campaign to “Make Revera Public” DESCRIPTION:We welcome you to join us for Pension fund capitalism and the campaign to “Make Revera Public\,” a public talk by Kevin Skerrett\, co-editor of The Contradictions of Pension Fund Capitalism (Cornell University Press\, 2018)\, Senior Research Officer assigned to pensions for CUPE\, and a visiting professor at Carleton University’s Institute of Political Economy. \nThe COVID-19 pandemic has exposed some of the damage wreaked by neoliberalism to a harsh new light. The erosion of workers’ rights to basic safety and livable wages\, the particular exploitation of women\, racialized and migrant workers in our health care system\, and the destructive effects of for-profit corporate management of long-term care\, have all combined to make a serious public health crisis into something far more deadly than it should have been. In this context\, there is an especially bitter irony in the fact that one of the largest profiteers to benefit from these trends\, the corporate long-term care company Revera\, is 100% owned by the pension fund that manages the investment of federal government employee pensions (known as PSP).  However\, as awareness of this ownership relation became public amidst the spiking death rates in Revera managed homes in May\, the president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) issued a public call for the ownership of Revera to be “transferred into public hands”.  Since that time\, a growing number of public health advocates and trade unions have launched campaigns to transform all of the for-profit operations in the country’s long-term care system into properly funded and publicly managed facilities. Under a democratically accountable and public system\, we could ensure that the workers are compensated in line with the importance and value of the care work they perform\, and the residents can live their lives with dignity. \nJoin us for a discussion of these vital campaigns\, and the positive opportunities that the COVID-19 pandemic may have opened up. Also\, to learn more about the Ontario Health Coalition’s Day of Action\, click here. \nThis is a free public event on ZOOM. click here to access ZOOM room at 1:25pm). \nBio: Kevin Skerrett is a Senior Research Officer assigned to pensions for CUPE\, currently on a leave and teaching at Carleton University’s Institute of Political Economy. He was a co-editor of the Cornell University Press volume The Contradictions of Pension Fund Capitalism (2018)\, and the author of numerous articles\, including this\, this and this in The Bullet online magazine. URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/pension-fund-capitalism-and-the-campaign-to-make-revera-public/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2020/09/Kevin-Skerrett-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20200813T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20200813T210000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20200811T193027Z LAST-MODIFIED:20200811T193111Z UID:15011-1597345200-1597352400@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:Book launch: Challenging the Right\, Augmenting the Left DESCRIPTION:2020 has seen an amplified struggle against the right and capitalism generally. This volume suggests it is essential to rethink longstanding assumptions\, jettison wishful thinking and dated ideas\, and recover wisdom from the past. The authors of Challenging the Right\, Augmenting the Left put forward a range of approaches to help strategize the work that awaits the left in the 2020s. \nWorking within five major thematic areas\, the contributors examine how to engage working class people in anti-capitalist struggles\, oppose ethno-nationalism\, build power inside and outside the state apparatus\, find new strategies of environmental resistance\, and promote solidarity and ecological responsibility. This book provides suggestions for working with popular disaffection by taking the left’s history of refusals and defeats as a starting point for next steps in the struggle against capitalism and the far right\, rather than as the basis for more conflict or defeatism. \nBrief presentations will be delivered by Niko Block\, Gary Kinsman\, Elise Thorburn\, Sabrina Fernandes\, David Ravensbergen\, and Robert Latham. \nFollow this link to join the event: ryerson.zoom.us URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/book-launch-challenging-the-right-augmenting-the-left/ LOCATION:Ontario ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2020/08/august-left-launch.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20200229T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20200229T153000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20200203T005519Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220909T191153Z UID:16992-1582981200-1582990200@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:RedNights presents: Socialist Feminist Cabaret 2020 DESCRIPTION:Join us for a leap year night of live music and video! \nWith: \nLillian Allen \nThe Rise Up Feminist Jazz Band \nHoney Novick in tribute to Sophie Tucker \nSongs of Chilean resistance with Ernesto J. Espinoza\, Oriana Barbato\, & Pablo Gutiérrez \nCatherine Phillips \nKate Kitchen \nThirza Cuthand’s “Woman Dress” \nComplete lists of RedNights events URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/rednights-presents-socialist-feminist-cabaret-2020/ LOCATION:The Supermarket\, 268 Augusta Avenue (Kensington Market)\, Toronto\, Canada ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2020/02/SPRedNightsSocialistFeministCabaret.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20200122T193000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20200122T220000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20191209T233132Z LAST-MODIFIED:20200106T210417Z UID:16811-1579721400-1579730400@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:Book Launch: Socialist Register 2020: Beyond Market Dystopia\, New Ways of Living DESCRIPTION:We warmly welcome you to join us for the Toronto book launch of Socialist Register 2020 – Beyond Market Dystopia: New Ways of Living (edited by Leo Panitch and Greg Albo). \nConnecting with and going beyond classical socialist themes\, this volume of the Socialist Register combines analysis of the severe contradictions of neoliberal capitalism with plans for new strategic\, programmatic\, manifesto-oriented directions for alternative ways of living. Fourteen original essays locate such utopian visions and struggles in the dystopian present. \nDoors open for food and drink at 6:30pm\, and presentations begin at 7:30pm\, with: \nAmy Bartholomew: Beyond the ‘barbed-wire labyrinth’: migrant spaces of radical democracy \nMichelle Chen: A new world of workers: confronting the gig economy \nStephen Maher and Sam Gindin: Class politics\, socialist policies\, capitalist constraints \nChaired by Leo Panitch and Greg Albo. \n— \n*** Please note that dinner reservations guarantee seating\, so book early and enjoy the show while exploring Lula’s delicious tropical fusion dinner and cocktail menus as well as their wine and beer offerings.\nVisit: calendar.lula.ca or call 416-588-0307 to reserve.\n+++ \nThe Socialist Register has been the intellectual lodestar for the international left since 1964. \n—Mike Davis \nI know the Register very well and have found it extremely stimulating\, often invaluable. \n—Noam Chomsky URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/book-launch-socialist-register-2020-beyond-market-dystopia-new-ways-of-living/ LOCATION:Lula Lounge\, 1585 Dundas St West\, Toronto\, ON\, M6K 1T9\, Canada ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2019/12/SRjpeg-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/Toronto:20191218T103000 DTEND;TZID=America/Toronto:20191218T133000 DTSTAMP:20260408T064503 CREATED:20191212T210418Z LAST-MODIFIED:20191216T193716Z UID:16823-1576665000-1576675800@socialistproject.ca SUMMARY:Protest for Green Jobs in Oshawa DESCRIPTION:We Build it\, We Own It: Stand With Communities\, Not Corporations! \nWe’re excited to announce that on December 18 we will be holding an event outside the (soon to be former) GM Oshawa facility. We’re going to show GM and the Government that Oshawa needs publicly owned electric vehicle production\, NOT profit driven plant closures. But we need supporters of good\, unionized green jobs like you to do it! \nFor all those interested in joining us on Wednesday\, please let us know ASAP by contacting us at greenjobsto@gmail.com \nIf you are coming from Toronto and need a ride\, or if you can provide a ride\, please let us know. We will do our very best to ensure everyone who would like to attend has the ability to. \nLooking forward to seeing many of you on Wednesday. \nTake the plant\, save the planet! \nFor those traveling from Toronto\, here’s a link with instructions from Union Station. From Union Station take the 9:03 Lakeshore East train to Oshawa GO Station. From Oshawa GO take the Durham Transit 403 but to Malaga Road at Park Road South or take a taxi to the intersection of Malaga and Park Road South. URL:https://socialistproject.ca/event/protest-for-green-jobs-in-oshawa/ LOCATION:GM Oshawa\, Park Rd South and Malaga Rd\, Oshawa\, Ontario\, L1J 4K1\, Canada ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://socialistproject.ca/content/uploads/2019/12/Oshawa-Dec-18.jpg END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR