Confronting Injustice

Social Activism in the Age of Individualism

Toronto — 22 April 2016.

A new generation of activists working for economic and environmental justice, and against war and poverty, confronts critical questions. Why is the world so unjust and crisis-prone? What kind of world should we fight for? How can we win? In this panoramic yet accessible book, Umair Muhammad engages with these and other urgent debates. He argues that individual solutions like “buying green” are dead ends and that hope for the future lies in a radical expansion of democracy and the transformation of the economy from one based on profit to one that can meet human needs. The scale of these problems should make it clear that individualist, lifestyle approaches to activism will not suffice. We need to change the structures of our social system, not our light bulbs. Confronting Injustice seeks to expose the structural roots of the injustices we must confront, and outlines an approach to activism that transcends the hopeless individualism of our time.

Moderated by Paul Gray. Presentations by:

• Ama Amponsah: is a long-time resident of Jane and Finch. She organizes with Jane Finch Action Against Poverty (JFAAP) and is a former member of CUPE Ontario’s Racial Justice Committee.
• Stefan Kipfer: is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University. His research interests include urban politics, social theory, and ecological socialism.
• Sadia Khan: is a community organizer in the East end, and has worked with new immigrant communities in various capacities for over 8 years. She is currently pursuing her masters in Social and Political Thought at York University.
• Umair Muhammad: is a researcher who focuses on the political economy of climate change. He is studying for his Ph.D. at York University, and maintains a blog at umairmuhammad.com.