Roundtables
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Roundtable
Twenty Years of Struggle: A Retrospective on the “Oka Crisis”
Twenty years ago, the people of Kanehsatake and Kahna-wake rose up in defense of their ancestral lands, facing off against government officials, the police, and the Canadian Army. Kanienkehaka (Mohawk) communities have been on the forefront of resistance to colonialism in Canada, and the events at K…
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Roundtable
Occupy Everything: A Roundtable on US Student Occupations
A wave of occupations has swept the coasts of the United States. In December 2008, students at the New School for Social Research in New York City occupied their main building for three days while hundreds of supporters cheered outside. After winning some demands, they left and vowed to be back. On…
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Roundtable
No Justice, No Peace!: A Roundtable with Ex-Cops on Resisting Police Repression
When Montreal police officer Jean-Loup Lapointe shot Fredy Villanueva to death on August 9, 2008, riots erupted, making headlines throughout the world. Montreal activists have organized against police violence and impunity for years, but the campaign stemming from Fredy’s killing caught mainstream…
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Roundtable
Beyond the Margins: A Roundtable on Radical Publishing
This roundtable assembles members of left publications based in Canada and the United States to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing radical media in the current political, economic, and cultural climate. Although Canadian Dimension, Media Co-op, Briarpatch, Left Turn, and Z Magazine have…
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Roundtable
Going for Gold on Stolen Land
A Roundtable on Anti-Olympic Organizing
The winter Olympic games will be held on unceded Coast Salish Territory (Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia) in February 2010. “No Olympics on Stolen Native Land” has been a rallying cry for those opposing the 2010 winter games, on the basis of this sporting event’s connection to capital…
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Roundtable
Out of the Shadows
Ten Year Reflections on Seattle
Between November 30 and December 3, 1999, a mass mobilization of demonstrators shut down the negotiations of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle, Washington. The planning, execution, and fallout of the “Battle of Seattle” shifted the political landscape and transformed social movements…
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Roundtable
You Can’t Jail the Spirit
The Movement to Free Political Prisoners
All too often, when activists raise the issue of our movements’ Political Prisoners and Prisoners of War, it is done with a sense of guilt for how they have suffered. That is not what this roundtable is about. Though the lack of support that PPs and POWs receive from contemporary movements is unfo…
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Roundtable
Home and a Hard Place
A Roundtable on Migrant Labour
While migrant worker organizing has a long and established position in American labour history, the stories and struggles of migrant workers in Canada remain less well known. In recent years the Canadian state has created a series of labour policies that both ease the entry of temporary workers to t…
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Roundtable
Labour Solidarity for Palestine
Unions and the BDS Movement
In May 2008, the Toronto-based Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA) organized a conference that brought together labour activists from across North America to develop strategies for labour union involvement in the international movement for Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Isra…
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Roundtable
Navigating the Crisis
A Study Groups Roundtable
Our moment is marked by both crisis and possibility. Economies are plunging worldwide, and ecosystems are in undeniable danger. State repression is expanding, and the US, Canada, and Israel continue to wag wars of occupation. In this context, the recent US presidential election tapped into a reservo…
