Is Canada Imperialist? - A Book Launch with Todd Gordon

December 2nd, 2010
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Frances Morrison Library Theatre
311 - 23rd Street East
Saskatoon, SK

Admission Free - Public Welcome
Wheelchair Accessible

Sponsored by Turning the Tide Bookstore and the Saskatoon Anarchist Bookfair, and Arbeiter Ring Publishing.

Imperialist Canada
by Todd Gordon

Book Description:

Imperialist Canada exposes Canada’s imperialist past and present, at home and across the globe. Todd Gordon interweaves histories of indigenous dispossession in Canada with the cold facts of Canadian capital’s oppression of peoples in the global South. The book digs beneath the surface of Canada’s image as global peacekeeper and promoter of human rights, revealing the links between the corporate pursuit of profit and Canadian foreign and domestic policy. Drawing on examples from Colombia, the Congo, Sudan, Haiti and elsewhere, Imperialist Canada makes a passionate plea for greater critical attention to Canada’s role in the global order.

About Todd Gordon:

Todd Gordon is a social justice activist who completed his Ph.D. in political
science at York University. His articles have appeared in Studies in Political Economy, Canadian Review of Social Policy and Capital and Class. He is also an editor of New Socialist magazine.

Praise for Imperialist Canada

This outstanding book will change the way all of us think about Canadian history, culture, and political economy. Documenting Canada’s oppression of indigenous peoples at home, and the plunder, racism and violence of Canadian multinationals abroad, Gordon shows that Canada’s elites are part of a world power structure built on colonialism, racism and dispossession.”

— David McNally, York University, author of Another World is Possible: Globalization and Anti-Capitalism

A tour de force, a must-read for anyone concerned with bringing about a new world without capital.”

— Henry Veltemeyer, St. Mary’s University, author with James Petras of Globalization Unmasked: Imperialism in the 21st Century

Imperialist Canada provides crucial insights into the new forms of Canadian imperialism. Rather than blindly endorse the mythologies of ‘peacekeeper’ and ‘good neighbour’, Gordon dissects the grim realities of the Canadian state and capitalism.”

— Greg Albo, co-author (with Sam Gindin and Leo Panitch) of In and Out of Crisis: The Global Financial Meltdown and Left Alternatives

If you assume Canada always acts as a benign force in the world you should read this book. You may be surprised.”

— Thomas Walkom, Columnist, Toronto StarSee more

Book Launch - Food Sovereignty: Reconnecting Food, Nature and Community

Time:
December 1st, 2010, 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Location:
Estevan Room - Hilton Garden Inn
90 – 22nd St East
Saskatoon, SK


The National Farmers Union, Fernwood Publishing, Turning the Tide Bookstore and the Saskatoon Anarchist Bookfair present:

A Book Launch
with editors Annette Aurélie Desmarais and Nettie Wiebe
and local authors Carla Fehr, Jim Handy and more TBA in attendance.
...
Admission Free
All Ages/Licensed with ID
Wheelchair Accessible

Book copies will be available at the event and in advance at Turning the Tide Bookstore for $24.95 plus GST.

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Details

Food Sovereignty
Reconnecting Food, Nature and Community
Edited by Annette Aurélie Desmarais, Nettie Wiebe, Hannah Wittman

Advocating a practical, radical change to the way much of our food system currently operates, this book argues that food sovereignty is the means to achieving a system that will provide for the food needs of all people while respecting the principles of environmental sustainability, local empowerment and agrarian citizenship. The current high input, industrialized, market-driven food system fails on all these counts. The UN-endorsed goal of food security is becoming increasingly distant as indicated by the growing levels of hunger in the world, especially among marginalized populations in both the North and South. The authors of this book describe the recent emergence and the parameters of an alternative system, food sovereignty, that puts the levers of food control in the hands of those who are both hungry and produce the world’s food – peasants and family farmers, not corporate executives. As the authors show in both conceptual and case study terms, food sovereignty promises not only increased production of food, but also food that is safe, food that reaches those who are in the most need, and agricultural practises that respect the earth.

ISBN: 9781552663745
Price: $24.95 CAD
Hardcover ISBN: 9781552663905
Hardcover Price: $49.95 CAD
Publication Date: Sep 2010
Rights: Canada
Pages: 224

for more information visit - http://brunswickbooks.ca/Food-Sovereignty-Hannah-Wittman/See more

Building Movements of Resistance: Lessons from the G8/G20 Organizing

Friday, December 3
7:30pm - 9:30pm

Grace Westminster United Church
505 10th Street East
Saskatoon, SK

2010 SASKATOON ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR KEYNOTE ADDRESS

Building Movements of Resistance: Lessons from the G8/G20 Organizing and the Repression of Dissent.

In this talk, Toronto-based community organizer and independent media activist Sharmeen Khan will speak about her experiences and insights into the resistance to the G8/G20 summits which took place in Toronto in June of 2010.
...
The summits are now infamous for the massive scale of the security operation which cost Canadian taxpayers nearly $1 billion as well as the size and violence of the police crackdown on dissent. By the end of the weekend, nearly 1100 arrests had been made (the largest mass arrests in Canadian history) and stories began to emerge of widespread abuse of arrestees and the trampling of civil liberties.

In the talk, Sharmeen will cover a range of topics related to the G8/G20 protests including:

- the broad-based organizing efforts that took place in the lead-up to the summits (which built links between diverse communities and strove to empower people living in marginalized communities to speak with their own voices about the issues facing them in their day-to-day lives),

- the police repression targeting key community organizers and the sweeping arrests which saw thousands of police round up protesters, bystanders, journalists and legal observers alike,

- the ongoing legal support of the 100 or so people still facing charges,

- and the overall impact that the event and its aftermath have had on organizing efforts for grassroots social change.

Please join us to listen and discuss this timely and important issue in the struggle to build a more just and sustainable world.

Sharmeen Khan was a media spokesperson for the Toronto Community Mobilization Network, the main network organizing the resistance against the G20. She now works at the Ontario Public Interest Research Group at York University.

Event page on facebook.

The Saskatoon Anarchist Bookfair is back with two days of workshops, speakers, literature/art vendors, food, entertainment, and nice people. The main event will be held at Grace-Westminster Church (505 10th St E) with a party/concert at Cosmo Senior's Centre on the Saturday night. The whole weekend is free/by donation, all ages, and vegan-friendly.

With participants coming from across western Canada, it's a perfect opportunity to... share ideas & meet interesting folks. Everyone is welcome - this isn't just for those who self-identify as anarchists. Discussions will cover wide range of political/personal topics and views.

More info to come soon. You can also find more info on the facebook event page.