Below the Radar

Critical theorist Alberto Toscano sits down with Am Johal to discuss the emergence of critical theory alongside fascism's rise in the 1920s and 30s. He speaks of Georges Sorel as a politically radical figure from the time period, highlights the role of political violence in the emergence of fascism, and delves into contemporary American currents of fascism – particularly focusing on the racialized form of state terror present in the United States.

From there, Alberto discusses the concept of fascism and its continued relationship to settler colonial formations, its association with extreme neoliberalism, and the importance of figures like Aimé Césaire, W. E. B. Du Bois, Angela Davis, and George Jackson in emphasising manifestations of racial fascism. He acknowledges the complexity of using terms like American fascism, and mentions the need to understand the dynamics and political economy underlying the far-right movements in the U.S., which are the result of white homogeneity and privileged groups imagining their annihilation and victimisation.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/217-alberto-toscano.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/217-alberto-toscano.html

Resources:

Alberto Toscano: https://www.sfu.ca/communication/people/faculty/Alberto-Toscano.html

Fanaticism: The Uses of an Idea: https://www.versobooks.com/en-ca/products/2134-fanaticism

Cartographies of the Absolute: https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/zer0-books/our-books/cartographies-of-the-absolute

The Nightwatchman’s Bludgeon: https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/the-nightwatchmans-bludgeon

Bio:

Alberto Toscano is Reader in Critical Theory at the Department of Sociology, Goldsmiths, University of London, where he co-directs the Centre for Philosophy and Critical Thought. He is Visiting Faculty at the Digital Democracy Institute, School of Communication, SFU.

Alberto’s current research is divided into three main strands: a theoretical inquiry into contemporary authoritarian trends and their dis/analogies with their historical predecessors, culminating in the forthcoming book Late Fascism (Verso, 2021); the study of tragedy as a framework through which to understand political action and its discontents, from decolonisation to environmentalism; and the development of ‘real abstraction’ as a heuristic for the analysis contemporary capitalism, notably in its nexus with processes of racialisation. As the series editor of The Italian List for Calcutta-based publisher Seagull books, Alberto’s research is also concerned with the translation and reception of Italian literature, literary criticism and critical theory.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Late-Facism — with Alberto Toscano.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, August 29, 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/217-alberto-toscano.html.

Below the Radar is returning from our summer break, bringing you 15 new conversations from an eclectic range of guests. We have invited local and international academics and artists to speak on topics ranging from continuing and emergent forms of fascism, and expressions of diasporic narratives and experiences in literary, visual, and moving image arts, to citizen journalism in Africa and shifting dynamics of labour in an increasingly casualized economy here in BC.

We’re also delighted to bring to you a new series created by 3 members of our team: Program Manager Julia Aoki, Program Assistant Samantha Walters, and Research Assistant/Editor Kathy Feng. Together, they feature the work of local arts collectives and organizations, highlighting conversations about creation, spacemaking, accessibility, and self-determination within the framework of Vancouver’s cityscape.

The season kicks off on September 5, 2023, with new episodes every Tuesday. Thank you so much for tuning in to Below the Radar, and we’re excited to share these conversations (and more!) with you.

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/btr-trailer-fall-2023.html

A family journey that spans three generations. This week on Below the Radar, our host Am Johal is joined by Bill Sundhu, a human rights & criminal justice lawyer. Bill shares the remarkable story about his parents' arrival in Canada following the partition of India, and how an interview with his mother led to them reconnecting with her sister in Pakistan. Am and Bill also discuss growing up in Williams Lake, Punjabi diaspora, and the lasting legacy of the partition.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/216-bill-sundhu.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/216-bill-sundhu.html

Resources:

Bill Sundhu: https://bwilliamsundhu.com/

Gurdev Sundhu’s story in The Globe and Mail: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/article-youtube-connected-gurdev-sundhu-to-a-sister-she-lost-in-the-partition/

Gurdev Sundhu’s Interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAf2U1Q3I7k

Bill on CBC News: https://twitter.com/cbcnewsbc/status/1626424446587133952

Desi Infotainer Interviews: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HN-diDTnjlY, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCohg59MqzM

Bio:

William (Bill) Sundhu is senior attorney and owner of the Law Office of B. William Sundhu independent law practice, specializing in criminal justice, human rights and civil liberties. From 1996 to 2007, Bill was a BC Provincial Court judge. He is a member of the Law Society of British Columbia and the Canadian Bar Association. A respected speaker and commentator on human rights, justice, diversity, equality and international legal issues, Bill has extensive knowledge of the Canadian justice system and international human rights law. He received the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee medal in 2002. Bill holds a Masters degree in International Human Rights Law from the University of Oxford, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Windsor, and a Bachelor of Arts from UBC.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “A Partition Story — with Bill Sundhu.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, May 30, 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/216-bill-sundhu.html.

This week on Below the Radar, our host Am Johal is joined by Jorge Amigo, the head of cultural programming at the Vancouver Public Library. Together they discuss the power of library public programs, some of Jorge’s past public projects, as well as how the urban design of Vancouver relates to social isolation, and potential paths towards cultivating more friendships.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/215-jorge-amigo.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/215-jorge-amigo.html

Resources:

Vancouver Public Library Program: https://www.vpl.ca/programs-events

Be my Amigo: https://vancouversun.com/life/relationships/be-my-amigo-determined-to-make-vancovuer-a-friendlier-city

On Civil Society: https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/programs-and-classes/featured/on-civil-society.jsp

Opera Adventures: https://www.vancouveropera.ca/press-release/vancouver-opera-and-vancouver-public-library-launch-opera-adventures/

Uplift Asian: https://www.vpl.ca/program/uplift-asian

VLACC: https://vlacc.ca/

Bio:

Jorge Amigo grew up in Mexico City and moved to Vancouver in 2007, where he studied an undergrad and masters in political science at the University of British Columbia. He started his career working in brand and digital strategy for non-profits and Canadian startups, including as Director of Engagement for Canada’s National Observer. In 2018, he moved to Toronto to produce cultural events for the Toronto Public Library, where he curated the popular #OnCivilSociety series, hosting conversations on the most pressing social and political issues of our time, as well as programming dozens of literary programs. Jorge is now the Head of Cultural Programming for the Vancouver Public Library, where he is responsible for arts and culture events, and spends his days excited about reimagining how we use library spaces. He speaks four languages, and would probably enjoy chatting with you in at least one of them.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Episode name.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, May 23, 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/215-jorge-amigo.html.

Head of the departments of surgery at both the Vancouver General Hospital and the University of British Columbia, and Am Johal’s former brain surgeon, Dr. Gary Redekop, joins Am on this episode of Below the Radar.

Dr. Redekop and Am discuss advancements in medical procedures, how patients and medical practitioners experience surgery differently, and the relationship between neuroplasticity and human resilience. This episode explores the importance of preventative care, and celebrates our amazing capacity for human resilience and recovery.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/214-gary-redekop.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/214-gary-redekop.html

Resources:

Dr. Gary Redekop: https://neurosurgery.med.ubc.ca/faculty-spotlight/gary-j-redekop-bsc-md-msc-frcsc/

UBC: Department of Surgery: https://surgery.med.ubc.ca/about/

Bio:

Dr. Redekop received his MD from the University of Western Ontario (UWO) and completed neurosurgical residency and fellowship training in cerebrovascular surgery in the Division of Neurosurgery at UWO. He completed graduate studies in the molecular biology of growth factors and angiogenesis, and went on to join the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of British Columbia.

Dr. Redekop is head of the departments of surgery at both the Vancouver General Hospital and the University of British Columbia.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Episode name.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, May 16, 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/214-gary-redekop.html.

On this episode of Below the Radar, our host Am Johal is joined by Lama Mugabo, founding director of Building Bridges with Rwanda, a campaign manager with the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition, and a member of the Hogan’s Alley Working Group. Together, they discuss local training and advocacy programs for people with lived experience of homelessness and other marginalizing barriers, Hogan’s Alley Society’s advocacy in Vancouver’s historically Black neighbourhood, and Lama’s capacity building and educational work in Rwanda.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/213-lama-mugabo.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/213-lama-mugabo.html

Resources:

Lama Mugabo https://www.lamamugabo.com/

BC Poverty Reduction Coalition: https://www.bcpovertyreduction.ca/

Building Bridges with Rwanda: https://www.bbrwanda.ca/

Hogan’s Alley Society: https://www.hogansalleysociety.org/

Bio:

Lama Mugabo is the founding director of Building Bridges with Rwanda (BBR), a non-profit organization that promotes sustainable development projects in Rwanda. In Canada, BBR engages local audiences in understanding the Rwandan development model through dialogue and learning exchange workshops.

In 2019, BBR joined hands with Vancouver’s Hogan’s Alley Society and SFU’s Institute for Diaspora Research and Engagement to launch the Remember Rwanda 25 Year Legacy Project, at SFU. The RR25 LP leads a reflection tour to Rwanda every summer and organizes a bi-annual conference on the Rwandan development model. Lama uses storytelling as a community planning tool to understand problems and work collectively to find lasting solutions.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Building Bridges, from Vancouver to Rwanda — with Lama Mugabo.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, May 9, 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/213-lama-mugabo.html.

On this episode of Below the Radar, our host Am Johal speaks with Michael Clague, a community developer who has spent decades connecting underserved people to much-needed supports and programming. They begin by discussing Michael’s early service work as a UBC student, and move into conversation about the BC labour movement, community arts programming, and Michael’s new book, titled So, How Have I Been Doing At Being Who I Am?: At 82, A Life In Progress.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/212-michael-clague.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/212-michael-clague.html

Resources:

Michael’s book, So, How Have I Been Doing at Being Who I Am?: https://bcbooklook.com/a-life-in-progress/

Carnegie Community Centre: https://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/carnegie-community-centre.aspx

Britannia Community Centre: https://vancouver.ca/parks-recreation-culture/britannia-community-services-centre.aspx

Social Planning and Research Council (SPARC): ​​https://www.sparc.bc.ca/

The Solidarity Movement in BC: https://www.communitystories.ca/v2/solidarity-bc-protest_solidarite-protestation-cb/

VANDU: https://vandureplace.wordpress.com/

Bio:

Michael Clague is a former director of the Carnegie Community Centre and Britannia Community Centre, and a former board member of the Fraser Basin Council. He has participated in multiple community and social planning committees, including the Social Planning and Research Council (SPARC) and the Downtown Eastside Local Area Planning Process Committee. He was awarded the Order of Canada for community service in 2008, and he is the author of So, How Have I Been Doing At Being Who I Am?: At 82, A Life In Progress.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Reflecting on a Life in Community Development.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, May 2, 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/212-michael-clague.html.

This week on Below The Radar, Am Johal is joined by author and associate professor at the Allard Law School at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Brenna Bhandar. She and Am discuss her research into property, property law, and their relationships to histories of colonialism and racial formations. Brenna offers insight into her book Colonial Lives of Property: Law, Land, and Racial Regimes of Ownership. Brenna also talks about gaining an interest concerning the issues of Indigenous dispossession in Canada through her PhD research which was a critique of legal and political forms of recognition, as well as her future projects on property and the doctrine of preemption.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/211-brenna-bhandar.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/211-brenna-bhandar.html

Resources:

Brenna Bhandar: https://allard.ubc.ca/about-us/our-people/brenna-bhandar

Allard School of Law: https://allard.ubc.ca/

Colonial Lives of Property: https://www.dukeupress.edu/colonial-lives-of-property

Revolutionary Feminisms: https://www.versobooks.com/en-ca/products/2532-revolutionary-feminisms

Plastic Materialities: Politics, Legality, and Metamorphosis in the Work of Catherine Malabou: https://www.dukeupress.edu/plastic-materialities

Acts and omissions: Framing settler colonialism in Palestine Studies: https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/32857

Bio:

Dr. Brenna Bhandar is an Associate Professor at Allard Law Faculty, UBC. Dr. Bhandar holds a PhD from the Birkbeck School of Law, University of London. Prior to joining Allard Law, Brenna was a Reader in Law and Critical Theory at SOAS, University of London, and previously held faculty positions at the Queen Mary School of Law, Kent Law School and the University of Reading Law School. She is the author of Colonial Lives of Property: Law, Land and Racial Regimes of Ownership which examines how modern property law contributes to the formation of racial subjects in settler colonies and to the development of racial capitalism. She is a co-editor on the books; Plastic Materialities: Politics, Legality and Metamorphosis in the work of Catherine Malabou, and Revolutionary Feminisms: Conversations on Collective Action and Radical Thought. Dr. Brenna Bhandar is a well-known property scholar and legal theorist—as well as an Allard Law graduate. Dr. Bhandar’s transdisciplinary approach to scholarship spans the disciplines of property law, critical theory, colonial legal history and critical race feminism.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Colonial Lives of Property — with Brenna Bhandar.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, April 25, 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/211-brenna-bhandar.html.

Dr. Kari Grain is a research associate at the Community Engaged Research Initiative (CERI) and writer of the book, Critical Hope: How to Grapple with Complexity, Lead with Purpose, and Cultivate Transformative Social Change.

On this episode of Below the Radar, Kari joins our host Am Johal, to discuss how the seemingly conflicting frameworks of criticalness and hope are both vital to systemic change, as well as the importance of emotions such as anger and grief, and the influence of Gloria Anzaldúa’s Coyolxauhqui imperative. Throughout the episode, Kari shares impactful excerpts from her book, Critical Hope.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/210-kari-grain.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/210-kari-grain.html

Resources:

Kari Grain: https://karigrain.wordpress.com/

Critical Hope: https://karigrain.wordpress.com/the-book/

Kari Grain’s Dissertation: https://open.library.ubc.ca/soa/cIRcle/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0378228

Blog on Critical Hope: https://www.sfu.ca/ceri/blog/2022/Critical-Hope-By-Kari-Grain.html

Coyolxauhqui imperative: http://www.revistascisan.unam.mx/Voices/pdfs/7423.pdf

Bio: Dr. Kari Grain is the author of Critical Hope (2022) and teaches at the University of British Columbia in the Faculty of Education, where she leads the Master’s of Education program in Adult Learning and Global Change (ALGC). She is also a research associate at the Community Engaged Research Initiative (CERI) at Simon Fraser University. Her research in experiential learning, critical pedagogy, adult education, anti-racism, and global/local community engagement has been featured in peer reviewed journals, books, blogs, and podcasts. At the nucleus of Grain’s body of work is the belief that education has the potential to be a vibrant pathway toward systemic change and the honouring of multiple ways of knowing and being. Vital to that process of systemic transformation is an attunement to emotional, critical, and creative ways of knowing oneself and being in the world with others.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Critical Hope — with Kari Grain.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, April 18, 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/210-kari-grain.html.

This week our host Am Johal is joined by NiNi Dongnier, an interdisciplinary choreographer and dancer, and Assistant Professor in Dance at SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts. Together they discuss NiNi’s training and artistic experiences across Inner Mongolia, Beijing, New York, and now Vancouver. Am and NiNi also talk about interdisciplinary collaboration and pedagogy.

Full episode details: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/209-nini-dongnier.html

Read the transcript: https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/transcripts/209-nini-dongnier.html

Resources:

SFU School for the Contemporary Arts: https://www.sfu.ca/sca.html

SFU Dance: https://www.sfu.ca/sca/programs/dance.html

NUUM Collective: https://nuum.co/

Doppelgänger: https://nuum.co/project/doppelganger

Bio:

NiNi Dongnier is a choreographer and artist, born in Inner Mongolia, who works in Vancouver and New York. Dongnier works through dance, performance, moving image, soft sculpture, and artistic uses of technology. Rooted in the northern trans-border nomadic philosophies and art, her art is continuous exploration of the metaphysics of body, motion, and its dynamic relation to the compound spatiotemporal, ecological, and technological contexts that shaping the moments. The process conveys her sincere perception in embodied memory, migration, ritual, landscape, and the structure and cultural entanglement behind them. She immerses herself in traditional art on one hand, and on the other hand, embraces the dissonance from various forms and philosophies, which is internalized into an independent perspective of art making. She is particularly good at finding connections and shared nature among seemingly opposite things, challenging dualistic thinking.

She holds an MFA focus on Choreography and Media Art from New York University, having previously graduated Summa Cum Laude from Beijing Dance Academy with a bachelor’s and a master’s degrees in Chinese Ethnic and Folk Dance & Ethnography, also studied Contemporary Dance at SUNY Purchase College. She is the founder of Field Motion, and co-founder of New York based interdisciplinary artist collective NUUM.

Cite this episode:

Chicago Style

Johal, Am. “Choreographing: Motion, Material, and Parallel Living — with NiNi Dongnier.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, April 11, 2023. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/209-nini-dongnier.html.