Victor's Children

Sexual Violence, Feminism and Socialist Organizing

A discussion with three thoughtful socialists and feminists, Hazel, Jamie and Sheila, about feminism, the left and sexual violence. How can left activists get better at preventing and responding to sexual violence?

Some readings:

Articles by Hazel

https://www.rs21.org.uk/author/hazel-croft/

Why I Left Fightback by Jamie

https://jamiegraham.substack.com/p/why-i-left-fightback

Jeremy Appel on how the CPC leadership covered up sexual harassment and

expelled critics: What's going on with the Communist Party of Canada?

https://theorchard.substack.com/p/whats-going-on-with-the-communist

An article that briefly discusses how the "micro-party" model of socialist

organization promotes weak responses to oppressive actions by group

members, especially leaders: A letter from Canadian comrades

https://socialistworker.org/2019/03/21/a-letter-from-canadian-comrades

Ecosocialism and the Ecological Crisis

Faced with the worsening ecological crisis caused by capitalism, what's the ecosocialism we should aim for and what climate justice reforms should we fight for in the here and now? How should ecosocialists relate to degrowth politics? How should we respond to the immediate concerns of working-class people as the cost of living rises? A discussion of these and other questions with Sabrina Fernandes and Gareth Dale.

Some sources mentioned in the episode and other resources:

Sabrina Fernades' project Tese Onze

https://teseonze.com.br/

Gareth Dale, "Degrowth and the Green New Deal"

https://theecologist.org/2019/oct/28/degrowth-and-green-new-deal

"For an Ecosocialist Degrowth" coauthored by Sabrina Fernandes https://monthlyreview.org/2022/04/01/for-an-ecosocialist-degrowth/

Jack Copley, "Decarbonizing the Downturn: Addressing Climate Change in an Age of Stagnation"

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/10245294221120986

Julian Allwood, "Closing the Rhetoric-Action Gap on Climate Mitigation"

https://www.youtube0.com/watch?v=j1-laRQC0lQ&t=268s

Book launch, David Hughes on "Who Owns the Wind? Climate Crisis and the Hope of Renewable Energy"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frxyHxXstyo&t=269s

Climate and Capitalism

https://climateandcapitalism.com/

Order Future On Fire here:

https://fernwoodpublishing.ca/book/future-on-fire (in Canada)

https://pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1263 (everywhere else)

The Labour Front in Canada Today

The cost of living is rising, unemployment is low, and a recession triggered by the Bank of Canada pushing up interest rates is coming. The number of strikes is also up, with the number of private sector workers who struck in the first half of 2022 being especially noteworthy. What's happening? How can workers take advantage of the moment to win as much as possible? Doug Nesbitt and Tara Olivetree (Ehrcke) discuss these and other questions.

Doug is a cofounder of RankAndFile.ca, where you can find many articles he's written.

https://www.rankandfile.ca

A 2021 article by Tara: Power, Workers, and the Fight for Climate Justice.

https://www.midnightsunmag.ca/power-workers-and-the-fight-for-climate-justice/

Moralism: A problem for the left

Moralism -- which assumes that moral judgment can change society and thinks about people and what they do as either good or bad -- is a powerful influence today. It's a barrier to thinking about social structures, how change happens, and left strategy. Barnaby Raine and Vanessa Wills dissect what moralism is, how it affects the left, why it's so influential, how socialists should respond to it, and the place of ethics in socialist politics.

Barnaby Raine is an editor of Salvage

https://salvage.zone

Vanessa Wills is an editor of Spectre

https://spectrejournal.com

History of the Reproductive Justice Struggle

The overturning of Roe v Wade in the US puts the spotlight back on the politics of abortion. David speaks with Jocelyn Piercy about the movement organizing that eventually led to the decriminalization of abortion in so-called Canada and defeated the Mulroney Tory government's attempt to recriminalize it, and in particular the work of the Ontario Coalition for Abortion Clinics. This experience is relevant today as we face emboldened right-wing forces intent on replacing

liberal sexual and gender rights with its reactionary sexual hegemony.

Recommended reading:

Jocelyn Piercy, Canada: History and strategies in the fight for reproductive justice

http://links.org.au/canada-history-abortion-rights-campaign

Misha Falk, "Neither Liberalism Nor Fascism But Trans Liberation and Socialism"

https://www.midnightsunmag.ca/neither-liberalism-nor-fascism-but-trans-liberation-and-socialism/

Rebel Girls' Rag, the publication of Toronto Socialist Feminist Action (1987-1992)

https://riseupfeministarchive.ca/publications/rebel-girls-rag-a-forum-of-womens-resistance/

The Politics of War from Ukraine to Canada

A discussion with Olena Lyubchenko and Dru Oja Jay about Ukraine in the years before Russia's invasion, the impact of the war on politics in so-called Canada, and what the left should do in relation to the war.

To learn more:

Olena Lyubchenko, On the Frontier of Whiteness? Expropriation, War, and Social Reproduction in Ukraine

https://lefteast.org/frontiers-of-whiteness-expropriation-war-social-reproduction-in-ukraine/

Dru Oja Jay, Ukraine’s first assailant—international lenders

https://breachmedia.ca/ukraines-first-assailant-international-lenders/

The March 2022 episode of this podcast is about Russia and the war. You can find it here:

https://soundcloud.com/user-737267994/episode-15-understanding-russia-today?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Marko Bojcun, "Ukrainian Socialists in the Diaspora: Lessons on Cold War Solidarity from Another Era"

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/ukrainian-socialists-in-diaspora-lessons-on-cold-war-solidarity/

Anti-racism and Socialism

The problems with liberal responses to racism are no reason to dismiss or downplay the importance of anti-racist struggle as some on the left do. A discussion with Sharmeen Khan and Teddy Zegeye-Gebrehiwot on the politics of representation, multiculturalism, allyship and other aspects of anti-racist politics from socialist perspectives.

Some writings referred to in this episode:

Emma Dabiri, What White People Can Do Next

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/677949/what-white-people-can-do-next-by-emma-dabiri/9780141996738

Himani Bannerji, The Dark Side of the Nation

https://www.canadianscholars.ca/books/dark-side-of-the-nation

Vanessa Wills, "Marxism and White Privilege" (paywall)

https://spectrejournal.com/marxism-and-white-privilege/

Nick Mitchell, "The View from Nowhere" (paywall)

https://spectrejournal.com/the-view-from-nowhere/

Annie Olaloku-Teriba, "Afro-Pessimism and the (Un)Logic of Anti Blackness"

https://www.historicalmaterialism.org/articles/afro-pessimism-and-unlogic-anti-blackness

Azfar Shafi and Ilyas Nagdee, "Recovering Antiracism: Reflections on Collectivity and Solidarity in Antiracist Organizing"

https://www.tni.org/en/antiracism

The Anti-Girlboss Socialist Club

This episode is an interview with Paniz and Tamsyn, the hosts of the socialist-feminist podcast The Anti-Girlboss Socialist Club (https://harbingermedianetwork.com/show/the-anti-girlboss-socialist-club/). They discuss topics covered in two episodes of AGSC: the “Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Industry” and sexual violence programs at universities.

Sources mentioned by Paniz and Tamsyn or suggested for people who want to learn more:

Jack Fiorito, "Human Resource Management Practices and Worker Desires for Union Representation" (2001) Journal of Labour Research 22:2.

https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA73064849&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=01953613&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E36766bd

Janet Halley, Prabha Kotiswaran, Rachel Rebouché, and Hila Shamir, Governance Feminism: An Introduction (University of Minnesota Press, 2018)

https://www.upress.umn.edu/book-division/books/governance-feminism-1

Sara Ahmed, Complaint (Duke Press, 2021), What's the Use (Duke Press, 2019), On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life (Duke Press, 2021).

https://www.saranahmed.com/books-1

Robin D. G. Kelley, "What is Racial Capitalism and Why Does It Matter?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--gim7W_jQQ&ab_channel=KODXSeattle

John Kilcoyne, "The Politics of Policies: Responding to Sexual Harassment on Campus" (1994-1995) 3 Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal 33.

Sara Ahmed, "Against Students"

https://thenewinquiry.com/against-students/

Breakdown of reported sexual assault cases at U of T:

https://thestrand.ca/campus-safety-uofts-handling-of-sexual-assault-reveals-the-cracks-in-our-academic-system/

Sara Ahmed, "Uses of Use: Diversity, Utility and the University"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avKJ2w1mhng

Sarah Jaffe, Work Won't Love You Back (Hurst Publishers, 2021).

https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/work-wont-love-you-back/

Understanding Russia Today, w/ Simon Pirani

Anyone trying to understand Russia in the context of the war unleashed by Putin and co. on Ukraine will find little of use in the mainstream media, and a lot of left media isn't much better. This episode presents an interview with Simon Pirani about capitalism and politics in Russia today. Simon has written extensively on contemporary Russia as well as on the Russian Revolution, and discussed Stalinism on ep. 3 of Victor's Children.

https://soundcloud.com/user-737267994/episode-3-stalinism-and-the-future-of-socialism-part-i?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Simon's website;

https://peopleandnature.wordpress.com

Simon recommends Ilya Matveev's recent article "Between Political and Economic Imperialism: Russia's Shifting Global Strategy"

https://brill.com/view/journals/jlso/aop/article-10.1163-24714607-bja10043/article-10.1163-24714607-bja10043.xml?rskey=tHGbWa&result=1

For discussion of what stance socialists in so-called Canada should take to Russia's war on Ukraine, check this out:

Episode 14: Russia Out of Ukraine, and No to NATO Too! by Solidarity Winnipeg

https://soundcloud.com/solidarity-winnipeg-sw/swpod-ukraine-ep-final?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

The Far Right Mobilizes & Workplace Organizing at Canada Post

The far right-led action in Ottawa against pandemic public health measures was the largest mobilization by the far right in so-called Canada since the 1930s, so this episode opens with analysis from Todd Gordon.

Next is an interview with Edmonton CUPW organizer Roland Schmidt about building workplace power among postal workers in that city and some of its broader lessons.

Judy Rebick and Corvin Russell's article, which appeared after the episode of Victor's Children on the politics of the pandemic, helps explain the situation the far right has taken advantage of: The Left is nowhere on COVID. And that’s a big problem.

https://rabble.ca/columnists/the-left-is-nowhere-on-covid-and-thats-a-big-problem/

David's 2018 article on fighting the right is dated in some respects but still relevant:

The far right, the hard right, and our fight against them

https://briarpatchmagazine.com/articles/view/the-far-right-the-hard-right-and-our-fight-against-them