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By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on March 8, 2013, at 1:00 pm Men, especially white men, sleep too easily at night while women earn 70 per cent of what we do. Secretly, I think we’d prefer to not have to talk about this much. Sure, March 8 and December 6 are days we set aside for reflecting on this, but, most likely, we don’t want to be bothered with it every other day of the year. Plus, the NHL is back.
One conversation I have never had, goes like this. I’m in the lunchroom at work with a group of men discussing workplace realities. The topics drifts around to how women in (Read more…)
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on January 5, 2013, at 1:08 pm
Twitter / suzhawkins: As settlers… #idlenomore ….
York University’s Suzanne Hawkins is my hero today for showing us all this amazing poster that succinctly describes how us non-indigenous settler folk can stand alongside with the world’s indigenous people seeking redress for generations of racism and discrimination.
Solidarity matters! Dialogue matters!
Let’s make 2013 a year of reconciliation!
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on November 30, 2012, at 1:48 pm If you think popular media is still chauvinist or even misogynist, but you didn’t know about the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, you should look into them. I found out about their latest research study, Gender Roles & Occupations: A Look at Character Attributes and Job-Related Aspirations in Film and Television, and was not [...] . . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: “Female Characters Are Still Sidelined, Stereotyped, and Sexualized in Popular Entertainment Content”
By Guest Contributors, on November 27, 2012, at 3:25 pm [Here is what some of us have been wanting to say about Taylor Swift, but didn't because A. Lynn did it first, and perhaps best, reposted her with her kind permission. Thanks to Jarrah Hodge for pointing us to this piece of brilliance! Enjoy! - seb] I’ve been mentally composing this blog for forever and [...] . . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: No, Taylor Swift. No.
By Tia Everitt, on October 22, 2012, at 2:44 pm
Early political engagement is a hot button topic for a number of us here at Politics ReSpun. As parents and/or political animals, we spend a lot of time contemplating methods of public engagement that would draw youth into political culture, and foster both interest and comprehension of sociopolitical events. Apathy and disinterest are rampant in our culture, and the prevailing trend of co-mingling pop culture and celebrity in corporate controlled news media is daunting.
Is political engagement and activism a product of nature or nurture?
Are those of us who prefer to spend our afternoons yelling at CPAC or
. . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: Encouraging Early Political Engagement: I Have the Right to Be a Child
By bazie, on September 1, 2012, at 12:16 pm In a parliamentary system, we usually hope for a majority for our preferred party because this gives them the power to implement their policies. However, there are several situations where a minority government is actually preferred such as I argued ought to be the case for the 2011 Ontario election for people loosely on the left. In the imminent Quebec election, I must argue the same and hope that the Parti Québécois, currently just edging into majority territory in polls, only gets a minority.
The problem in Quebec is the prevalence of a strong identity politics which, like other first (Read more…)
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on July 31, 2012, at 12:00 pm “Before my father died, he said the worst thing about growing old was that other men stop seeing you as dangerous….Dangerousness was sacred.”
Last night I watched Act of Valor. I liveblogged it so you don’t have to watch it. You’re welcome.
First there was The Lottery, a dystopic tale of social gruesomeness that I encountered in high school English. It got me thinking.
Then there was The Running Man and now the Hunger Games.
Now we have UFC and reality TV and their bastard child: Act of Valor, designed to both decry a life filled with
. . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: Act of Valor, Redux
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on June 25, 2012, at 12:00 pm What is government if not a living reminder of our human wretchedness, of the fall made secular, of the post-lapsarian world and the prison house of procedure and law that outlines and structures our existence? Our political institutions are decorated with the heritage of Christianity and Western civilization, and no matter how hard we try to be secular in unwritten form, we as Canadians are procedurally still beneath a monarchy crafted in the ages of kings and queens. The question—if we cannot control ourselves, then who will?—echoes in the halls of western government, and no less in the legislative
. . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: Government and Human Wretchedness
By Jasmin Mujanovic, on May 23, 2012, at 6:51 pm In the 1990s, Bosnia-Herzegovina became synonymous with the horrific violence, ethnic cleansing and genocide which characterized the country’s experience within the broader dissolution of the Yugoslav state. In particular, the systematic rape and sexual violence of Bosnian women during the course of the war has continued to remain pertinent both in international legal affairs and as the subject of major Hollywood productions. Despite this, Bosnia remains a sort of static metaphor for bungled international responses to humanitarian crises—with solid, critical analyses of present day conditions being rare.
Frustrated by this fact, I recently reached out to Aleksandra Petrić, a
. . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: Women’s Rights in Bosnia: An Interview with Aleksandra Petrić
By Tia Everitt, on May 1, 2012, at 5:18 pm
Last week, our favourite sweatervest hoarding Prime Minister made the world’s laziest Nazi/Hitler invocation during Question Period. This is the latest in a string of Hitler references made by sundry politicos in Ottawa during 2012, and we’re not even half way through the year. His gaffe brought jeers and tears of laughter to denizens of the House and online. For your viewing pleasure, witness the exchange between Mulcair the Bearded Sandwich Explainer and Stevie Soulless Eyes HERE.
After I was done laughing and wiping tears of hilarity from my eyes, I went back to the Politics Respun crew, and
. . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: Springtime for Hitler in Ottawa
By Tia Everitt, on April 26, 2012, at 4:24 pm I have become very weary of being perpetually assaulted, all day long, and being utterly helpless to defend myself from the onslaught. If it isn’t advertisers shoving things I don’t want down my throat, it’s the bank ramming their hands in my pockets. The media fills my eyes and ears with sights and sounds that wage war on my mind. If I exercise my right to vocalize dissent against the corporate bedfellows and pet projects of the federal government, I find my hands are tied, and my mouth gagged. When I thought I couldn’t be violated more, I turned around
. . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: A Handmaid’s Tale: Intended as Fiction, Not a Guidebook
By T. A. Everitt, on April 4, 2012, at 3:42 pm Not so long ago, my friend Becca was shopping at her local Loblaws store (Real Canadian Superstore, for those of us who live in the West.)
Like many people I know, Becca approves of their Joe Fresh clothing line, which offers Canadians the opportunity to buy stylish and seasonal clothing at reasonable prices. Always colourful, fairly hip, and relatively well made, Joe Fresh offers people of all ages and genders opportunity to dress in a manner that would usually cost much more at other retail establishments.
That day, Becca was perusing the children’s section, looking for something for her
. . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: Joe Fresh & Loblaws: Perpetuating the Early Marginalization of Women
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on March 16, 2012, at 11:00 am Nathan Cullen has my vote.
Let me begin by saying that we are at an historical moment in Canadian history. We are being besieged by an increasingly draconian corporatist, neo-conservative and neoliberal Conservative Party government which is far worse than Mulroney’s free trade corporatist “Progressive” Conservatives from a generation ago. This government is an ecological criminal in foreign affairs, obsessed with domestic surveillance and mongers war.
We are at a time of heightened awareness of the illegitimacy of the first-past-the-post electoral system that has allowed such extremist doctrine to have a majority of power in the country with less than
. . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: Why I’m Voting for Nathan Cullen
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on March 9, 2012, at 7:16 pm Politics, Re-Spun is on The Rational on Coop Radio on Monday, March 12, 2012 from 6pm to 7pm with an intriguing lineup! Listen live online or at 102.7fm in the Vancouver area.
Here’s the lineup:
1. Dylan Penner will talk with Stephen Elliott-Buckley about the Canadian Boat for Gaza: why, what happened, what’s happening now and what’s in store for the future?
2. Greg Felton will talk with Alnoor Gova about the NDP and Israel.
3. The first of 3 parts of a conversation between Stephen Elliott-Buckley and Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council President Cliff Atleo. Topics orbit around the
. . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: Politics, Re-Spun on The Rational on Co-op Radio, March 12 Lineup
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on February 20, 2012, at 4:00 am Today is the first day of the rest of COPE Vancouver’s life. Today is the day where the new executive needs to make its first priority revitalizing the party by building unity around progressive principles and policies, and moving past pettiness.
If it cannot get past the factionism, it simply is not a party with a political agenda, but a venue for personality feuds. I have no time for that, and only in part because such pettiness led to an AGM that took almost 6 hours yesterday.
COPE is not a party with any kind of balance of power between
. . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: Revitalizing COPE Vancouver, Right Now.
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on February 13, 2012, at 11:00 am Tonight at 6pm [East Vancouver time], Politics, Re-Spun teams up with The Rational on COOP Radio with an analog radio show at 102.7fm in Vancouver, which will be streaming live at COOPRadio.org and interactively in a multimedia liveblog here below.
Here is what we’ve got tonight:
1. Tia Everitt interviewing Glen Thompson about saving spotted owls in the Chilliwack River Valley 2. Alnoor Gova interviewing Andrew Frank, on who really are enemies of the people of Canada 3. Alnoor Gova interviewing Boonaa Muhammad
2012.02.13 Politics, Re-Spun on Coop Radio
August 9, 2010 — Capitalists:
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on February 12, 2012, at 1:50 pm Today’s NDP leadership debate lands in Quebec. I’m using 14 criteria to evaluate who I’ll be voting for. Let me know if you have suggestions for improved criteria.
2012.02.12 NDP Leaders Debate
February 2, 2012 — NDP Leaders, By the Numbers and the Intangibles (0) August 27, 2011 — Liveblog of Jack Layton’s Funeral (0) October 1, 2011 — Qualities of the Next NDP Leader (6) September 1, 2011 — 17 Federal NDP Leadership Possibilities (2)
By gay person of color, on January 25, 2012, at 8:24 am Apparently, “Sex and the City” co-star Cynthia Nixon has sparked a backlash after telling the New York Times Magazine that for her, being gay is a choice: “I gave a speech recently, an empowerment speech to a gay audience, and it included the line ‘I’ve been straight and I’ve been gay, and gay is better.’ And they tried to get me to change it, because they said it implies that homosexuality can be a choice. And for me, it is a choice. I understand that for many people it’s not, but for me it’s a choice, and you don’t
. . . → Read More: gay persons of color: Cynthia Nixon is a hero
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on January 8, 2012, at 9:00 pm Tragedy of the Market: From Crisis to Commons January 6-8, 2012 Vancouver/Burnaby
All panelist biographies are here. Below are some lessons learned and observations from the sessions.
Friday:
The opening panel is recorded in the Twitter storify here.
Saturday:
My notes are here.
Sunday:
Opening Panel
Radical Squares: Reflections on the Global Indignant Moment
Nefertiti Altán, George Caffentzis
Nefertiti Altán
Crisis in the economy:
Greed leads to assaults on living wages, off-shoring, migrant workers, slashing pensions. US unemployment is 9.7% or 14.9 million people, 16% for African-Americans and 42% for African American youth. The number is higher when . . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: Day Three of Tragedy of the Market: From Crisis to Commons
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on January 7, 2012, at 10:00 pm Tragedy of the Market: From Crisis to Commons January 6-8, 2012 Vancouver/Burnaby
All panelist biographies are here: Below are some lessons learned and observations from the sessions.
Friday:
The opening panel is recorded in the Twitter storify here.
Saturday:
Opening Panel A Global Tradition: History of the Commons
Silvia Federici
Rebuilding our Commons will allow us to live in a free and self-determined way. When we talk about the Commons, we are not talking about small-scale experiments like communes, but whole social formations. The Commons involves sharing our resources because nature is not for sale. The principle of common . . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: Day Two of Tragedy of the Market: From Crisis to Commons
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on January 7, 2012, at 12:00 pm This weekend I attended Tragedy of the Market: From Crisis to Commons community gathering in Vancouver and Burnaby, sponsored by these groups and people.
The basic premise is not so much that capitalism is broken, and we just need to fix it, but that neoliberal market fundamentalism is inherently broken when we’re thinking about sustainability, equity and building a healthy future, largely because capitalism is diametrically opposed to the commons and rich community.
All panelist biographies are here.
Below is a storified collection of tweets from the opening night.
[View the story “Tragedy of the Market: Opening” on Storify
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on December 29, 2011, at 4:47 pm So I’ve just turned 45. What a sweet age!
Instead of asking people to only bring a quirky 45rpm record to my party next month, I’d rather give people an opportunity to donate money to the Canadian Red Cross for Haitian earthquake relief.
As many of you know, the case study in my master’s thesis was on how Haiti is the poster child for Canada pursuing, then undermining, the Human Security Agenda, with our economic exploitation of the country culminating in helping the USA kidnap Aristide on February 29, 2004 and flying him to the Central African Republic.
And many
. . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: A Happy Birthday for Haiti
By Jasmin Mujanovic, on December 23, 2011, at 6:03 am “I think Hannah Arendt did say somewhere in The Origins of Totalitarianism that the thesis of the modern state is: ‘Everyone should die.’” –Suffled How it Gush (pg. 74)
I have joked with my partner that I have a certain amount of angst regarding my future as any sort of “real” academic (read: employed). Mostly it stems from the fact that I often don’t feel my ideas sufficiently “sophisticated.” Since I have begun earnestly researching Balkan and Bosnian politics, in particular, the general tenor of my analysis has been “assholes are ruining it for everyone.”
. . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: Book Review: Suffled How it Gush: A North American Anarchist in the Balkans
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on December 19, 2011, at 11:00 am Clearly, the people living in Attawapiskat are existing in a crisis that represents Canada’s dysfunctional relationship with the first peoples.
How can we truly “fix” Attawapiskat? By fixing the underlying broken relationship.
Occupying #Attawapiskat in Twitter two weeks ago was a great start to engaging in serious improvements.
Phase two begins now with a call for a national dialogue to address the past and create a healthy future. This means looking at cultural genocide, racism, the Indian Act as obsolete in the 21st century, residential schools, language and potlatch prohibitions, treaty neglect and so much more.
Read more about this
. . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: Occupy #Attawapiskat, Phase Two
By Stephen Elliott-Buckley, on December 2, 2011, at 3:00 pm I wrote a piece the other day on Attawapiskat, and how it enrages me.
Not just the case in those communities, but how it’s representative of Canada’s largely racist relationship with first nations and, frankly, all “disposable” people.
This, by the way, is an amazing piece with essential information about the bureaucracy/politics of Attawapiskat from âpihtawikosisân: http://apihtawikosisan.wordpress.com/2011/11/30/dealing-with-comments-about-attawapiskat/. Truly essential reading.
Some of us have been working up an idea to draw and focus attention on the need to not only address Attawapiskat, but the overall systemic problem.
Let’s occupy the #Attawapiskat hashtag in Twitter for most of the day on
. . . → Read More: Politics, Re-Spun: Let’s Occupy #Attawapiskat in Twitter on December 7
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