Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) rally in downtown Toronto. Photo courtesy Global Labour Research Centre/York University. The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) has announced its formal end. On May 13, 2023, OCAP’s Annual General Meeting formally voted to retire the organization and put its remaining resources toward anti-poverty struggles in
Continue readingAuthor: Chris Dixon
Canadian Dimension: Orienting toward organizing
An activist holds an “Antifa” flag above a crowd of marchers, Berlin, June 27, 2009. Photo by Sam Chills/Flickr. The last few decades have seen regular debates on the left that counterpose “activism” and “organizing.” Long-time abolitionist organizer Mariame Kaba has recently laid this out plainly, contending that “activists are
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Without care, we lose
Ailén Possamay, “What they call love is unpaid labour,” Buenos Aires, 2019. “How many people around us have burnt out, are depressed or completely overwhelmed by our struggles and family life?” ask organizers Rushdia Mehreen and Pascale Brunet. Reckoning with depletion in activist circles, Politics & Care, the Montréal-based initiative
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Resisting sectarianism, growing the left
Today, in a time of overlapping crises and fast-paced social media cultures, sectarianism has taken on new and destructive forms, writes Chris Dixon. Photo by Karl Monaghan/Flickr. Sectarianism is one of the most persistently demoralizing features of left political cultures. It usually involves a group of people believing they have
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Researching the right
Members of the Proud Boys march in Washington, DC, December 12, 2020. Photo by Elvert Barnes/Flickr. The last few years have seen a sharp uptick in discussions on the North American left about right-wing movements. This makes sense. Across the globe, we’ve seen far-right forces gaining access to state power
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Building, not branding
Women’s Liberation group marches in support of the Black Panther Party, New Haven, 1969. Photo by David Fenton. People whose names we will never know propelled liberatory struggles of the past. With plenty of contradictions and messiness, they fought oppression and exploitation, nurtured freedom dreams, and won victories that we
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Revitalizing Left Internationalism
Protesters demonstrate against selling arms to Saudi Arabia, September 2017. Photo by AlisdareHickson/Twitter. The COVID-19 pandemic is revealing a lot about the current capacities of social movements and communities in struggle. Much of this is hopeful, as people across North America are organizing workplace actions, resistance to prisons and detention
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Bottom-Up Strategizing for Social Change
New Zealand children join a protest against nuclear power in 1982. Photo by John Miller/ABC News. Increasingly, activists and organizers are discussing the question, “What’s your theory of change?” For the most part, this is positive. As climate justice organizer and activist-scholar Jen Gobby explains, a theory of change lays
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Twenty Years After Seattle: Dispensing with Myths
On November 30, 1999, protesters engaged police and delegates to the World Trade Organization (WTO) conference in Seattle, Washington. Photo courtest of Crimethink. This column is part of #ShutdownWTO20, a collection of histories and reflections from people directly involved in organizing the Seattle mass direct action in 1999. November 30,
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Humbly growing older on the Left
Photo courtesy 350.org (Twitter) I’ve recently returned to a something I wrote in my twenties. Back in 2005, I contributed a “Letter to older activists” to the book Letters From Young Activists. In that piece, I described a kind of “advice” that older leftists sometimes give to their younger colleagues
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Training for movements
Photo by The Charlatan Many activist spaces these days spend time developing critical analysis through events, writing, and discussion. But as much as we might wish otherwise, sharp analysis doesn’t automatically translate into the skills required for working in groups, making collaborative plans, and taking effective action. Successful movements create
Continue readingCanadian Dimension: Learning from the past, fighting in the present
Photo by No One Is Illegal Ottawa “How do you avoid the feeling that you should be working ALL THE TIME given the urgency of the state of the world?” My friend Heather Hax, an experienced activist, recently posted that question on Facebook. This sense of urgency is completely justified,
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