FULL DISCLOSURE: I worked as a mainstream news reporter between 2003 and 2012. News media goes where many cannot or will not. It infiltrates the halls of power, the courtrooms, protest sites, war zones and scenes of tragedy. It is, unquestionably, the source of much of the information used to
Continue readingTag: Political Philosophy
Joe Fantauzzi: Post-Democratic Trend Lines in Etobicoke
Since news broke of the decision by Toronto mayor candidate Rob Ford to step away from the mayor’s race and be replaced by his brother Doug the term “feudal” has been thrown around a lot. The argument quite often associated with the use of this term generally appears to be that the
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: Rob Ford’s Political Body
Toronto’s Rob Ford lives a political life. Both his bare existence and his public personae have taken on a politicization since he entered municipal governance. Plainly said, his weight and other biological issues have become just as political as his public life as “mayor” of the City of Toronto. The Ancient
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: The Militarization of Police: But Why?
Since the beginning of the year, several stories in high-profile mainstream media publications have examined what some find to be the increasing militarization of police forces in North America. In March, The Economist wrote a feature on the phenomenon noting that the use of tactical units, which are often armed with
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: Needed: A Real Deal For Cities
Over at NinetyTwoPointEight, I have written a post about the need for substantive discussion during the ongoing Toronto municipal election about freeing up the city from the paternalism of its relationship with and dependance on the province of Ontario. Here is the link: Election 2014: A Lost Opportunity To Push For
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: Why I Stopped Calling Myself A Progressive
Progress can mean a lot of things. The achievement by marginalized people of social citizenship. Collective movement toward big goals that make life better on a societal scale. State intervention with the aim of lessening the burden caused by the market. Smoke from an oil field and tailing ponds as the economy chugs
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: IV. Zone of Indeterminacy: Interdiction concerning the enclosure of the Social Commons
Here, I have taken up the enclosure of the Social Commons. And here, I have attempted to locate those shunted aside by the austerity agenda. In this post, I attempt to describe the zone of indeterminacy into which those cast aside by austerity have been and are to be consigned. The point,
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: IV. Zone of Indeterminacy: Interdiction concerning the enclosure of the Social Commons
Here, I have taken up the enclosure of the Social Commons. And here, I have attempted to locate those shunted aside by the austerity agenda. In this post, I attempt to describe the zone of indeterminacy into which those cast aside by austerity have been and are to be consigned. The point,
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: III. Austerity and The Blocking of Social Citizenship In Ontario
When the Social Commons are enclosed, the state has decreed there are those inside and those outside the political order. I took up the issue of the Social Commons and its enclosure in Part II. This post will attempt to locate those excluded from social citizenship when the Commons is enclosed. I put
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: III. Austerity and The Blocking of Social Citizenship In Ontario
When the Social Commons are enclosed, the state has decreed there are those inside and those outside the political order. I took up the issue of the Social Commons and its enclosure in Part II. This post will attempt to locate those excluded from social citizenship when the Commons is enclosed. I put
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: The Ontario Election, Austerity and The Social Commons
In his Second Treatise of Government, John Locke argued that land, when Common, was fallow and unproductive. Mixing one’s labour with the land, such as growing grain or picking an apple, however, privatized the land and allowed access to the fruits of the labour.[1] Eventually these private, “productive” lands were enclosed, most
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: The Ontario Election, Austerity and The Social Commons
In his Second Treatise of Government, John Locke argued that land, when Common, was fallow and unproductive. Mixing one’s labour with the land, such as growing grain or picking an apple, however, privatized the land and allowed access to the fruits of the labour.[1] Eventually these private, “productive” lands were enclosed, most
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Corporatism, capitalism and real alternatives: On the power to choose our destiny
Corporatism is simply a more virulent form of capitalism – or a late stage of capitalism: it is what happens when capitalism is left unchecked, to run its own course. First comes the tendency towards ever-increasing concentrations of money, resources and economic power under a capitalist economy, as Marx rightly
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: Ontario’s neoliberalism: Coercive, Intense
Do you ever wonder why policing budgets rise in Ontario when the crime rate falls? At Illuminated By Street Lamps, I argue Ontario has been, and remains, among the jurisdictions at the forefront of a business-friendly neoliberal agenda in Canada, despite rising structural unemployment, major challenges in the core manufacturing sector
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: Ontario’s neoliberalism: Coercive, Intense
Do you ever wonder why policing budgets rise in Ontario when the crime rate falls? At Illuminated By Street Lamps, I argue Ontario has been, and remains, among the jurisdictions at the forefront of a business-friendly neoliberal agenda in Canada, despite rising structural unemployment, major challenges in the core manufacturing sector
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: Toronto’s G20 Summit As A State of Exception
At Illuminated By Streets Lamps, I have posted a paper I have written on the security apparatus put in place for the 2010 Toronto G20 Summit. I argue that the Province of Ontario employed a coercive, secretive state of exception in order to facilitate the flow of international capital during the Toronto
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: Toronto’s G20 Summit As A State of Exception
At Illuminated By Streets Lamps, I have posted a paper I have written on the security apparatus put in place for the 2010 Toronto G20 Summit. I argue that the Province of Ontario employed a coercive, secretive state of exception in order to facilitate the flow of international capital during the Toronto
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: Locating Canada’s State Multiculturalism As A Racist Doctrine
I, like many Canadians, am a product of Canada’s state multiculturalism. My family was permitted to enter and remain in Canada, achieve legal, civil, social and economic rights and ultimately, through a gradual whitening of the Italian people in Canada, privilege. I recognize this, take it seriously and frankly, wish
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: Locating Canada’s State Multiculturalism As A Racist Doctrine
I, like many Canadians, am a product of Canada’s state multiculturalism. My family was permitted to enter and remain in Canada, achieve legal, civil, social and economic rights and ultimately, through a gradual whitening of the Italian people in Canada, privilege. I recognize this, take it seriously and frankly, wish
Continue readingJoe Fantauzzi: A Few Questions About Toronto’s Relationship With The Province
Since we’re in the midst of an election, I think it’s a good time to ask some ex istential questions about Toronto and its relationship with the province. [View the story “A few questions about Toronto’s relationship with the province” on Storify]
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