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• An anti-colonial history of “British Columbia” –“British Columbia” is unique in Canada for both the large number of Indigenous nations and the province’s lack of Treaties. According to the 1763 Royal Proclamation, issued by the British after defeating France, no trade or settlement could occur in Indigenous territory without treaties.
• March/April 2011 –As government and industry continue to annex and desecrate Indigenous lands for resource extraction, housing developments, highways and tourist destinations, how can we organize a more effective anti-colonial resistance? What are the current sites of contestation in Canada, and what is the role of non-native allies in supporting these struggles?…
• We say no –Last November, hundreds of people gathered in the community of Tlet’inqox to thank the land defenders and praise the federal government’s decision to turn down Taseko Mines’ Prosperity project, a proposed gold and copper mine on Tsilhqot’in territory in northern B.C.
• It’s Open Season at Briarpatch! –Briarpatch is seeking submissions on any topic for our July/August 2011 issue. We are looking for feature articles, provocative essays, investigative reportage, interviews, profiles, reviews, poetry, humour, artwork and photography rooted in an anti-colonial and anti-capitalist analysis. If you’ve got a story in mind, we want to hear from you!
• Letter from the editor –Spirituality and activism are not strangers. The intimate relationship between the two is evident in the work of icons like Gandhi, Harriet Tubman, Malcolm X and Desmond Tutu, for whom activism was part and parcel of their commitments to something or someone beyond the sensory world.
• January/February 2011 –What motivates us to fight for positive change? What role does our interconnectedness with other people and our environment play in the struggle for social and environmental justice? Where do religion and action meet? This issue explores the intersection between spirituality and activism, connecting the dots between our goals for…
• Faithful ally –I remember the exact moment my Sundays changed forever. I was 14. Sunday mornings in our house had always been filled with a routine chaos. Mom and Dad woke up first, showered and dressed, then called my two younger sisters and me in sequence.
• Solidarity in Islamophobic times –With Islam having moved to the centre of North American political discourse since 9/11, Muslim practices, cultural formations, sectarian divides, religious laws and political histories are being publicly scrutinized as never before. Grandiose proclamations of a “clash of civilizations” are now commonplace, as are routine examples of racial profiling, hate…
• No priests, no temples –Many activists practice yoga, but few would describe their yoga practice as a form of activism or treat their activism as an expression of their yoga practice. Michael Stone is working to change that.
• Pedagogy of the omitted –“Our action is our spirituality. It’s my faith that makes me fight.” When Rubens Pita said this, nearly everyone in the room spoke up to offer their own reflections. Rubens is an educator and coordinator at the Escola Fé e Política: Pe. Humberto Plummen (School of Faith and Politics) in…
• Blood, sweat and prayers –Tibetan Buddhism’s heavy emphasis on virtues of non-violence and compassion for all living beings raises the complex question of if or when to use violence against a violent occupier.
• Love in a time of climate crisis –It’s the year 2011. Icebergs are melting, forest fires are raging out of control, sea levels are rising, drinking water is becoming scarcer, droughts, famine, conflict and other climate-related pressures are growing exponentially. How can this crisis—the greatest challenge humanity has yet faced—be transformed into the greatest love story on…
• Twenty years since the blockades –Leanne Simpson and Kiera Ladner’s new edited collection, _This is an Honour Song_, seeks to recognize the significance of the events at Kanehsatake for Indigenous peoples, as well as for Canada. The collection does not focus on rehashing the details of events at the pines (a number of good books…
• Interconnectedness in action –While specific spiritual beliefs are as varied as the distinct First Nations communities on this land, Indigenous world views generally operate from a framework of interconnectedness whereby relationship is the lens through which we understand and sense the world. It informs the ultimate vision of sovereignty and decolonization, and impacts…
• Engendering Emancipation: Call for Submissions/Involvement –Briarpatch is seeking submissions for its May/June 2011 issue, “Engendering Emancipation,” which will explore power relations in the context of gender and sexuality. If you’ve got something to contribute to this discussion, then we want to hear from you! We are looking for articles, essays, investigative reportage, news briefs, poetry,…
• Letter from the editor –This summer marked the 75th anniversary of the Regina Riot, a landmark in the history of Briarpatch’s hometown and an event with political reverberations well beyond the city itself. On June 3, 1935, at the height of the greatest crisis of capitalism in the country’s history, 1,200 striking workers departed…
• Dignity and solidarity –The G20 summit held in Toronto this June closed with a commitment to “fiscal consolidation” from the world’s economic leaders. Among the strongest proponents of slashing public spending was Canada’s Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty. For many of those protesting the G20 on the streets of Toronto, the subtext of…
• Reinventing resistence –Globalization has propelled neoliberalism across borders, not just as an ideology or system of commerce, but as the primary determinant of the daily realities of where people live, what they eat, how they work, and what rights they enjoy.
• Room and board –There are three things a farmer can’t live without: a wheelbarrow, a dog and a pry bar.” Maggie called this to me from just outside the barn, where she stood offering me the said pry bar. The dog looked up from where she lay lounging in the shade, and I…
• Discipline and punish –The dream of a benevolent welfare state may live on in social work theory, conference papers and mission statements, but as far as front-line bureaucracy goes, welfare is dead. Only its image remains, as faint as chalk on a sidewalk. No longer even pretending to be a right or social…