On June 24, 2017 I came to learn through Facebook that my teacher, friend and comrade, Amir Hassanpour, had passed away. It is difficult for me to even begin to explain the influence he had on me, my politics and my academic work. The first time I took a course with him was in the … More In Memoriam: Com. Amir Hassanpour (November 17, 1943 – June 24, 2017)
I know that it has been a while since I posted on this blog and that for all intents and purposes this blog is dead, however, there have been two deaths in the International Communist Movement that I felt needed to be noted. Both of them were important figures in the international Maoist movement before … More In Memoriam: Com. Ajith Surendra Valentine Rupasinghe (“Surendra”) (14/2/43 – 3/4/17)
I have been running this blog intermittently over the past 7 years. During that time I have produced just 1 entry shy of 150 entries, but the truth is between my job and my life I simply do not have any time to run this blog, at least not now. Does this mean that I … More In Memoriam: The Workers Dreadnought Blog (13/12/2008 – 5/4/2016)
On September 11, I had written a post about the 1973 coup in Chile. At the time I had mentioned that I had not yet read Jorge Palacios’ Chile: An Attempt at a “Historic Compromise.” While writing that article I was struck by how little Palacios was mentioned in any capacity after 1984 in Maoist … More In Memoriam: Jorge Palacios (November 3, 1926 – May 5, 2014)
In the last two posts I have been trying to think through the question of what should be the Left relationship to the 2015 General Elections. In the first post (available here), I articulate what I regard to be the six possible relationships that the Left can have towards the NDP. In the second post … More On the 2015 Canadian General Elections: Should We Boycott?
In the next two posts, I want to return to the five questions that underpin the use of the boycott tactic: a) whether or not boycotting elections actually constitutes a break from bourgeois legality; b) whether or not the reforms being proposed by the New Democratic Party (NDP) are as inconsequential as suggested by boycott advocates; c) what are … More On the 2015 Canadian General Elections: Bourgeois Legality and the NDP’s Proposed Reforms
Stanley B. Ryerson’s The Founding of Canada: Beginnings to 1815 is a book that, despite its flaws, I wish I had read 15 years ago when I first became an activist in Canada. The book should be regarded as necessary reading for anyone interested in having a concrete grasp of Canadian history and how that history … More Book Review: Stanley B. Ryerson – The Founding of Canada
