History. Published 25 years ago, this is an early book by a prominent historian of US social movements. Examines everyday resistance and/or cultural politics and their interface with more formal social movements in a number of African American contexts across the 20th century, from everyday struggles on public transit in Birmingham under Jim Crow, to …
Memoir. Short. Focused on the body. Thoughtful and theoretical and nonlinear and lyrical, a la Maggie Nelson (who also happened to blurb it). Ran across it while I was investigating another book and justified picking it up with the idea that it might be vaguely relevant to some work that I’m doing. It’s not, sadly, …
Thank you to Lisa and Sakura of the Halifax Workers’ Action Centre for the interview just now! Listen to us talk about the centre’s work to support marginalized workers and to organize for change later in October on Talking Radical Radio. Originally posted to Scott’s author page on Facebook.
Karen Cocq is a long-time grassroots organizer who has recently been doing popular education and communications work with the Migrant Rights Network, a cross-Canada alliance of migrant worker, refugee, and immigrant organizations devoted to fighting against racism and for migrant justice. Scott Neigh interviews her about racism and xenophobia in Canada, both in general and …
Silkpunk. Short. A land of elemental magic, twin children born to a cruel empress and given to a monastery, and an uprising in which the intertwining of magic and new technologies is becoming ever more destructive. Really like the world building, and the writing is effective, but the story felt like it wasn’t enough. On …
A short, thoughtful, and somewhat meandering book about the politics of memory and legacy and, specifically, archives. The author was part of the New Left in the UK – he went by “Dr. John” in those years and was a central figure in the London Street Commune – and went on to become “a cultural …
Maia Wikler lives in Vancouver and works as the Digital Communications Coordinator for Raven Trust, an organization whose mission is to fundraise to support First Nations in legal battles. Scott Neigh interviews her about the Pull Together campaign, a collaboration between Raven and the Sierra Club BC to raise money for the litigation by First …
Sci-fi. Two agents on opposing sides of a time war, skipping up and down different versions of history and covertly intervening, trying to ensure that their side wins the future. Except, this is not the sort of massive, ponderous tome that would result from trying (and inevitably failing) to capture that whole massive story in …
Thank-you to Karen from the Migrant Rights Network for the interview just now for Talking Radical Radio! In a couple of weeks, you can tune in to hear us talk about the network’s efforts to fight racism and xenophobia in general and in the context of the federal election. Originally posted to Scott’s author page on Facebook.
Literary fiction. The story of a young man buffeted by the winds of the social world into not-belonging of many different forms, and then navigating that towards a clearer sense of self. Woven together with a storyline drawn from Hindu mythology and with black/green/grey illustrations. Simple, lyrical, and emotionally compelling. Originally posted by Scott on Goodreads.