This section will act as a space for the library to announce the addition of new books, zines, and media to our collection, detail upcoming workshops and other events related to the library, and to post reviews of books and zines in our collection.
2018 New Library Resources
Our Radical Resource library has some great new additions! Here are some samplings of the new books, journals and zines that are now available for folks to access:
Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement, by Angela Y. Davis
From the publisher: “In these newly collected essays, interviews, and speeches, world-renowned activist and scholar Angela Y. Davis illuminated the connections between struggles against state violence and oppression throughout history and around the world. Reflecting on the importance of Black feminism, intersectionality, and prison abolitionism for today’s struggles, Davis discusses the legacies of previous liberation struggles— from the Black freedom movement to the South African antiapartheid movement. She highlights connections and analyzes today’s struggles against state terror, from Ferguson to Palestine. Facing a world of outrageous injustice, Davis challenges us to imagine and build the movement for human liberation. And in doing so, she reminds us that “freedom is a constant struggle.”
Policing Indigenous Movements: Dissent and the Security State, by Andrew Crosby and Jeffrey Monaghan
From the Publisher: “In recent years, Indigenous peoples have lead a number of high profile movements fighting for social and environmental justice in Canada. From land struggles to struggles against resource extraction, pipeline development and fracking, land and water defenders have created a national discussion about these issues and successfully slowed the rate of resource extraction. Policing Indigenous Movements uses the Access to Information Act to interrogate how policing and other security agencies have been monitoring, cataloguing and working to silence Indigenous land defenders and other opponents of extractive capitalism. Through an examination of four prominent movements — the long-standing conflict involving the Algonquins of Barriere Lake, the struggle against the Northern Gateway Pipeline, the Idle No More movement and the anti-fracking protests surrounding the Elsipogtog First Nation — the book vividly demonstrates that it is the norms of settler colonialism that allow these movements to be classified as national security threats and the growing network of policing, governmental, and private agencies that comprise the security state.”
Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City, by Tanya Talaga
Award winning investigative journalist Tanya Talaga into the history of the small northern city of Thunder Bay, Ontario which has come to manifest Canada’s long history of mistreatment and struggle with human rights violations against Indigenous communities. Tanya Talaga delves into the lives of seven Indigenous students who died while attending high school in Thunder Bay. With a narrative voice, Talaga binds these tragedies into a compelling tapestry also focussing on the ambivalent response from police and government. This book exposes the injustices Indigenous communities face every day. Seven Fallen Feathers makes the reader reflect on the lives lost and the families thrust into a world of inequality.
The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Rico Takes on the Disaster Capitalists, by Naomi Klein
From the publisher: “We are in a fight for our lives. Hurricanes Irma and María unmasked the colonialism we face in Puerto Rico, and the inequality it fosters, creating a fierce humanitarian crisis. Now we must find a path forward to equality and sustainability, a path driven by communities, not investors. And this book explains, with careful and unbiased reporting, only the efforts of our community activists can answer the paramount question: What type of society do we want to become and who is Puerto Rico for?” —Carmen Yulín Cruz, Mayor of San Juan
Taking the Rap: Women Doing the Time for Society’s Crimes, by Ann Hansen
From the publisher: “When Ann Hansen was arrested in 1983 along with the four other members of the radical anarchist group known as the Squamish Five, her long-time commitment to prison abolition suddenly became much more personal. Now, she could see firsthand the brutal effects of imprisonment on real women’s lives. During more than thirty years in prison and on parole, the bonds and experiences Hansen shared with other imprisoned women only strengthened her resolve to fight the prison industrial complex. In Taking the Rap, she shares gripping stories of women caught in a system that treats them as disposable-poor women, racialized women, and Indigenous women, whose stories are both heartbreaking and enraging. Often serving time for minor offences due to mental health issues, abuse, and poverty, women prisoners are offered up as scapegoats by a society keen to find someone to punish for the problems we all have created.”
There’s Something in the Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous and Black Communities, by Ingrid R. G. Waldron
From the publisher: “In “There’s Something In The Water”, Ingrid R. G. Waldron examines the legacy of environmental racism and its health impacts in Indigenous and Black communities in Canada, using Nova Scotia as a case study, and the grassroots resistance activities by Indigenous and Black communities against the pollution and poisoning of their communities.Using settler colonialism as the overarching theory, Waldron unpacks how environmental racism operates as a mechanism of erasure enabled by the intersecting dynamics of white supremacy, power, state-sanctioned racial violence, neoliberalism and racial capitalism in white settler societies.”
A Screw Fell to the Ground: Selected Poems by Xu Lizhi
From the publisher: “In September, 2014 Xu Lizhi threw himself from a Foxconn workers’ dormitory building in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen. At 24 years-old, a migrant worker and poet; Lizhi’s Poetry paints a bleak snapshot of working life in China today.”
2016 Summer Review of Library Resources
In 2016, the Library reviewed its existing resources–including which previous acquisitions were misfiled, not integrated into our/UofG’s library system, and so forth. As well, moving items like journals from our periodical section to our main library will increase the resources that students can borrow greatly. Here are some samples of items brought into the main library system:
Quicksilver and Slow Death by OPIRG Mercury Research Team. OPIRG, 1976
Developed from research done by the Mercury Team and researchers from Minimata, Japan, this report is an informative and accessible look at the Dryden Chemical Mercury Spill in the English-Wabigoon and its impacts on Grassy Narrows and White Dog First Nations. Original Abstract: “The plight of the victims of mercury pollution has come into the foreground in recent years. Whether they live in Minimata, Japan or on the Grassy Narrows Indian Reserve in Northern Ontario, the symptoms are the same – birth defects, loss of coordination, and psychological disorders. This comprehensive paper describes the causes and effects of mercury pollution; it further reports the response to this issue on the part of the government as well the Indians who are struggling to restore a sense of justice and normalcy to their lives. A generous use of photos and graphic illustrations contribute to the report’s effectiveness. The National Indian Brotherhood [Assembly of First Nations], The Quaker Committee for Native Concerns and Grand Council Treaty No. 3 and 9 assisted OPIRG in producing this report.”
Le Fond De L’air Est Rouge by Stefan Christoff. Howl Arts Collective, 2012
Our first zine in the Library system! “Le fond de l’air est rouge is a collection of texts about the 2012 Quebec student uprising by Montreal artist and activist Stefan Christoff. Written between spring 2011 and summer 2012, this series of articles includes first hand accounts of the incredible street protests in Montreal and reflections on the student strike within the context of Quebec revolutionary history. Published by the Howl! arts collective, this zine brings movement-based reporting originally published online into a physical format. The goal of this zine is to create a piece of cultural documentation on a key moment in Quebec popular history.”
Students for a Democratic Society: A Graphic History by Harvey Pekar, 2008
Our first graphic novel! “In 1962 at a United Auto Workers’ camp in Michigan, Students for a Democratic Society held its historic convention and prepared the famous Port Huron Statement, drafted by Tom Hayden. This statement, criticizing the U.S. government’s failure to pursue international peace or address domestic inequality, became the organization’s manifesto. Its last convention was held in 1969 in Chicago, where, collapsing under the weight of its notoriety and popularity, it shattered into myriad factions. Through brilliant art and they were-there dialogue, famed graphic novelist Harvey Pekar, gifted artist Gary Dumm, and renowned historian Paul Buhle illustrate the tumultuous decade that first defined and then was defined by the men and women who gathered under the SDS banner. Students for a Democratic Society: A Graphic History captures the idealism and activism that drove a generation of young Americans to believe that even one person’s actions can help transform the world.”
Tiger Lily: Journal by Women of Colour (Issues 6 and 15) edited by Ann Wallace
This foundational journal, which ran from 1987 to 1993, was one of the first in Canada to be published by and centering the voices of women of colour in the academic and general space.
Upping the Anti: A Journal of Theory and Action (Issues 1-3, 5-10, 13, 15, 16) by UTA Publications
“UPPING THE ANTI: A JOURNAL OF THEORY AND ACTION is a radical journal published twice a year by a pan-Canadian collective of activists and organizers. We are dedicated to publishing grassroots, radical theory and analysis about struggles against capitalism, imperialism, and all forms of oppression.
UPPING THE ANTI believes that praxis – the dialectical combination of theory and practice – is integral to the building of strong revolutionary movements. We work with activists and thinkers in these movements to distill the lessons learned from struggle. We prioritize reflection which leads to political clarification, summation, and synthesis.”
2012 Major Acquisitions
In 2012 the library saw a flood of new acquisitions due to a generous donation of materials from the Guelph International Resource Centre. Here’s just a small sampling of books from that acquisition project:
Direct Action: An Ethnography by David Graeber. AK Press, 2009.
From the publisher: “The case study at the center of Direct Action is the organizing and events that led to the dramatic protest against the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in 2001. Written in a clear, accessible style (with a minimum of academic jargon), this study brings readers behind the scenes of a movement that has changed the terms of debate about world power relations.”
What Would It Mean To Win? by Collective Turbulence. PM Press, 2010.
From the publisher: “Movements get blocked, they slow down, they cease to move, or continue to move without considering their actual effects. When this happens, they can stifle new developments, suppress the emergence of new forms of politics; or fail to see other possible directions. Many movements just stop functioning as movements. They become those strange political groups of yesteryear, arguing about history as worlds pass by. Sometimes all it takes to get moving again is a nudge in a new direction… We think now is a good time to ask the question: What is winning? Or: What would – or could – it mean to ‘win’?”
Full Disclosure: The Perils and Promise of Transparency by Archon Fung, Mary Graham, and David Weil. Cambridge University Press, 2007.
From the publisher: “Full Disclosure is based on a comparative analysis of 18 major policies, and is the first comprehensive look at why some transparency policies succeed while others fail. The authors found that the policies intended to protect the public are frequently ineffective or counterproductive and argue that in order to be successful, transparency policies must be accurate and help ordinary citizens make safe and informed choices.”
In all, over three hundred new titles were added to our library in subjects from sustainable urban gardening to the history of the Sandinista movement.