If you're having trouble viewing this message, open it in a browser window.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter
March 26, 2015
This Week: Agriculture, Ecology, Sustainability and Resistance
This week we're featuring a
number of items related to sustainability, ecology, and agriculture,
including Vandana Shiva's article “Small is the New Big,” the Council of
Canadians' new report on water issues, “Blue Betrayal,” the film “The
Future of Food,” the Independent Science News website, which focuses on
the science of food and agriculture, and the memoir “Journey of an
Unrepentant Socialist” by Brewster Kneen, a former farmer and long-time
critic of corporate agriculture.
We've delved into the archives
to recall the history of the Diggers, who on April 1, 1649 began to dig
up ground outside London to assert, both practically and symbolically,
that “The earth should be a common treasury of livelihood to whole
mankind, without respect of persons”.
Seeds of Fire for March 26
recalls the birth of the Chipko movement in India in 1974, when a group
of rural women, the original “tree-huggers”, surrounded and held onto
their trees to prevent them from being cut down by a lumber company.
Speaking of sustainability,
Connexions marks its 40th anniversary in 2015, making it something of a
model of sustainable activism in its own right. All the materials on our
website and in our library are renewable resources: any number of
people can share them (several thousand visitors a day do.) However,
money to pay the rent and ongoing expenses are always scarce, even for
an all-volunteer projects like Connexions. If you’d like to help
Connexions' work with a one-time or regular monthly donation, please
visit the Donate page.
Please share this newsletter with your friends. You can forward this email, or share this link.To subscribe to the email version, sign up here.
|
|
Bill C-51: A Legal Primer
Two lawyers examine the Canadian
government’s so-called “anti-terrorism” legislation, showing that it
lays the groundwork for criminalizing free speech and activism. The
legislation allows police to arrest anyone whom they suspect might engage in criminal activity at some point in the future. Read More
Keywords: National Security - Police State
|
|
|
Blue Betrayal
Examining Canadian governments’
record on freshwater protection. This new report from the Council of
Canadians shows that successive federal Liberal and Conservative
governments have bought into the myth of water abundance and have
allowed serious deterioration of our lakes, rivers and groundwater. Read More
Keywords: Freshwater - Water/Environmental Issues
|
|
|
Occupy Amazonia? Indigenous activists are taking direct action - and it’s working
The indigenous peoples of the
Amazon are employing the tactics of occupying land and facilities to
fight against oil companies, gold miners and illegal loggers, writes
Marc Brightman. Their methods are home-grown: lacking the protection of
the state, they have always had to fight their own battles. But recent
campaign successes owe much to outside support. We must maintain, and
strengthen, our solidarity. Read More
Keywords: Amazon - Indigenous Peoples and Mining
|
|
|
Small is the New Big
Vandana Shiva reminds us that the very future of food security lies in protecting and promoting small farmers. Read More
Keywords: Industrial Agriculture - Seeds
|
|
|
It’s NATO that's empire-building, not Putin
It’s time to set aside the ideological preconceptions and look at who is aggressively expanding in Europe. Read More
Keywords: NATO - Russia
|
|
|
Why I'm Saying Goodbye to Apple, Google and Microsoft
Why am I typing this on a laptop
running GNU/Linux, the free software operating system, not an Apple or
Windows machine? And why are my phones and tablets running a
privacy-enhanced offshoot of Android called Cyanogenmod, not Apple’s iOS
or standard Android? Read More
Keywords: Internet Privacy - Open Source Software
|
|
|
The revolutionary roots of women’s suffrage: Finland 1906
In 1906, Finland became the
world’s first country to grant full female suffrage. This watershed
achievement for women was won by Finnish socialists during the
revolutionary upheaval that swept the Czarist empire to which Finland
belonged. Yet this important history has been overlooked by both
academics and activists. Full suffrage was won through a mass general
strike and anti-imperial insurgency in Finland, combined with a
revolution across the empire. Female socialists led the fight for
women’s suffrage, while the mainstream women’s organizations supported
wealth qualifications for the vote until the end of 1905. Contrary to
the common claim that Marxism ignores issues of women’s oppression,
Finnish socialists simultaneously fought gender, national and class
domination, decades before the emergence of theorizations of
“intersectionality”. Reclaiming this lost history, says Eric Blanc, is
long overdue. Read the article here
Keywords: Marxism and Feminism - Voting Rights (Suffrage)
|
|
|
From the Archives
On April 1, 1649,
a group of labourers gathered on George’s Hill just outside London and
began to dig up the earth. The group, known as “True Levellers” or “Diggers”,
set out to plant crops to assert, both practically and symbolically,
common ownership of common land. Digger Gerrard Winstanley says “The
earth should be a common treasury of livelihood to whole mankind,
without respect of persons”.
Landowners
and the state, alarmed at this menacing threat to the sacred principle
of private property, responded with raids and armed violence, and by
1650 the colony was destroyed.
The Diggers stated their vision in The True Levellers Standard Advanced:
“The work we are going about is this, To dig up Georges Hill and the
waste Ground thereabouts, and to Sow Corn, and to eat our bread together
by the sweat of our brows. And the First Reason is this, That we may
work in righteousness, and lay the Foundation of making the Earth a
Common Treasury for All, both Rich and Poor, That every one that is born
in the Land, may be fed by the Earth his Mother that brought him forth,
according to the Reason that rules in the Creation. Not Inclosing any
part into any particular hand, but all as one man, working together, and
feeding together as Sons of one Father, members of one Family; not one
Lording over another, but all looking upon each other, as equals in the
Creation.”
Keywords:Common Ownership - Diggers - Rural Living
|
|
|
The model
of industrial agriculture that has emerged over the past several decades
is starkly at odds with our need for an agricultural system that is
sustainable in the long run. Industrial agriculture is modelled on the
extractive industries, whose approach is to maximize short-term profits
by depleting non-renewable resources and moving on. Sustainable farming,
on the other hand, depends on a network of relationships between
farmers, the land, the soil, the water, the community, and the wider
society. The Connexions Library has a wide selection of articles, books,
films, and other information on Agriculture and Ecology.
|
|
|
A website
whose goal is to call attention to defects in science and in the science
media and to remedy them as far as possible. The primary focus of the
site is the food and agriculture system, and how science related to food
and agriculture is shaped, reported, and misrepresented. Articles are
typically in-depth and well-researched. www.independentsciencenews.org
Keywords: Agricultural Business/Agribusiness - Science
|
|
|
Author
Brewster Kneen describes this as his “political theological
autobiography.” The book is a personal life-story with a focus on the
1950s and ‘60s, coming from someone who was active in the peace and
social justice movements in the USA and Canada over the past 5 decades
or so. It starts with an inside story of the New Left and the peace and
Civil Rights movements in North America, and the Christian Peace
Conference, and continues with Kneen’s life as a farmer and writer in
Canada.
Note: The
Toronto launch of Journey of an Unrepentant Socialist takes places on
March 27 at 7:00 pm. at Trinity-St. Paul’s Church, 427 Bloor Street West
Keywords: Left History - Pacifism
|
|
|
A
documentary which explores the radical changes in our diet and our food
in the last half century. The film investigates the patented genetically
engineered foods which have been increasingly monopolizing the food and
agricultural industry and explores the negative impacts on farmers and
the challenges they face with this new technology as well as the health
implications of genetically engineered food. The documentary also
presents alternatives to large scale industrial agriculture, such as
organic farming.
More Information
Keywords: Agrifood - Genetically Engineered Foods
|
Your support is needed to keep Connexions going
Most of the
work of the Connexions project is done by volunteers, but our expenses
include rent, phone and computer costs and technical support, as well as
expenses related to our ongoing project of converting printed archival
materials into digital formats. You can make a one time or regular
monthly contribution through the donate page on the Connexions website.
|
Bequests
Many of us have made working for
social justice a lifetime commitment. If you are thinking about leaving a
legacy for social justice that will live on, you might want to consider
leaving a bequest to Connexions in your will. If you'd like to discuss
this option, please contact us: Connexions Archive and Library, 812A
Bloor Street West, Suite 201, Toronto, 416-964-5735.
|
March 27, 2015
Labour Pains, Capital Gains
Toronto, Canada
March 27, 2015
Journey of an Unrepentant Socialist -- Toronto, Canada
March 28, 2015
Gideon Levy: Israeli Elections: What next for Israel-Palestine? ------------------------------------------Victoria, British Columbia
The Connexions Calendar is an online calendar that exists to
advertise events that support social justice, democracy, human rights,
ecology, and other causes. We invite you to use it to promote your
events. Adding events to the Connexions Calendar is FREE. We’ll give you
a username and password which you use to log on. Use the contact form to arrange for a username and password.
Read more →
|
March 26, 1974
The Chipko movement
is born - A group of peasant women in Reni Village in the state of
Uttarakhand, India, surround and hold on to trees in their forest to
prevent them from being cut down by a lumber company given cutting
rights by the government. The confrontation grows out of growing
resistance to the commercial logging that is destroying the traditional
forests that local people rely on for their livelihoods. When news of
the success of the tactic reaches other villages, a movement of
resistance to commercial logging quickly spreads, leading to hundreds of
grassroots actions.
March 26, 2003
More than one million people demonstrate in Spain against the Spanish government’s support of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
March 27, 1848
About 1500 Icarians,
members of a French Utopian movement founded by Etienne Cabet, land in
New Orleans intending to start a communal settlement in the United
States
Read more →
|
Trying to change the world? We can help.
Getting your story across can be an uphill battle when your group is challenging the status quo. Our partner organization SOURCES can help you get your message out. As a SOURCES
member, you have an array of media relation tools at your disposal to
promote your events, books, articles, videos, etc. as well as tools to
get you in contact with those who can help you achieve your goals. The SOURCES news release
service is especially valuable for groups wants to inform the media
(and the public) about their issues. For more information about Sources please click this link.
|
|
Follow us on twitter to stay up to date with company news and other information.
|
|
Like us on Facebook to keep up with our news, updates and other discussions.
|
|
|
Copyright
Connexions 2015. Contents are licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution Non-Commercial License. This means you are welcome to share
and republish the contents of this newsletter as long as you credit
Connexions, and as long as you don’t charge for the content.
Other Voices: The Connexions Newsletter, is available online here
Thanks to Ulli Diemer for his work on this newsletter.
Connexions
812A Bloor Street West, Suite 201
Toronto ON M6G 1L9 Canada
Phone: 416-964-5735
www.connexions.org
Enjoy this issue of Other Voices? Want to share with friends and family? Then we encourage you to share this link. All issues of OtherVoices are available on the Connexions website at /Media/CxNewsletter.htm
If you don’t want to receive emails from us anymore, click here to unsubscribe.
|
|
