Magazine

March/April 2009: The Great Recession

Volume 43, Number 2

Do you recognize this man? His balding head, piercing blue eyes and knowing grin? If not, start paying attention because his economic theories have come back from the grave to guide the future of our dismal economic system. The man is Keynes, John Maynard Keynes and his theories once dominated economic discourse. Deregulation, privatization and free trade buried him, but when the financial giants fell Keynes was chic once again.

The murderous assault on Gaza, the fiftieth anniversary of the Cuban revolution, and the worsening economic situation demanded critical and insightful commentary from our editorial team. We convinced them to put together three remarkable and powerful editorials: Gaza: Defiant City; Cuba Si! and The Great Recession.

What is the role of art in social movements? This was the question put to a panel of four photographers who have each played a significant role in documenting social movements from Montreal to Lebanon. The Activist Lens offers a snapshot of the raw and visceral, the powerful and emotional in sites of political and social struggle.

Media, Art and politics collide in the new column by journalist and activist Chris Webb, Media as Insurgent Art. Websites, blogs, video, music, painting, film, comics, zines, street-art, and mash-ups are all spaces for new forms of resistance. Media As Insurgent Art explores the uses of media in the pursuit of justice, freedom and critical engagement with social issues.

What’s left? Well, we’ve got former CKLN News Director Kristin Schwartz on the coup at Ryerson’s campus station and the suppression of critical programming, and you’ll want to read Peter Kulchyski’s scathing review of Disrobing the Aboriginal Industry: The Deception Behind Indigenous Cultural Preservation. Ouch!

• Regulars

• The Corvin Russell Pargraph
  Corvin Russell
• Cuba Si!
  Editorial
• The Great Recession
  Editorial
• Gaza: Defiant City
  Editorial
• Feminist Ramblings
  Bernadette Wagner
• Québec Communiqué
  Pierre Dostie
• One Native Life
  Richard Wagamese
• Around The Left In 60 Days

• Opening Arguments

• Remembering Jim Littleton
  Leo Panitch
• Happy Birthday Prairie Lilies! Celebrating a Proud Year for Saskatchewan’s Women’s Groups
  Bernadette Wagner
• Making a Killing on War: Notorius Military Trade Show Headed for Our Nation’s Capital
  Richard Sanders
• Not Invited to the Party: Canada’s Reputation Blackened by Complicity With U.S. Bullying
  Yves Engler
• The Activist Lens: A Roundtable on the Role of Photography in Social Movements
  Tatiana Gomez
• Radical Treaty Ideas Challenge First Nations
  Tyler McCreary

• Feature

• The Return of Mr. Keynes
  Cy Gonick

• All That’s Left

• Media As Insurgent Art
  Chris Webb
• VultureCulture
  Ed Janzen
• Ryerson’s Radio Coup: The Struggle to Take Back CKLN 88.1 FM
  Kristin Schwartz
• Taking on the Tar Sands
  Petr Cizek
• The Emperor’s Old Clothes
  Peter Kulchyski