The Canadian Dimension of 2013, is, in many ways, the same as the Canadian Dimension of 1963 — an alternative mirror of our life and times, a sharp stick in the eye of authority, a cry for justice, an attempt to illuminate the often murky way forward. But in 1963 we didn’t write about feminism, the environment, human rights, gay liberation, and the connection between the politics we espouse and the way we live our lives. Leftish thinking, and socialism for that matter, hadn’t considered these issues, much less understood their importance.

Dimension’s evolution reflected a growing awareness that political consciousness, how people become involved in political action, is very complex and stems from a variety of experiences. Perception of racial or sexual oppression, their awareness of the degradation of nature, or of military or cultural domination of the weak by the powerful — any of these may be as key a politicizing factor as their class exploitation.