Thomas Ponniah

'The Struggle for Democracy' offers framework for assessing democratic change

rabble staff — Wed, 06 Apr 2016 12:52:52 +0000

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

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From the Arab Spring to the Zapatista uprising, our era of globalization has been characterized by democratic rebellion. A new book asks how to define genuine democratic transformation.

The World Social Forum: Building alternative forms of globalization

rabble staff — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 18:25:23 +0000

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

The greatest progressive innovation of our century -- to this point -- has been the World Social Forum (WSF). In the book Another World is Possible: popular alternatives to globalization at the World Social Forum, William Fisher and I first contended that the World Social Forum represented the beginning of building a new left and a new global civilization, grounded by a desire for participatory, radical democracy.

The World Social Forum represents the development of a new left and a new global civilization, grounded by a desire for participatory, radical democracy.

Join Olivia Chow, Judy Rebick and Shirley Douglas at the Tommy Douglas Institute conference

rabble staff — Thu, 22 May 2014 02:26:44 +0000

The Tommy Douglas Institute's May 22 conference will ask: What is the role of post-secondary education in promoting democracy and citizenship in our era?

On May 22: Judy Rebick, Shirley Douglas, Olivia Chow

rabble staff — Fri, 16 May 2014 16:10:00 +0000

Friday, May 16, 2014

On May 22, three great Canadian progressives, rabble.ca co-founder Judy Rebick, the actress and activist Shirley Douglas, and mayoral candidate Olivia Chow will be speaking at the Tommy Douglas Institute's conference "Critical Pedagogy and the Citizen-Student" at George Brown College in downtown Toronto.

The Tommy Douglas Institute's May 22 conference will ask: What is the role of post-secondary education in promoting democracy and citizenship in our era?

The Tommy Douglas Institute: Igniting a commitment to social justice

rabble staff — Tue, 18 Mar 2014 15:03:21 +0000

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

"My dream is for people around the world to look up and to see Canada like a little jewel sitting at the top of the continent."

- Tommy Douglas, 1951

In a time when the Harper government is cutting funding to Canada's health-care system -- and by extension transforming the national identity -- citizens need to be re-introduced to Tommy Douglas.

Pedagogy and Global Great Thinkers

rabble staff — Tue, 18 Feb 2014 16:41:28 +0000

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

For my undergraduate degree I had the privilege of studying in a "Great Books" program at Concordia University's Liberal Arts College in Montreal. This bachelor of arts degree in "Western Society and Culture" is one of a hundred Great Books curricula in North America, Europe and Asia. The Concordia program was modelled on the Great Books movement which began at Columbia University in New York in 1921 and which now constitutes that university's Core Curriculum.

In the ideal world, every student would receive a degree in "Global Society and Culture," and enjoy the shared collective inquiry that comes with it.

Orpheus, opium and Robert Lepage

rabble staff — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 13:12:03 +0000

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

The Greek myth of Orpheus hints at the paradoxical relationship between creativity and anguish. Orpheus was the one mortal whose musical ability was as great as that of the gods. The renowned lyre player fell in love with the maiden Eurydice and the two were married. Shortly after the wedding, Eurydice was stung by a serpent and died; Orpheus, unwilling to accept her death, decided to descend into the underworld to rescue her. The gods were touched by the musician's plea and released her from Hades on the condition that he did not look at her face until the two had returned to the world of the living.

The tale of Orpheus underpins Robert Lepage's brilliant theatrical production Needles and Opium, playing in Toronto this week.

The most interesting mayor in North America

rabble staff — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 12:46:06 +0000

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

The most interesting mayor in North America is not Toronto's superego-averse Rob Ford, the conservative populist who has received much publicity from comedians across the world, but is instead the recently elected progressive populist Bill de Blasio -- the new mayor of New York City. De Blasio's campaign "One New York, Rising Together," was a refreshingly progressive one that did not emphasize crime, as did the slogans of New York's previous Republican mayors. De Blasio campaigned to support workers, teachers' unions, undocumented immigrants, welfare rights and the need for affordable housing, while criticizing the New York Police Department's unconstitutional use of stop-and-frisk tactics.

The most interesting mayor in North America is not Toronto's superego-averse Rob Ford, it is the recently elected progressive populist Bill de Blasio -- the new mayor of New York City.

Robert Redford: When all is lost

rabble staff — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 12:41:58 +0000

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

There is certainly no other actor who can command our attention -- our empathy, our loyalty, our love -- with such efficiency.

- A.O. Scott

Robert Redford's latest film "All is Lost" asks: how does a man survive when he loses all of the illusions and accoutrements that keep him afloat?

OECD Skills Outlook 2013: The skills needed for the 21st century

rabble staff — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 11:25:48 +0000

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Q. What skills are required in order to be employed and receive relatively high wages in the 21st century?

A. You mean, other than blindly furious industriousness, continuous calculation of one's self-interest, being raised by wealthy parents, and having good luck amidst the crises produced by neoliberal mismanagement of the economy?

According to the new OECD Skills Outlook 2013, key capacities for economic success in the 21st century include information-processing competencies in technology-rich environments.

Acts of gaiety, acts of assimilation

rabble staff — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 14:07:23 +0000

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Sexual liberation was a core principle of the social movements of the 1960s. The desire to emancipate desire was central to the belief that a new society and a new experience could be created. The United States' LGBTQ (lesbian/gay/bisexual/trans/queer) movements are often described as having begun with the Stonewall Revolt in Greenwich Village in New York City. The rebellion consisted of hundreds of gays resisting a police raid over the course of three days. In The Power of Identity, the sociologist Manuel Castells notes that there were 50 organizations for sexual minorities throughout the U.S.

A persuasive argument from those on the left contends that the current LGBTQ agenda -- oriented as it is by a quest for equality by assimilation -- is actually hampering the pursuit of freedom.

The trials (and triumphs) of Muhammad Ali

rabble staff — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 13:09:41 +0000

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

"I don't have to be who you want me to be."

- Muhammad Ali

There are a number of fascinating interviews between the 20th century's greatest boxer Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell, one of the most intelligent sports commentators of the era. In one conversation, Cosell asks Ali, "Who would you like to fight?" Ali replies, "I would like to fight whoever you think is the best, the number one man…" Cosell, responds with resignation and awe, telling the young man, "I am not sure that there is anyone left really for you to fight."

No athlete in the past century has captured the hearts of progressive activists, writers and commentators around the world more than Muhammad Ali.

Mariano Rivera: Baseball's Jedi Knight leaves the stage

mgregus — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 15:36:00 +0000

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Mariano Rivera understood what Steve Jobs, Lao Tzu and Bruce Lee understood: that simplicity is an art and a strength, a source of joy and beauty and power.

- Michiko Kakutani

Mariano Rivera, widely acclaimed as the greatest relief pitcher in baseball history, is retiring at the end of this season.

Pope Francis opens door to progressive action in the Catholic Church

rabble staff — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 13:12:53 +0000

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

"If the Christian is a restorationist, a legalist, if he wants everything clear and safe, then he will find nothing. Tradition and memory of the past must help us have the courage to open up new areas to God. Those who today always look for disciplinarian solutions, those who long for an exaggerated doctrinal 'security', those who stubbornly try to recover a past that no longer exists -- they have a static and inward-directed view of things."

- Pope Francis

Since his ordination in March of this year, the Pope, who is perhaps our era's most influential interpreter of the purpose of existence, has made regular headlines with inspiring symbolic decisions.

Joaquim Barbosa: Brazilian protesters' most inspiring ally

rabble staff — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 12:07:12 +0000

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

When participants in the recent Brazilian protests were polled on who would be their choice for the country's next president, a striking pick was Joaquim Barbosa, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Brazil. A recent New York Times article notes that Barbosa has acted as one of the protesters' strongest allies: he has been the key force behind recent legal decisions to preserve affirmative action, legalize same-sex marriage and courageously pursue corrupt politicians. What is all the more remarkable is that he is the court's first and only justice of African descent.

When participants in the recent Brazilian protests were polled on who would be their choice for the country's next president, a striking pick was Chief Justice Joaquim Barbosa.