Upping the Anti Roundup

Upping the Anti, according to its website, "is a radical journal of theory and action which provides a space to address and discuss unresolved questions and dynamics within the anti-capitalist, anti-oppression, and anti-imperialist politics of today’s radical left in Canada." It is produced largely by a hardworking volunteer editorial collective based in Toronto, but there is a larger group of us from across Canada (and a few in the United Kingdom and the United States) who provide input, advice, opinions, and occasionally labour to support the process. There are a bunch of things related to the journal that I want to share, and I am going to do it all in one post.

Issue #7 Released!
The seventh issue of the journal was officially released at an event in Toronto on October 18. We have not yet made a decision about a launch event here in Sudbury, but I will be sure to post the details if we have one. The contents are for the most part top notch. There are interviews, all excellent, with Cree environmental justice organizer Clayton Thomas-Muller about his work with indigenous communities in northern Turtle Island, Kara Gillies about her years organizing sex workers, and Chris Harris about his revolutionary gang peace organizing in Toronto's Black communities and his work with the Black Action Defense Committee. I was very grateful for the three excellent pieces on Palestinian solidarity organizing (one roundtable and two articles) and Tom Keefer contributed another insightful article on the political value of direct action in land struggles currently being waged by the Six Nations of the Grand River. The issue's other roundtable, which focuses on migrant labour issues, didn't feel quite as solid but still covers some very important ground. The four book reviews were a bit of a mixed bag -- to be completely simplistic, I'd give thumbs up to two of them and thumbs down to the other two. And, as has become traditional, I'm not a huge fan of the editorial. I may engage in a more substantive way with the editorial in a future post, if I find the time.

The bottom line, though, is that this issue continues the journal's tradition of extremely solid in-depth content that is by, about, and for the radical left in Canada (and, in a more limited way, North America more broadly). To subscribe, go here.

Seeking New Editors and Advisory Board Members
The editorial collective is looking to bring new people into the project on both bodies. Editors pretty much have to be in Toronto and pretty much have to be ready, willing, and able to take on significant amounts of work, at least at certain points during the year. Advisors can be from anywhere, though as I say most of us live within the territory claimed by the Canadian state, and the scope for contributing to the project in that role is more limited and more flexible. If you think you might be interested, check out this post for details.

Callout for Issue #8
This does not seem to be on the website so I can't post a link to it, but they are looking for proposals for issue eight, which will be released in April 2009. Submit a pitch and a short writing sample by November 17, 2008. Check out the the Writer's Guide and Style Guide linked from the right hand column of UTA site.

The editors say,

Although we will consider all pitches, we are especially interested in stories about the current economic crisis, contemporary labour organizing, feminism and women's struggles, dis/ability, international solidarity work, mobilization strategies, marxism and anarchism in the 21st Century, activist interventions in art and culture, and struggles around questions of sex and sexuality.