Yellow Ribbons

Most Canadian intellectuals ask too many questions. They seem to love posing the kind of rhetorical query that hides a vicious truth-claim behind the innocent-looking interrogative form, flaunting a political mediocrity that masquerades as academic objectivity. Perhaps it is only the Socratic method at work. Perhaps it is a manifestation of that elusive Canadian politeness I’ve heard so much about. Or it could be an instinctual political caution that prohibits so many Canadian intellectuals from taking a firm and outspoken stand. Thankfully, A.L. McCready is not in their camp.

Born out of a 2012 dissertation at McMaster University, McCready’s newest book, Yellow Ribbons: The Militarization of National Identity in Canada, retains its objectivity while stating exactly where it stands. Yellow Ribbons charts recent changes in Canadian concepts of national selfhood, following in particular the state’s altered military role after September 11, 2001.

McCready demolishes the myth that “peacekeeping” is a major element in Canada’s foreign policy. This fiction is primarily for internal consumption anyway; it has not really been exported. As she points out, Canada actually plays a rather insignificant role in peacekeeping operations, with the bulk of UN peacekeeping roles borne by countries of the global South. McCready provides a highly instructive reading of the peacekeeping narrative as the “‘white man’s burden’ of managing global civility and creating order.” She likewise exposes the Canada-led “responsibility to protect” doctrine as permitting imperialist nations to “cloak their own interests and objectives in humanitarian rhetoric.”

Read more…

oldradio

Season 1, Episode 13
Victoria vs. Vancouver: Poverty, Gentrification and the War on Drugs

Click HERE to listen

Co-hosts: Tristan Markle and Nathan Crompton

On this episode of Mainlander Radio:

Poverty, gentrification, and the war on drugs affect the city of Vancouver, but they are also big issues in BC’s capital city Victoria. Today we’ll be talking to activists from Victoria about how these issues affect their city; they’ll also offer their perspective on Vancouver’s situation and ways that activists in BC’s two largest cities can work together. Guests: Seb Bonet (Vancouver Island Public Interest Research Group / Radical Health Alliance), Kim Hothead (Ctte to End Homelessness / co-founder of the Victoria Drug User’s Union) and Carol Romanow (Victoria AIDS Resource & Community Service Society).