BOOK LAUNCH: LEFT, RIGHT – MARCHING TO THE BEAT OF IMPERIAL CANADA

YVES ENGLER

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 6:00PM–8:00PM, ROOM 7000, SFU HARBOUR CENTRE

Sponsored by SFU's Institute for the Humanities

Left, Right – Marching to the Beat of Imperial Canada will make some on the ‘left’ mad! It details the left’s failures over many decades to confront Canada’s support of empire and promotion of corporate interests abroad: the social democratic NDP has backed unjust wars; Canadian unions supported the creation of NATO, Korean War, assassination of Patrice Lumumba, Bay of Pigs invasion and coup in Haiti; left commentators concede too much to the dominant ideology, whether it’s Stephen Lewis praising Canada’s role in Africa, Linda McQuaig turning Lester Pearson into an anti-US peacenik or many others mindlessly demanding more so-called peacekeeping.Why? Left nationalist ideology, both Canadian and Quebecois, has warped foreign policy discussion; viewing their country as a semi-colony struggling for independence has blinded progressives to our long history of supporting imperialism. But the book is not just critical — it also offers solutions to help create a just foreign policy.

SPEAKER

Dubbed “Canada’s version of Noam Chomsky” (Georgia Straight), “one of the most important voices on the Canadian Left” (Briarpatch), “in the mould of I. F. Stone” (Globe and Mail), “part of that rare but growing group of social critics unafraid to confront Canada’s self-satisfied myths” (Quill & Quire), “ever-insightful” (Rabble), “Chomsky-styled iconoclast” (Counterpunch) and a “Leftist gadfly” (Ottawa Citizen), Yves Engler (yvesengler.com) has ten published books.

https://www.facebook.com/events/562967147452951/

http://www.sfu.ca/humanities-institute/public-events/public-events/2018/leftright.html