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Perspectives: A Canadian Journal of Political Economy and Social Democracy
The Perspectives Journal Podcast complements the journal and opinions content of Perspectives: A Canadian Journal of Political Economy and Social Democracy, to bring out left-wing ideas and strategy in a new and ever-evolving format. The podcast features interviews with policy experts, to dig deeper into the progressive angles of the issues affecting working-class, ordinary Canadians.
Hosted by editor-in-chief, Clement Nocos, the Perspectives Journal Podcast aims to bring forward timely analysis on issues from the multiple crises of the economy, cost-of-living and the environment, to the labour movement, as well as the state of Canadian democracy. The wide reaching breadth of this show aims to help inform policymakers and the public about approaches to today’s pressing problems that are rooted in Ed Broadbent’s Principles for Canadian Social Democracy.
Perspectives Journal also produces and features shows hosted by the Broadbent Institute’s friends and affiliates, providing a progressive platform for limited and irregular conversations that are still necessary to enliven Canada’s political discourse. The Perspectives Journal Podcast is a proud members of the Harbinger Media Network, Canada’s progressive podcast community.
Activists Make History
Activists Make History with Peggy Nash is a new podcast series from Perspectives Journal that finds the political underdogs and asks how they got started, against the odds, to fight for progressive change. Policymakers, activists and experts from underrepresented communities and backgrounds, that are typically pushed to the margins of Canadian political life, are front and centre in conversation with Peggy Nash, who has been a union activist, a feminist advocate, and a Member of Parliament in Canada’s House of Commons for nearly a decade.
Reflecting on these experiences as a political outsider, and in conversation with other like-minded outsiders that take our struggles into the halls of power, Activists Make History aims to show how we can win a better world through elected office. Activists Make History is only made possible by the generous contribution of Unifor.
Perspectives: A Canadian Journal of Political Economy and Social Democracy
Social Democrats of the North - Phillips Thompson: Labor Reform Songster
The prolific satirist-turned-labour-leader penned the first full account of working-class struggles in 19th century Canada.
Shortly after Confederation, Canadian cities were teeming with impoverished workers and rapid industrialization. While socialist movements were taking shape across Europe, Phillips Thompson became a leading voice for Canadian labour in Southwestern Ontario. Writing sharp political satire under the pen name “Jimuel Briggs,” Thompson gained recognition as one of Canada’s earliest labour journalists, and a spokesperson for the Knights of Labor, North America’s largest labour organization of the late 19th century.
His 1887 book The Politics of Labor was one of the first to critique the development of Canada’s political economy, and he used his sartorial skills to write The Labor Reform Songster; a collection of working-class marching songs for the militant movement. For the Social Democrats of the North theme music, the tune of US folk song “John Brown’s Body” is used in variation as the tune to the Phillips Thompson’s Labor Reform Songster melody “The March of the Workers.”
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Social Democrats of the North: Canadian Visions for Justice & Equality from Confederation to the Quiet Revolution is a new podcast series from Perspectives Journal by Broadbent Research Fellow and Editorial Committee Member Dave McGrane.
Dave McGrane, Professor of Political Science at St. Thomas More College at the University of Saskatchewan, explores the life, times, and ideas of Canada’s most influential social democrats. From Confederation at 1867, to the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, discover the people who shaped social democracy in Canada, the movements that fought for the working-class, and the legacies they’ve left for the wellbeing of all Canadians. There are lessons for activists, and forgotten struggles that apply to today’s wins. After all, the best teacher for a better world tomorrow, is the past.
Social Democrats of the North is a Perspectives Journal Podcast Series, published by the Broadbent Institute.
Host & Episode Research – Dave McGrane
Producer – Clement Nocos
Production Assistant – Jack McClelland
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Theme music note
The tune of US folk song “John Brown’s Body” is used extensively for militant labour movements and group marching, referencing US abolitionist John Brown. The tune has evolved into a number of variations, including ‘The March of the Workers’ in the Labor Reform Songster (1892) by Ontario labour leader Phillips Thompson (Social Democrats of the North Episode 2).
Battle Hymn of the Republic medley by Marisa Anderson is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
