STUDY GROUP: Do recent mass struggles like the January 2026 revolt in Minneapolis prove the working class can overcome the debilitating effects of decades of neoliberalism?
2026-07-12 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Toronto)
You are invited to join us for a two-part online study group organized by the Tempest Collective (Ottawa). It will take place at 7 PM Sunday, on July 12 and July 26.
In the 1980s, neoliberalism became the central ruling class strategy to reverse the gains working class people won and the movements they built during the 1960s and 1970s. Neoliberal policies were rolled out to discipline workers, raise the costs of resistance, destroy left initiatives and organizations, undermine class solidarity, decompose the working class, and reconstruct society as an aggregation of socially isolated individuals.
For decades, socialists and movement activists have fought to reverse the demoralization, atomization, fatalism, and fear that was the product of neoliberalism. The question of how to reconstitute the working class – as a group that once again exhibits the confidence, initiative, organization, and solidarity required to challenge the ruling class – has been the subject of constant debate on the left.
Three things seem vital for socialists and activists. First, we need to understand the neoliberal strategy the ruling class used in the first place. That will be the topic for the first session of this study group. Second, we need to carefully assess recent mass working-class uprisings (like Minneapolis in January) to learn what we can do to strengthen our own movements for future flash points of class struggle. That will be the second topic for this study group. The third thing is that we need to use the lessons of Minneapolis as a basis for making our own efforts more effective.
Join us for this two-part study group. To participate, send an email to socialisminthecapital@gmail.com
First session: What is neoliberalism? – July 12
• What is neoliberalism?
• How did it undermine the organizations, movements, and consciousness of the working class (broadly defined)?
Reading:
• Selections from Global Slump: The Economics and Politics of Crisis and Resistance (2011), by David McNally -> pages 25-49, 114-126, 146-152, 183-194: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://comunizar.com.ar/wp-content/uploads/David-McNally-Global-Slump-The-Economics-and-Politics-of-Crisis-and-Resistance.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwi78ZvjgY-VAxXOF1kFHdc9NLQQFnoECCMQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0FUGuw4T_H2Vmt0am40vVc
Optional:
• “Review: What was Neoliberalism,” Charles Post, RS21, 2024: https://revsoc21.uk/2024/07/19/the-nature-of-neoliberalism/
Second session: What did the Minneapolis uprising teach us? – July 26
• What happened during the January 2026 uprising in Minneapolis?
• What does it tell us about how the working class can rebuild a sense of class and community adequate to sustaining anti-capitalist struggles?
Reading: one or more of the following
• “Lessons from Minneapolis,” Tempest National Committee, Tempest Magazine: https://tempestmag.org/2026/02/lessons-from-minneapolis/
• “Socialist Strategy: Minneapolis Shows the Way,” Simon Hannah, Socialist Alternative:
Socialist Strategy: Minneapolis shows the way
• “Minneapolis: Notes on a New Chapter of Class Struggle in the United States,” Daniel Kovacs, Left Voice Magazine: https://www.leftvoice.org/minneapolis-notes-on-a-new-chapter-of-class-struggle-in-the-united-states/
• “How to Build a Real General Strike Against ICE: Minnesota Shows What’s Possible,” Eric Blanc, Labor Politics: https://www.laborpolitics.com/p/how-to-organize-a-real-general-strike
Optional:
• “Horizons for a New Left,” Michael Principe, Against the Current, 2015: https://againstthecurrent.org/atc178/p4503/
• “Beyond Electoralism; Mass Action and the Remaking of the Working Class,” David McNally and Charles Post, Spectre, 2021: https://spectrejournal.com/beyond-electoralism/
For more about the Tempest Collective, an American/Canadian socialist group, please go to our webzine page: https://tempestmag.org/

Sex, Death, and Kink
2026-07-14 19:00 - 20:30 | Online
Queer Death Salon is a virtual community space for all 2SLGBTQIA+ people to come together to discuss death, dying and grief. It is a facilitated drop-in discussion space, with the purpose of building connection, skill, and resources for 2SLGBTQIA+ people navigating end of life in our personal lives and in our communities.
Join Badly Licked Bear for a deep conversation about the ways that sex and death are woven together in fetish, kink and BDSM, seen through and with a critical eye towards the realities and illusions of the “kink escalator,” which like the “relationship escalator,” both suggests and expects illusions of “progress” as a goal, while also looking at the advantages of living and playing and loving in both the deep and the shallow ends of the pool.
Badly Licked Bear is an educator, storyteller, artist, and mutual aid worker. A former curator and college professor, she teaches, speaks, and writes at the intersections of film, culture, politics and sexuality. She also works as a voice and activist for transgender civil rights and practical, transformative sexuality in the BDSM, kink, and leather communities.

BibliFest
2026-07-17 - 2026-07-19 | Coopérative de Solidarité Biblioterre, 169 Chemin Parent, Alcove, J0X1A0
Join us for a weekend of queer (and queer-allied!) fun and fundraising for the land!! Swims, hangs, live music, dancing, workshops, hikes, LARPing. Beautiful sunsets and fireflies at night.
Check it out at www.biblioterre.ca/programming and snag your tickets now.
Youth and children under 18 are free but must be accompanied by an adult.
Transportation from the city will be organized, check our FAQ and email us for information.
This is a fundraiser for Cooperative Biblioterre – an organization for people looking to build community through shared land, mutual aid, and collective stewardship.
Cooperative Biblioterre offers a model for sharing lands, buildings, tools and resources that we refer to as a Land Library.
All funds raised will go towards supporting the co-op as we work toward our goals of building an affordable housing co-op, putting Land Back into practice, offering agricultural land opportunities to marginalized folks and protecting wildlife and wildlife habitat.
https://www.biblioterre.ca/our-pillars
PROGRAMMING
Friday evening LARPing led by Lukayo Estrella https://lukayo.com/
Saturday workshops 9:30am-5:30pm Including – Cyanotype printing, Plant Spirits 101 and more TBA!
Saturday night dance party 6pm-2am
6pm: DJ Bun Bun – queer sunny electropop
7pm: Anachnid – Nervous system reset https://anachnid.bandcamp.com/
8pm: Yolande Laroche – dance-y avant-pop https://www.orchidae.ca/
9pm: DJ Avenue – eclectic, energetic, world-wide https://soundcloud.com/carlingavenue
10:30pm: Cocoa Sly – modulations of the funk
11:30pm: Kelcium – jackin’ house, worldfusion https://www.mixcloud.com/SweetBeet/
12am: Aphotik – Deep Dubstep / Bass Music https://soundcloud.com/aphotikcw
1am: catg.irl.1 – jungle dnb trance https://www.mixcloud.com/xxcatgirl1xx/
Sunday Concert 11am-4pm Artists includePudding Chomeur – heartbreaking country harmonies https://thepuddingchomeur.bandcamp.com/ rtfct – beats & tunes produced primarily from found sounds & field recordings w/ improvised violin https://soundcloud.com/rtfct
Dupil Collective – queer Filipino folk punk and poetry https://dupilcollective.wixsite.com/dupil-collective
and more TBA!

Prisoners' Justice Day
2026-08-08 - 2026-08-10 | Dundonald Park, 516 Somerset St W
Join CPEP, The Justice for Anthony Aust Collective, Mothers Offering Mutual Support, and The Ottawa Tranformative Justice Collective on August 8th from Noon to 3:00 PM in Dundonald Park, and August 10th from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM in front of the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre to help us build up our collective capacities to resist the prison/state, and celebrate/mourn Prisoners’ Justice Day.
Dundonald Park, Saturday August 8th – Noon to 3:00pm:We will be making care packages for people who have recently been released from prison, cooking a free meal for people in the community, getting to know people in that neighbourhood, and holding a “speaker’s corner” for anyone who wants to say something about their experience in prison, celebrating/mourning PJD inside or outside, send a message to a loved one, or make a statement about the state of (so-called) Canadian prisons which will be aired on the PJD national broadcast with El Jones and Justin Piché on August 10th.***We will be collecting donations from the community for the care packages all summer. If you have something that you would like to donate to someone who has recently been released from prison please get in contact with us at pjdottawa@acab.mozmail.com or bring it to the park.***A list of useful items is at the bottom of this post.
Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre, Monday August 10th – 6:30pm to 8:00pm:We will be holding a public vigil in front of OCDC to commemorate the loss of our loved ones, friends, and comrades whose lives were taken from us while they were in prison. This is open to anyone who would like to come and mourn, share a story, speak truth to power, say whatever is on their mind, or just be with people.
Contact:pjdottawa@acab.mozmail.comhttps://www.instagram.com/ottawatransformativejustice/https://www.instagram.com/justiceforanthonyaust/https://cp-ep.org/https://www.momsottawa.com/More info about Prisoners’ Justice Day can be found here:https://cp-ep.org/prisoners-justice-day/
—Items We Are Looking For:
Hygiene & Personal CareToothbrush + toothpasteWet wipes / bath wipesHand sanitizerLip balm / ChapstickDeodorantComb or small brushFeminine hygiene products (pads, tampons, or period underwear)Small body wash / soap or no-rinse soapLotionFirst Aid & HealthBandages / Band-Aids (cloth-based preferred)Sunscreen
Clothing Essentials2–3 pairs of socks1–2 pairs of clean underwearBall CapWarm glovesDisposable rain poncho
Food & WaterBottled water (at least 1)Protein or breakfast barsDried fruit or trail mix
Practical ItemsBackpacksFlashlight + extra batteriesGift card to local grocery store or coffee shopShort encouraging note or cardList of resources, services and supports
