Keeping the Peace: Social Justice Unionism in a Canadian Context

Abstract

In this paper I argue that the liberal white fantasy of civility , held deeply by many Canadians is precisely the condition that works against the possibility of anti-racist activism within the context of our organizations. I do this in the spirit of supporting meaningful anti-racist activism on the part of Canadian teachers’ unions—a goal that I believe cannot be achieved until we face up to our complicity in educational racism. My argument is based on an analysis—through a combined conceptual lens focusing on race, nationalism and knowledge production—of four keynote addresses given at an event I attended in the spring of 2007 sponsored by a Canadian teachers’ organization.

Keywords

• teacher unions
• teacher activism
• anti-racism