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Marcel N.

@marcel-nelson.bsky.social
49 followers 175 following 45 posts
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
One last thing, QS is not just a Quebec variant of the NDP. It has a distinct history much of which is imbricated with left-wing sovereignist political currents. So QS’ position on sovereignty cannot merely be cast aside, it is an essential element of its identity.
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
racism in Quebec, no doubt. The leading parties have shamed themselves in their embrace of ethno-nationalism. However, this should not preclude English Canada from examining its own racism.
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Alas, the two solitudes. On the whole I agree with you that it’s a strange argument to make based on a speculative overgeneralization regarding the ROC. That said, the ROC often does the same vs. Quebec. What’s the ROC like racism-wise once you get out of the major urban centres?There’s loads of 1/2
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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The fallacy that University leaders pushing AI are falling into is thinking that the point of undergraduate research is to find things out. It isn't. What students find out is typically already generally known. The point of undergraduate research is to learn how to find things out.
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Given that his own personal approval is in decline, he'll have a tougher time disciplining members of his caucus with even more troublesome views than his own. Not only does it look like he's falling prey to his own worst instincts, but he'll likely have more trouble managing those of others
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
This especially true when it comes to grading.
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
Can you imagine Montreal's elites agreeing to have an airport with jets plonked right in the middle of its downtown? Montreal obviously has its problems and mustn't be idealized (pylons and bridges), but there is at least some semblance of pride or amour propre among its civic and provincial leaders
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
My latest on the Avi Lewis campaign.
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Midnight Sun Magazine @midnightsunmag.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
NEW: Marcel Nelson and Nathan Rao on the possibilities and potential pitfalls of Avi Lewis’s campaign for the NDP leadership. www.midnightsunmag.ca/out-of-the-i...
midnightsunmag.ca
Out of the Impasse? The Avi Lewis Campaign and Left Strategy
Marcel Nelson and Nathan Rao on the possibilities and potential pitfalls of Avi Lewis’s campaign for the NDP leadership.
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Agreed. In the end, the more people use it, the better the chance that the initiative will continue into the future.
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
As much as I'd like to keep it to myself and the few others who seem to know about it, the Humber Valley municipal golf course has groomed cross country tracks maintained by city workers. Additionally, given its location, there is a lot less trampling on tracks by foot and paw traffic going on.
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
It certainly does not look like the Skills Development Fund corruption scandal is having any impact on their support. Who knows, maybe the scandal will get a bit more attention now that Jays playoff run has come to an end? I am not holding my breath, however.
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
In that case, I presume that there would be no problem as long as the opposition amendments did not alter the overall spirit of the law in principle. What if the amendments did, however?
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
then the other parties would be willing to pass it along after that. Besides, I might be stepping in it again given that this isn't my area of expertise, but wouldn't voting nay at cs not violate a convention given that the bill is said to have been passed in principle after the second reading. ../2
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
Not a Canadianist here, but won't the other parties be more willing to vote for the bill at committee stage given that they, from all reports, don't want election either. In other words, if the NDP takes the initial visible hit of voting for it during the second reading ...1/
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Cultiv au Canada. ¿Qué? #ONpoli
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
This one hits a bit too close too home....
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 25/08/2025
Left as in liberal or left as in socialist? I am sorry, but "left" is doing a lot of work in your post.
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Among many things, who in their right mind would willingly get into a tunnel that will likely be dug by the same companies who are reponsible for the LRT mess?
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
One of the many things that is disturbing about this is what seems to be the lowering of standards so as to meet whatever subpar thing AI generates.
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
100 pour cent!
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Et on est en pleine crise climatique! On aurait dû rénover notre réseau ferroviaire il y a longtemps. C'est précisément en observant l'état de nos transports en communs que j'ai réalisé il y a quelques années que nos différents paliers gouvernements n'allaient rien faire.
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
One would think that such a collapse might open the way to a sort of left-wing grassroots/activist renewal within the party. However, we should countenance that many within the party will point to the successes of the very moderate western provincial wings of the party (BC, MB) as the path forward
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Slowly realizing this as a Canadian disquieted me quite a bit. Notably, that his repeated threat to annex us was no longer the ravings of a crazed individual, but of a whole party willing to do his bidding. Therefore, in a way, I now feel more disturbed hearing other officials make the threat.
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Simon Kiss @sjkiss.bsky.social · 24/02/2025
Because you were wondering, @lispop.bsky.social has ginned up the closest electoral districts in 2018 and 2022 so you don't have to! These might be the ridings to watch on Thursday!! lispop.ca/nexus/swing-...
lispop.ca
Swing Ridings In Ontario – LISPOP
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Canadian Dimension @canadiandimension.bsky.social · 17/02/2025
In the absence of a movement capable of challenging the interests of finance capital, landlords, and speculative investors, the ‘fixes’ proposed by policy wonks to solve the housing crisis are nothing more than academic ideations.
canadiandimension.com
Taking housing policy solutions to their failure point
For urban planner and professor Carolyn Whitzman, the tactics that allow tenants to challenge rent increases, resist evictions, and improve their living conditions have only a marginal place in the eq...
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André Frappier @afrappier.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
www.pressegauche.org/La-montee-de...
pressegauche.org
La montée de la droite, le Canada, le Québec et la classe ouvrière - Presse-toi à gauche !
L'arrivée de Donald Trump à la présidence des États-Unis a bouleversé la situation politico-économique mondiale. Ses décisions ont un impact (…)
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
www.pressegauche.org/Repondre-a-D...
pressegauche.org
Répondre à Donald Trump par un projet démocratique populaire pour le Canada - Presse-toi à gauche !
Un appel à la gauche canadienne pour qu'elle relève le défi de construire un projet démocratique populaire viable à l'échelle nationale, La (…)
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Canadian Dimension @canadiandimension.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
A renewed popular democratic project for Canada would have to align itself with Indigenous and Québécois claims to self-determination, just as it would have to challenge Canadian imperialism abroad.
canadiandimension.com
Responding to Donald Trump with a popular democratic project for Canada
The unfolding climate catastrophe, growing inequality, the disintegration of the country’s social safety net, and the rise of profoundly reactionary yet increasingly viable political forces at home an...
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
And, yes, social media is probably not the best venue for this discussion.
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
I know, I know. And, yes, I do think we had this same discussion back then.
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Can we make up? I am sorry that I used always order salad then ask to eat your french fries and everyone else's.
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
However, alas, I have predilection for fantasy, I guess.
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
I guess the question is did Trudeau significantly break with that consensus. You insist he did by increasing spending more. That's fair. The question, for me, is whether that significantly altered processes within the state as well as the state's relationship with citizens.
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Yes, there has been neoliberal policy consensus these last few decades just there was a Keynesian one in the few decades after the SWW. Is this controversial?
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
I found Wendy Brown's work to be quite useful in identifying the different dimensions of neoliberalism ctheory.sitehost.iu.edu/img/Brown_We...
ctheory.sitehost.iu.edu
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
And, yes, he did introduce pharmacare and dental care. Not too shabby. So, yeah, I think he has a bit of mixed record and I think we can have a constructive debate about it. And, yes, I do believe the term neoliberal, if clearly defined, could be a useful component of that debate. Final/
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
In other words, yes, he increased social spending quantitatively, but did he qualitatively reorganize the institutional structure of the Canadian state in a way that empowered subordinated groups away from capital? I am not a Canadianist, but I would say no. 6/
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
However, one of the dimensions/uses of the term neoliberalism highlights power. Notably, class power. In view of this, did these different reforms fundamentally alter power relations and the qualitative structure of the Canadian state that was established by the 1995 Chretien/Martin budget? 5/
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
To get back to your main point about Trudeau not being a neoliberal. Yes, for sure, if you use quantitative criteria and if you define neoliberalism as being antithetical to social spending then he is not. Moreover, he is less so than his predecessors (ex: Harper). 4/
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Nevertheless, that does not mean that the term cannot be used in a rigorous fashion to identify, describe, and analyze historical phenomena. 3/
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Now, yes, the term has been used to describe different things and often imprecisely. No doubt. Tooze and others argue that neolib has been used in up to six different ways (if I remember). For example, as a class project to reinforce financial capital, as an economic logic, etc. 2/
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Every concept can be stretched or used improperly, no? If neoliberalism were totally useless, what term would you use to describe the transformation of Keynesian Welfare States into another thing starting in the 1970s? How would one name the ideological program that legitimated that change? 1/
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Example: socialistregister.com/index.php/sr...
socialistregister.com
View of Globalisation and the State
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Neoliberalism is about what the state spends money on as opposed to how much money it spends.
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
This is if you merely equate neoliberalism with austerity and/or a small state. There are academic analyses of neolib going back decades that insist that it consists of a reorganization of the state (for ex, to facilitate capitalist accumulation) as opposed to an absolute shrinking of the state.
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Per an article of mine published in CD recently, I'd argue that it is.
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
In any case, I am very ambivalent about the term "left nationalism" for the valid reasons you point out, but what do we put in its stead? Is it possible to both resist Trump and reactionary domestic forces while maintaining a position of reciprocal internationalism?
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Marcel N. @marcel-nelson.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
I thought that most of the former Waffle(rs) had retrospectively acknowledged that it was an error to not acknowledge settler colonialism at home and secondary imperialism overseas.
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