Description:

French Canadian author Alain Deneault sits down with host Chloe Aftel to discuss what it means to hold multinational corporations accountable for the ecological harm and human rights abuses they enact, as well as the importance of organizing in the face of injustice rather than falling into a cycle of despair. They break down the difference between individualistic cultures versus collectivist cultures, and analyze the different philosophies that surround it. Deneault sheds light on Canada’s role in the development of tax havens and the impact that has on working class families citing his years of research. He emphasizes the importance of acting now and creating relationships with both the land and within your communities that aren’t exploitative but rather set a foundation for a more just and ethical world.

Highlights:

Deneault discusses how due to the fact that his work covers topics that can often times feel despairing, he has to take great care in how he presents the information as he aims to encourage people to organize locally, build connections with their communities, and understand the role that failure plays in achieving long term goals
He discusses how everything in our society from media and work culture to political and systemic structures are designed to not only exhaust and overwhelm the working class, but to lower their standards and to dissuade their ability to think too critically on the root causes of societal issues
Deneault states that he views philosophy as an opportunity to discover concepts that allow you to give meaning and understanding to different situations and contexts, without being dominated by it
They discuss the lawsuit that Barrick Gold sent to Deneault after the publication of Noir Canada: Pillage, corruption et criminalité en Afrique, along with his researchers and publisher, with many describing the lawsuit to be a strategic lawsuit against public participation and an attempt to silence those who are willing to speak out against these corporations and hold them accountable for the harm they cause

Biographies:

Alain Deneault is a notable French Canadian author who is best known for his book entitled Noir Canada: Pillage, corruption et criminalité en Afrique, a work which analyzed the impact of Canadian mining corporations in Africa and shone a light on the destruction they caused. Deneault was born in Outaouais, Quebec and went on to study at the Centre Marc Bloch in Berlin where he received his research doctorate, following it up with a PhD in Philosophy from Paris 8 University. He has written books on various topics such as corporate tax havens, mining corporations, banking, multinational corporations, and the oil industry. His goal is to present information in a way that is both accessible but not negligent to the complexities of the issues at hand, and to encourage people to organize and build relationships locally in order to have a global impact. Some of his other works include Offshore: Paradis fiscaux et souveraineté criminelle (2010), Gouvernance : Le management totalitaire (2013), and Bande de colons. Une mauvaise conscience de classe (2020).

Chloe Aftel has spent her career working in commercial photography, photojournalism, and film. She’s an established name in modern photography with work featured in The New York Times, Mother Jones, Playboy, Dazed & Confused, Vogue Germany, The Hollywood Reporter, The Wall Street Journal, Vogue Italia, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, Teen Vogue, and more. Aftel has photographed victims of sexual violence, reported on COVID 19's impact on the trans community, and gained access as the first reporter in COVID wards of the West Coast’s hardest-hit hospitals. She has covered underground abortion providers, the impact of gender pronouns on daily life, and clergy abuse. Aftel's first book, Outside & In Between, is an award-winning anthology covering gender non-conforming people across the United States.

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