Petro, Power, and Politics
Parkland Fall Conference 2012
What does it mean to live and work in a province so dependent on oil and gas?
Keynote speakers: Ronald Wright
Conference archive
Class Dismissed: Capital's war on workers and democracy
Parkland Fall Conference 2011
The conference will explore the current attack on workers and unions seen in places like the United States and Britain, and look at the warning signs that this anti-public sector worker wave is already on its way to Alberta and Canada. We will also explore the accompanying attack on democracy and how capital is working to hinder real action to protect our common environment. As always, we will look at hopeful examples of resistance from places like Wisconsin and North Africa, and see how we in Alberta can learn from those experiences.
Keynote speakers: Leo Panitch
Rewriting a Country: Toward a Just and Peaceful Canada
Parkland Fall Conference 2010
Canada’s political and economic elite want to make Canadian values more closely resemble those of the radical right. They appear to be succeeding.
Keynote speakers: Margaret Atwood
Remaking Alberta: Recession Alternatives for an Alberta that Works
Parkland/AFL Conference 2010
Alberta is taking the low road in this recession with budget cuts and public service cuts. What does the highroad looks like for Alberta?
Keynote speakers: Asbjorn Wahl
Crisis and Opportunity: It's Time for a Progressive Economy
Parkland Fall Conference 2009
Last year, Alberta was in a boom—and then the world economy collapsed. What happened? What do we do now? Naomi Klein in her book The Shock Doctrine described how neoliberal regimes around the world have used crises to implement rapid-fire corporate reengineering of societies still reeling from shock. This conference is about providing the information and the ideas that can be used to promote an alternative, better future for the common good.
Keynote speakers: Jim Stanford
The Moral of the Story: Art, Culture, Media and Politics
Parkland Fall Conference 2008
This was a conference about the role of arts, culture and (new) media in political discourse and what it takes to change the way our society generally thinks. The two major questions that were addressed were “Why do we talk about what we talk about?” and “How can ideas with social justice values become the dominant discourse?”
Keynote speakers: Megan M. Boler, Tariq Ali
From Crisis to Hope: Building Just and Sustainable Communities
Parkland Fall Conference 2007
This conference was about consuming less and valuing people more. Our speakers explored the implications of a transition to a post-carbon society and how we can and must make this transition in a way that is built on a foundation of social justice. This conference covered: A Post Carbon Economy, Transportation and Interconnectedness, Governance, Spending Our Time Differently, Where We Live, and What We Eat.
Power for the People
Parkland Fall Conference 2006
This conference, instead of discussing the oil and gas sector in Alberta primarily in terms of economics and the environment, examined this extremely influential sector through the lens of democracy.
The Alberta We Want
Parkland Fall Conference 2005
Building on “Debt Free Alberta” and the centennial celebrations in Alberta and Saskatchewan, this conference looked at both the path Albertans are on at a provincial, federal and global level, and new directions we could go to make Alberta a good place for everyone to live.
Uncommon Dreams: Visions of the Public Good
Parkland Fall Conference 2004
Shortly after the release of Joel Bakan’s film The Corporation, we held this conference on the “Public Good.” This conference included sessions on Public Spaces, Public Security, the Power of the Public, Public Resources, Expanding the Public, Public Interest, Public Services, and more.
Bringing it Home: Reclaiming Democracy
Parkland Fall Conference 2001
This conference, taking place shortly after the 9/11 attacks and the “criminalization of dissent,” covered the crises in all aspects of democracy.