The Volcano published over 100 articles last year, which isn’t bad considering we only started up again in April after a year-long hiatus. These are some of our most read – and under read – articles of 2018.

Top 5 most read articles

In 2018, The Volcano published news and analysis not found anywhere else. These five articles turned dominant narratives on their heads, challenging the uncritical celebration of the RCMP-enforced clearance of the Surrey Strip; the assumption that urban Indigenous people cannot practice land defense or stewardship; the smear campaign against leaders of the Schoolhouse Squat; and the vilification of drug dealers.

1. Surrey preparing to “make homelessness illegal” after shuttling the 135A Strip indoors by Ivan Drury (June 19)
2. Imperialism, capitalism, and the revolutionary potential of urban Indigenous land relationships by Natalie Knight (April 5)
3. Who destroyed Rutherford Elementary? Separating myth from fact about Nanaimo’s Schoolhouse Squat by Isabel Krupp (October 23)
4. Life After Death – Getting Harm Reduction Activism Out Of The Grave by Allison B. Barker & Ashley Mollison (May 16)
5. “You idiots, we’re fighting for you!”: Homeless people as revolutionary leaders by Listen Chen (October 23)

5 more you probably missed

We worked hard on these five articles, but they never got the attention we think they deserve. Give them a read! They’re examples of the kind of in-depth research and analysis – and in two cases, international perspectives – crucial to building revolutionary movements.

1. They Get Elected, We Get Evicted: Alliance Against Displacement’s position on the 2018 municipal elections (October 17, 2018)
   Essential reading for anyone trying to make sense of electoral politics in BC and beyond. Why are we seeing the rise of progressive politicians in urban centres, while small towns are dominated by far right pandering? What are the limits of the progressive turn to the ballot box? And if politicians can’t solve the crisis of the day, who can?
2. Colonialism is a Process Not An Identity: A review of Asad Haider’s Mistaken Identity: Race And Class In The Age Of Trump by Listen Chen (November 22, 2018)
   Whether or not you’ve read the book, you’ll appreciate this review. Listen Chen intervenes in debates surrounding identity politics and class, pushing for a revolutionary politics that foregrounds the self-activity of racialized and Indigenous people – the political project that can liberate all people from race and imperial power, whether they benefit from or are oppressed by white supremacy and colonialism.
3. Moral Panic and Racist Anxieties: Entrenching police power through Surrey’s Gang Task Force by Isabel Krupp (September 6, 2018)
   Crime rates are falling, so why is there so much fear about crime in Surrey? Isabel Krupp argues that this panic isn’t really about crime – it’s about a much deeper social and economic crisis: unemployment, poverty, and alienation that impacts communities of colour disproportionately, creating deep social anxiety about the future.
4. Justice for Vanesa Campos! France’s anti-sex work laws are killing migrant trans women by Cecile Revaux (October 24, 2018)
   Vanesa Campos was murdered in the woods at the edge of Paris because of a combination of France’s laws that criminalize sex work, policies that regulate trans women, and border controls. Cecile Revaux argues the dangers of these laws and policies also threaten communities in Canada.
5. Lessons From Brazil’s Landless Workers’ Movement: Breaking private property and the challenge of fighting colonialism by Sean Phipps (May 15, 2018)
   Rather than fighting for inclusion within the system of capitalist private property, peasants and precarious urban workers in Brazil have fought to overthrow it and replace it with collective systems of property based on direct use of the land. What can we learn from their struggle?