Canadians usually learn about their history from the perspective of rulers—from the top down. Author Scott Neigh aims to explore the perspectives of ordinary people—from the bottom up.

“Whatever liberty and justice that communities, workplaces and individuals in Canada enjoy are due to the many struggles and social movements in our country’s history,” says Neigh. “Yet the stories and histories of those movements to overcome racism, sexism, and poverty, for example, remain largely untold, thanks to the single, simplistic national story taught to us in school.”

He will launch two books in a series entitled “Canadian History Through the Stories of Activists” with a free public talk on Wednesday, November 14, at 7 p.m. in Vanier Hall’s Katzman Lounge.

Gender and Sexuality unearths a diverse spectrum of struggle through the accounts of longstanding social movement participants. From indigenous women working against colonization and Christian women trying to end sexism and homophobia in their churches, to gay men opposing sexual oppression and women fighting against hostile employers and violence, the book reveals the ways that oppressions based on gender and sexuality—and the struggles against them—have shaped society.

In Resisting the State, Neigh details the histories of a broad range of social movements and provides readers with a richer understanding of the Canadian state and why so many people—including military draftees, welfare recipients, workers, indigenous people, psychiatric survivors, immigrants and refugees—have struggled, and continue to struggle, for equality and justice for all members of society.

The event is sponsored by OPIRG Windsor and the Centre for Studies in Social Justice. Learn more about these books and the project of which they are a part at http://talkingradical.ca/.