Whose Streets?

The Toronto G20 and the Challenges of Summit Protest

Edited by Tom Malleson, David Wachsmuth

In June 2010 activists opposing the G20 meeting held in Toronto were greeted with arbitrary state violence on a scale never before seen in Canada. Whose Streets? is a combination of testimonials from the front lines and analyses of the broader context, an account that both reflects critically on what occurred in Toronto and looks ahead to further building our capacity for resistance.

Featuring reflections from activists who helped organize the mobilizations, demonstrators and passersby who were arbitrarily arrested and detained, and scholars committed to the theory andpractice of confronting neoliberal capitalism, the collection balances critical perspective with on-the-street intensity. It offers vital insight for activists on how local organizing and global activism can come together.

Contents

Foreword: G20 Trials and the War on Activism
Naomi Klein

Preface
Tom Malleson and David Wachsmuth

Introduction: From the Great Recession to the Streets of Toronto
Tom Malleson and David Wachsmuth\

Part 1: Before the G20: Organizing a Protest Convergence

1: Building a Protest Convergence: The Toronto Community Mobilization Network
Tom Malleson
2: Community Organizing for a Global Protest
Mac Scott
3: Collective Movement, Collective Power: People of Colour, Migrant Justice, and the G20
Syed Hussan
4: “Canada Can’t Hide Genocide”: Marching for Indigenous Rights
Lisa Currier
5: Labour’s Role in Opposing the G20: Building Resistance to Austerity
Archana Rampure
6: Unions, Direct Action and the G20 Protests: Obstacles and Opportunities
Jeff Shantz
7: Presenting the Movement’s Narratives: Organizing Alternative Media
Dan Kellar
8: Got Your Back! Building Radical Crisis Support into the G20 Convergence
Monique Woolnough

Part 2: During the G20: Documenting Resistance and Repression

9: Police Violence and State Repression at the Toronto G20: The Facts
Movement Defence Committee
10: They Sought to Terrify Us out of the Streets
Nat Gray
11: One Day in a Cage: Notes on the Temporary Detention Centre
David Wachsmuth
12: “Hop!” A First Hand Account of Police Abuse at the G20
Sarah Pruyn
13: Women Resist, Police Repress: Stories of Gendered Police Violence at the Toronto G20
Shailagh Keaney
14: A Wall of Brick and Rage
Nicole Tanguay
15: Connecting Carceral Spaces: Reflecting on Summit Detention
Swathi Sekhar
16: Caught in the Crossfire
Elroy Yau

Part 3: After the G20: Critical Reflections, Moving Forward

17: Martial Law in the Streets of Toronto: G20 Security and State Violence
Neil Smith and Deborah Cowen
18: Marching with the Black Bloc: “Violence” and Movement Building
Tammy Kovich
19: Forms of Protest Reflect Our Power: Radical Strategy and Mass Mobilizations
Clarice Kuhling
20: Surveying the Landscape: Local Protesters and Global Summits
Lesley J. Wood and Glenn J. Stalker
21: What Moves Us Now? The Contradictions of “Community”
Clare O’Connor
22: Social Protest in the Age of Austerity: Prospects for Mass Resistance After the G20
David McNally

Notes and List of Contributors

About the Authors

Tom Malleson is a PhD candidate in Political Science at the University of Toronto. He is a long time social movement organizer, particularly within anti-poverty and migrant justice movements.

David Wachsmuth was trained as an urban planner in Toronto and is now a PhD candidate in Sociology at New York University. He is an organizer with GSOC-UAW, the union for graduate employees at NYU.