Topics

• Politics

  The way we organize and allocate power — in government, institutions, movements and communities — is at the root of all injustice. From foreign policy to crime and punishment, politics are central to the exercise of authority and oppression, but also to resistance, freedom and self-determination. Here you’ll find stories on imperialism, colonization, sovereignty, migration, electoral politics, law, and the political questions being asked by movements confronting these issues.

• Society

  Human relationships are mediated by complex systems of power and privilege that determine our access and entitlement to health, safety, employment, dignity, home and belonging. As power becomes increasingly concentrated in the dominant classes, divisions and inequality based on race, gender, class, ability, sexuality and religion, among others, are becoming more prominent. These articles look at how these systems of power operate to divide us, and how we can overcome them and work toward a common humanity.

• Economy

  Economics, or our means of exchange with one another, has long been beset with inequality. It took a decided turn for the worse, however, when industrial capitalism arrived on the scene. Exploitation of labour and resources, endemic poverty and forced migration are all manifestations of global economic injustice spawned largely by the rise of capitalism as the dominant economic paradigm. While holding industry and government to account through critical analysis of policy and practice, Briarpatch also highlights hopeful alternatives to capitalism that strive to share resources more fairly.

• Environment

  From resource extraction to climate chaos and food sovereignty, the environment is a topic that defies human-made borders like no other. Industrial capitalism and its dependency on unhindered, never-ending growth represents a sustained assault on the Earth and its inhabitants. In this context, seekers of environmental justice have their work cut out for them. Here, you’ll find stories on agriculture, food, environmental racism, resource extraction, climate change and more.

• Action

  Ideas are only as powerful as the action they inspire. Here you’ll find stories about people who are turning their ideas into actions, projects and movements that are working toward social justice and environmental sanity.