Briarpatch - November/December 2019

In this issue

Our annual labour issue has stories about the risky business of sex work in the gig economy; airport workers organizing in Canada's biggest workplace; how a Canadian garment company is fleecing women maquila workers in Honduras; the reinstatement of Canada's prison farms; a planned economy for a just transition; Alberta's public-sector unions rising to meet the challenge of a UCP government; and student journalists reviving the labour beat. Plus a book review, comic, and interview with writing contest judges.

The Literal – And Literary – Futures We Build

Briarpatch editor Saima Desai talks to two judges of our Writing in the Margins contest about Idle No More and MMIWG, ethical kinship, writing queer sex, and their forthcoming work.

9 mins

“At Least Hookers Get Wages”

The risky business of sex work in the gig economy

10+ mins

The Cost Of A T-Shirt

In Honduras, women maquila workers are fighting back against the multinational garment companies that they say are endangering their health and safety.

10+ mins

Milking Prison Labour

Canada’s prison farms are being reopened. But when prisoners will be paid pennies a day, and the fruits of their labour will likely be exported for profit, there’s little to celebrate.

10+ mins

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Briarpatch Magazine Description:

Briarpatch is an award-winning magazine of politics and culture. Fiercely independent and proudly polemical, Briarpatch offers original reporting, insight, and analysis from a grassroots perspective. As a reader-supported publication, Briarpatch is not just devoted to reporting on social movements — it’s committed to building them.