May books

In addition to working on my term paper and PhD proposal, I am reading an interesting collection of books. I am nearly done with Naomi Klein’s This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate, which has been very compelling. I am reading Srdja Popovic’s Blueprint for Revolution: How to Use Rice Pudding, Lego Men, and Other Nonviolent Techniques to Galvanize Communities, Overthrow Dictators, or Simply Change the World, and thinking about how it can be applied to the work of Toronto350.org (it’s trickier to motivate people to take action to reduce fossil fuel use than to organize around existing displeasure about an oppressive government).

I am still working on Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities, as well as reading relevant chapters from Alfred Rolington’s Strategic Intelligence for the 21st Century: The Mosaic Method, which has some particularly interesting things to say about corporate and police intelligence.

I am also just starting Peter Russell’s Recognizing Aboriginal Title: The Mabo Case and Indigenous Resistance to English-Settler Colonialism.

Author: Milan

In the spring of 2005, I graduated from the University of British Columbia with a degree in International Relations and a general focus in the area of environmental politics. In the fall of 2005, I began reading for an M.Phil in IR at Wadham College, Oxford. Outside school, I am very interested in photography, writing, and the outdoors. I am writing this blog to keep in touch with friends and family around the world, provide a more personal view of graduate student life in Oxford, and pass on some lessons I've learned here. View all posts by Milan