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Presented by UBC Centre for Climate Justice, Vancouver Writers Fest, and Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.
Eighteen years after it was first published, Naomi Klein’s groundbreaking book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, is back on the bestseller lists—for reasons much against her will. The Trump Administration has put the world into a state of shock, using the rolling chaos it creates to push through the most radical pillage of the public sphere ever attempted. It is rushing through a drastic realignment of the international order: one in which Canada is intensely vulnerable. Tariffs may be just the beginning.
In this vital event, Naomi Klein will be joined by her brother and collaborator Seth Klein, author of A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency. In conversation with CBC Radio’s Elamin Abdelmahmoud, the two will discuss pressing topics such as:
- The historical roots of Trump’s tactics, and what is new and uniquely dangerous about his uses of shock and fear.
- The apocalyptic mood of the ascendant authoritarian right.
- Why incrementalism and simple retaliation to Trump and the populist right are not enough.
- Why a robust response to Trump’s economic attack requires hurting him where he’s most vulnerable—the oil and gas industry—rather than rushing to extract more fossil fuels, metals, and minerals, especially without Indigenous consent.
Rather than responding to the current crisis with panic and despair, how can we treat it as a portal; an opening to leap into a better version of society? Hear an argument for why Canada and BC need to seize this moment to build an economy far less vulnerable to external shocks, that takes the transition from a fossil fuel and extraction-based economy seriously. Attendees will leave inspired by what is possible, and armed with practical policy ideas for charting Canada’s path in a time of crisis.
General Admission: $40
Youth Tickets (Under 25): $20
Premium Seating (Gold): $80
Premium Seating (Silver): $60
Participants and Speakers
Naomi Klein
NAOMI KLEIN is the award-winning author of international bestsellers including This Changes Everything, The Shock Doctrine, No Logo, No Is Not Enough, On Fire, and Doppelganger, which have been published in more than thirty-five languages. She is an associate professor in the department of geography at the University of British Columbia, the founding codirector of UBC’s Centre for Climate Justice, and an honorary professor of Media and Climate at Rutgers University. Her writing has appeared in leading publications around the world, and she is a columnist for The Guardian.
Seth Klein
SETH KLEIN is the Team Lead and Director of Strategy with the Climate Emergency Unit. Prior to that, he served for 22 years as the founding director of the British Columbia office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), a social justice think tank. He is now a freelance policy consultant, speaker, researcher and writer, and author of A Good War: Mobilizing Canada for the Climate Emergency. Seth is a regular columnist with Canada’s National Observer, an adjunct professor with Simon Fraser University’s Urban Studies program, and serves on the board of the BC Society for Policy Solutions.
Elamin Abdelmahmoud
ELAMIN ABDELMAHMOUD’s work has appeared in the Globe and Mail, Maclean’s, Rolling Stone, and others. He is the author of the number one national bestseller Son of Elsewhere: A Memoir in Pieces. He was the 2023 Guest Curator for the Vancouver Writers Fest.