We are The Octobrist!

The Octobrist is a socialist newsletter with a focus on working class issues in Canada. We publish weekly articles about current affairs, political analyses, cultural criticism, and more, and try to favour a Canadian perspective while also acknowledging the wider world we all share. We are not explicitly a Marxist publication but we prefer materialist analyses that focus on people’s lived experiences over abstract principles. If you’re interested in learning about our perspective on the labour movement in Canada, as well as our place in the global context of neoliberal capitalism, then feel free to subscribe!

If you would like to submit articles, then by all means follow the guidelines below and join the conversation! We’re happy to hear your diverse voices.

Submission Guidelines

Thank you for considering becoming a contributor to our newsletter! We welcome your voice and your experiences and would be happy to share them if they can advance the discussions about the labour movement in Canada and the world. We have prepared a brief summary of what we are looking for in the series of guidelines that follow.

To begin with, The Octobrist is a socialist newsletter. As such, we only promote positions that are critical of capitalism. Exceptions can be made in the case of historical overviews (capitalism over feudalism) or select cases of criticisms of neoliberal economics from a Keynesian or left-liberal perspective. Any submission deemed insufficiently critical of our dominant economic system will be promptly rejected. We are not the lapdogs of capital.

Conversely, we are not in the business of disseminating any particular socialist dogma, and therefore submissions deemed to be too ideological or agitational, such as political tracts, manifestos, sectarian polemics, etc…, will also be rejected. Such works have their place in the wider labour movement but it is not the goal of this publication to promote one form of socialism over another. We must represent the diverse voices of the labour movement and the Left as a whole if we hope to advance the progressive cause.

Articles must be written with a professional tone. Grammatical mistakes and poorly constructed sentences will severely hamper the chances of your article being published. We will not enforce any absolute standard on the quality of the writing, and will be especially loose with regards to non-standard uses of language in keeping with our anti-imperialist values, but we still expect a high quality of writing. We favour materialist analyses that focus on lived experiences, as such the use of the active voice should be prioritized to center the subject in the discussion, especially when ascribing responsibility to the capitalist class in our ongoing oppression. We will not tolerate deflection and obfuscation of the oppressive nature of capitalism. If possible, responsibility should be placed on the shoulders of the actual offending people and organisations, rather than vague notions of the capitalist class. That being said, showing these individuals’ and organisations’ relationship to the wider capitalist class is highly encouraged.

Articles on indigenous relations must reflect an understanding of the unique struggles of the particular people or peoples involved so as to avoid needless generalizations and stereotyping, without losing sight of the shared experiences that distinguish indigenous people from the descendents of settlers. Any attempt to justify or engage in apologia for colonialist and imperialist narratives will result in rejection.

Advocating for violence is heavily discouraged but ignoring the inherent violence of capitalism and the force needed to resist it is unproductive at best and actively harmful at worst. Therefore it is important keep in mind that the use of force and violence must always be used with the exclusive purpose of advancing the cause of the working class. Articles deemed to be calling for wanton violence and petty adventurism will be rejected. Anger is justified but it can't cloud our judgement.

Furthermore, voicing support for organizations that have been labelled terrorist groups by human rights watchdogs, such as (but not limited to): Hamas, Houthis, PFLP, DFLP, Naxalites, Shining Path, etc., though not explicitly forbidden, should be done with extreme caution. Critical support should only be given in consideration of the nature of the struggle these groups are engaged in, such as anti-imperialism and anti-capitalism. Submissions deemed too uncritically supportive of such organizations will be rejected.

We welcome criticisms of past articles and will publish responses to arguments so long as they are couched in good-faith criticism and always with the goal of strengthening the global labour movement. Responses must include the words “a response to X” where “X” is the original writer’s username. Bad-faith criticism and personal attacks will not be tolerated. Expressing bigotry of any kind, including but not limited to: racism, ableism, classism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc., will result in instant rejection and a permanent ban from publishing.

If your article meets our guidelines and is deemed to be a useful or interesting contribution to the conversation around working class issues and the labour movement in Canada and the world then it will be placed in the queue to be published as one of our weekly emails. If you have something to add to the discussion then by all means, submit your manuscript via direct chat to https://substack.com/@micvienneau. We hope to hear back from you!

—M.

Workers of the World, Unite!

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