DISSIDENCE

This collection, written over thirty years, drives towards the building of the community way of life: a participatory democracy. It reflects conscientious objection, not just to war, but to the whole fabric of a dehumanized society. It stands for civil disobedience, not just of individuals, but hopefully by large numbers of alienated people. This definition of dissent is not intended as an empty moral gesture, but as a determined attempt to transform society by abolishing concentrations of power. To dissent means to live simply, speak truth to power, and to keep people at the forefront of the mind. This is not a part-time, but a full-time vocation, standing and working outside the mainstream and its dominant institutions. The motive is always the same; to stir intelligent people to thought, to controversy, and to action.

Reflecting the Montreal Left, the writings of Dimitrios Roussopoulos demonstrate the unique politico-cultural cauldron the city created from the sixties to the eighties, revealing the origins of the "New Left" in Canada and its continuing legacy. Published in 1992, Dissidence is a time capsule of leftist thought on nuclear disarmament, the state, Canadian nationalism, ecology, and more.

Dimitrios Roussopoulos is a political activist, ecologist, writer, editor, publisher, community organizer, and public speaker. Educated in philosophy, politics and economics at several Montreal universities and London. Roussopoulos has sought to keep himself free from any academic confinement, and apart from having taught for two years in the late sixties at a college that followed the progressive education philosophy of John Dewey, he has remained institutionally independent.