The Red Deal by The Red Nation: Review

Journal of Multidisciplinary Research at Trent Volume 3 Issue 1 Review Article The Red Deal by The Red Nation: Reviewed by Author Annie C. Mackillicana* a Indigenous and Environmental Studies, (Trent University, 1600 West Bank Dr, Peterborough ON, K9L 0G2). *Correspondence to: [email protected] Received: June 14, 2021; Accepted: December 19, 2021; Published: December 31, 2021 Abstract The Red Deal by The Red Nation and Red Media is a short but powerful political manifesto which offers readers a choice: climate extinction, or true, meaningful, and complete decolonization. With less than thirty years to reduce the earth’s carbon emissions to net zero, The Red Deal emphasizes that we cannot expect current oppressive structures such as capitalism, settler-colonialism, and imperialism to reverse the effects of climate change which were ultimately caused and worsened by their operation on these lands. Keywords: The Red Deal, The Red Nation, Red Media Review: The Red Deal by The Red Nation and Red Media is a short but powerful political manifesto which offers readers a choice: climate extinction, or true, meaningful, and complete decolonization. With less than thirty years to reduce the earth’s carbon each word, comas separating each emissions to net zero, The Red Deal emphasizes that we cannot expect current oppressive structures such as capitalism, settler-colonialism, and imperialism to reverse the effects of climate change which were ultimately caused and worsened by their operation on these lands. The Red Deal makes the very clear argument that there is no way to restore the earth using the tools of the systems that cause it harm; that is to say, there is no way to have environmental justice without disrupting capitalism and all the institutions that operate under it. To save the earth and the future of humanity, The Red Deal urges that Indigenous and non-Indigenous people must be prepared to fight for decolonization across the globe. The book offers four principles as a foundation for this work: First, divestment from all carceral institutions (prison systems, military, etc.) in conjunction with divestment from fossil fuels in order to secure the wealth to reinvest in community services. Second, an emphasis on community support and organizing through “people power”, as an alternative to relying on colonial political structures to enact change. Third, rethinking notions of reform, and asking questions about Mackillican (2021) 156 what it would mean to enact large-scale systemic change which may bring up feelings of discomfort. Finally, the notion of putting theory into practice, and resisting the common academic sentiment that having good ideas is enough; this principle places the onus on those with access to knowledge and resources to put them to use to uplift their communities. The Red Deal is a collaborative project written by The Red Nation, a coalition of Indigenous and non-Indigenous activists, scholars, and community members who work to address the marginalization of Indigenous issues within the mainstream social justice movements, and to address the destruction of Indigenous life and land from Turtle Island to Palestine. The Red Nation identifies four main areas of focus: Indigeneity, liberation, resistance, and coalition. The Red Deal is comprised of three sections: The first, which deals primarily in divestment, calls for the defunding and abolition of the Military Industrial Complex and the end of illegal occupation worldwide, including the occupation of Palestine. The second section calls for the reallocation of resources into a common humanity, which encompasses sustainable housing, education, universal healthcare, public transportation, and other accessible infrastructure, as well as the end of sexual, domestic, and gendered violence, among others. The third section calls for the reallocation of resources into the future, meaning sustainable energy technology, traditional and sustainable agricultural practices, land restoration, the enforcement of treaty rights and other land agreements, and land return. The Red Deal’s strength is in its ability to provide clear calls to action to readers that directly address each climate issue present in the book. The Red Nation does not believe that the climate crisis can be solved simply by talking about it, and The Red Deal reflects this ideology. Readers will come away from The Red Deal with a very clear idea about where the need for support lies and will know exactly where to begin. No reader will finish The Red Deal and find themselves asking “so what can I do about this?”. Each issue identified within the work is paired with at least one actionable item, that can be taken at either the individual or collective level. Police brutality and carceral violence are met with the call to organize defense movements against violence to protect vulnerable sectors of our communities, therefore eliminating the need for police forces altogether. Housing inequality is met with the push to establish tenant-owned housing co-operatives and to practice collective living, implementing Indigenous practices of land tenureship as an antidote for commoditization of land which goes hand in hand with capitalism. The Red Deal offers meaningful and feasible solutions to each symptom of climate change which offer the reader some hope as well as direction in the fight against capitalism. Where The Red Deal may fall short is in its ability to be completely accessible to a non-academic readership, which is, in effect, the goal of the book. The Red Deal holds fast to the idea that liberation is not synonymous with theory, and yet at times, theoretical concepts are employed in a way that may act as barriers to community organizers who may not have had access to a formal postsecondary education or academia more broadly. One specific example would be the use of non-reformist reform theory as an antidote to reformist theory. While those wellversed in abolition techniques and anticarceral theory may have no issue navigating these comparisons, they may be more inaccessible for those without experience in those disciplines. For this example and a few others, the issue of inaccessibility may have been mitigated by the inclusion of a short index at the back of the book, accompanying The Red Nation’s organizational statement JMRT 3(1): 155-157 Mackillican (2021) 157 and the source list. If community members can more easily interpret certain theoretical concepts, The Red Deal will be one step closer to fulfilling its purpose as a political toolkit for everyone, not just those within the academy. Overall, The Red Deal is an extraordinary piece of radical work which effectively calls readers to put their skills to use in combatting one of the many factors involved in the destruction of our shared planet. As The Red Nation claims, this truly is a book for everybody – students, early and late-career academics, educators, community members and organizers. Nobody is excluded from the responsibility of protecting the earth, and it begins with the centering of Indigenous lifeways and a move towards anti-capitalist, anti-colonial direct action. Acknowledgements: The author has no acknowledgements to declare. Author Contributions: The author is the writer of the review. Conflicts of Interest: The author has no conflicts of interest to declare. References The Red Nation. The Red Deal: Indigenous Action to Save Our Earth. Common Notions, 2021. JMRT 3(1): 155-157