Beyond Alienation: Capitalism, Structural Genocide and the Search for Social Justice

Garry Leech and Terry Gibbs, from Cape Breton University, discussed how the nature of contemporary capitalism inherently generates inequality and structural violence. Given that more than 10 million people a year needlessly die under the capitalist system, Leech argued that global capitalism constitutes a form of genocide. Within this framework, Terry Gibbs explored how a shift in values both at the level of individual consciousness and at a structural level will be required to move towards a more sustainable and socially just world.