Hello,
You may be looking for the Study Guide for the Reading Group on Francesca Albanese’s report.
You can find three documents below to help guide your reading, and guide the discussion.
Following the three documents [in Word format], the text of the Study Guide is printed on this page.
Documents
These documents are all in Microsoft Word format, and should be easily readable by most Office programs and mobile document reader apps.
The Vocabulary – are you comfortable with all of the terms listed? Perhaps you would like to bring them up in the discussion, if not.
A tentative Structure of Argument is provided – This is one simple way of laying out Albanese’s argument. Do you agree with this layout?
Study Questions
Study Questions – August 7th
- Why does Albanese focus on corporations? Is this focus justified? Is it a helpful approach?
- What do you think Albanese means by “colonial racial capitalism?”
How does Albanese place Israel’s colonization of Palestine into the broader context of Western Colonial projects?
Guide:
a). Examples of how Albanese places Israel’s colonization of Palestine into the broader context of Western Colonial projects can be found in the following sections of the report:
I),1-2
III),10-11
iii) Can anyone think of any historical examples from the first sentence of the report?
“Colonial endeavours and their associated genocides have historically been driven and enabled by the corporate sector.”
- What are some of the main negative conditions for Palestinians that corporate entities have facilitated?
Is the category of “corporate entity” helpful here?
[See section IV]
- What are notable trends/patterns that are apparent with the corporate entities/different sectors that Albanese draws attention to?
- Albanese asserts that since Oct. 7, Israel has morphed from an economy of occupation to an economy of genocide.
Is this true? Is there really such a clean break?
Can we really make such a clean distinction, where Israel was an economy of occupation, and now it is an economy of genocide?
- What is the purpose/aim of Albanese naming specific corporations, especially high-profile ones like Elbit, IBM, Google, Amazon, etc?
Does her investigation into military corporations that facilitate the occupation and genocide relate to any studies or activities in Canada?
- How does Albanese envision holding the corporations to account? Is it feasible? What, in her logic, is required in order to make this happen?
- In terms of the corporations that are integrated with the projects of occupation and genocide, where are these entities primarily located?
- Under what forms of law are these legal entities governed? What legal jurisdictions does Albanese argue their activities fall under?
- In the context of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, what is the significance of this report? Why is this particular report making waves right now?
Critique
I) Do you agree that “Colonial endeavours and their associated genocides have historically been driven and enabled by the corporate sector?”
II) Albanese seems to present a view that groups of corporations are, in their own self-interest, assisting with a genocide.
Does this explain the whole situation? Does it explain what is happening in the Levant? Are corporations the main and only driver of foreign support for Israel’s colonial project?
III) Who does Albanese intend to reach with this document, and has she chosen the right method? Do you think she will be successful in reaching her objectives?
IV) What does Albanese see as the role of international law to hold corporate entities accountable in the context of genocide?
Document: