Antipode’s 10th Institute for the Geographies of Justice (IGJ), “Organizing and Solidarity in a Polycrisis”, took place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the traditional territory of the Huron Wendat, the Seneca and the Mississaugas of the Credit, from June 1st to 5th 2026.
The contemporary global landscape is increasingly defined by what has been termed a polycrisis: a convergence of interlinked and mutually amplifying crises—climate catastrophe, economic precarity, imperialism, war, genocide, displacement, and the erosion of democratic institutions. As intersecting crises intensify, they reveal the fragility of state and market institutions while amplifying the importance of self-organizing and solidarities in the absence—or failure—of formal protections. Over the course of the week, we asked, what sort of solidarities and forms of organizing are needed to respond to compound crises that exceed the logic of conventional policy tools? How are emergent practices of collective survival, resistance, and world-making transforming how we imagine life, labour, and value?
Antipode’s 10th Institute for the Geographies of Justice (IGJX) provided an opportunity to engage theoretical, methodological, and practical issues related to research and scholar-activism on solidarities in the context of crisis. Activities included field trips, panels, practical sessions on strategies for publishing and engaging with diverse audiences within and outside academia, and participant-led sessions. Participants also had the opportunity to contribute a paper, chapter, or a part thereof, to be workshopped by fellow participants, plenary speakers, and local faculty.
The institute was co-hosted by the University of Toronto’s Department of Geography and Planning, and made the most of its location in Toronto by featuring participation from a range of U of T faculty as well as field trips to the places where U of T faculty have ongoing collaborations with communities.
Invited faculty fellows included:
Charmaine Chua
Associate Professor of Geography at the University of California, Berkeley, USA
Michelle Daigle
Associate Professor of Geography and Planning at the University of Toronto, Canada
Bernardo Mançano Fernandes
Professor and UNESCO Chair in Territorial Development and Education for the Countryside, São Paulo State University –UNESP, Brazil
Rupal Oza
Professor of Women and Gender Studies at Hunter College, The City University of New York, USA
Margaret Marietta Ramírez
Associate Director, Chicana/o-Latina/o Studies at Stanford University, USA
Faculty contributors and organizers from the University of Toronto, Department of Geography & Planning, included:
Mike Ekers;
Emily Gilbert;
Beverley Mullings;
Scott Prudham;
Katharine Rankin;
Rajyashree N Reddy;
David Roberts; and
Jane Yearwood (without whom IGJX would not have been possible!).
Additional organizers for the event included:
Kate Derickson
Geography, Environment and Society, University of Minnesota
Marion Werner
Department of Geography, University at Buffalo, SUNY
IGJX 2026 participants included:
Adriana DiSilvestro, University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC)
Bramsh Khan, Syracuse University
Carolina Lima, Federal University of Minas Gerais
Coline Chevrin, The City University New York, CUNY
Cynthia Brito, University of Illinois Chicago
Danielle Kerrigan, Simon Fraser University
Elspeth Iralu, University of New Mexico
Gabe Schwartzman, University of Tennessee
Gabi Kirk, Cal Poly Humboldt
Ichamati Mousamputri, Newcastle University
Isaac Thornley, University of Toronto Scarborough
Isaac Rivera, University of Colorado Boulder
Kayla Edgett, University of Georgia
Kela Caldwell, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Kyla Piccin, University of Cambridge
Majd al-Shihabi, University of Toronto
Merle Davis Matthews, University of Minnesota
Nishan Zewge-Abubaker, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Nokuzola Songo, University of Toronto
Priya Kunjan, RMIT University
Ranjani Srinivasan, Columbia University
S. Freeman, Dartmouth College
Silvia Hassouna, Durham University
Suzanne Chew, University of Toronto Mississauga
Travis Bost, Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS)
Troy Brundidge, University of Oregon
