Power from Below: An Interview with Nargess Mustapha, Co-Founder of Hoodstock (2022 Cloward & Piven Award Recipients)

Abstract Every year, the caucus for critical political science of the American Association of Political Science grants the Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven Award to an activist group in the region of the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association (APSA). In 2022, APSA took place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This year’s recipient of the award is Hoodstock, a movement-based organization that aims to eliminate systemic inequalities and build supportive, inclusive, safe, and vibrant communities. The author and interviewer is a graduate student in Political Science at McGill University where she conducted fieldwork on people power and intersectional organizing in Montreal. In the following piece, she interviews one of the cofounders of Hoodstock.