Download Today, we continue our work on understanding the outlooks

Sociology 134GJ: Global Justice Movements
Summer 2012
Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, 9:00 a.m. - noon
in London, England
John Foran, Instructor, Professor of Sociology
E-mail: [email protected]
Office Hours: Right after class during the lunch hour and at other times by appointment (I’ll also
do lots of e-mail consultation)
Summer Gray, Teaching Assistant
E-mail: [email protected]
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I’ll start by suggesting that what the global justice movement is
doing right is trying to bring together people dedicated to change.
For me, the secrets of their success lie in their inclusiveness – their
ability to draw people together across their differences, the
incredible creativity and joy that they bring to their actions (yes,
changing the world should be fun!), their fearlessness, and the love
they hold for each other (and I do think that emotions – of rage and
anger, yes, but also of hope and love – can also hold us together),
and their openness and willingness to try new forms of activism.
They are doing all this with some striking tactics, and with
achingly beautiful visions of a better world, and we should all be
learning more about them, and getting involved ourselves, because
the crisis we are living through is one of unprecedented proportion
and danger, with the very real possibility of a deeply more
horrifying world to come.
But it could just as well turn out very differently.
There are many paths to a better future, one worthy of us and for
our children, and depending on the concrete situations that people
face in different corners of the world, it should be no surprise that
there are going to be different paths to the future we want.
Plenty of luck and good weather would help too – the chances of
the former being much greater than the latter, but that’s the whole
point!
– John Foran
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Statement of Purpose and Course Description
Movements advocating “justice” have collectively traced the limits of what human
societies can and cannot achieve through utopian projects of active engagement. And attempts at
large-scale social change have been dramatic and controversial affairs in the lives of societies, at
least since the French revolution of 1789 – think of the Chinese and Russian revolutions, Cuba,
Iran, and the fall of the Berlin Wall, for a start.
The twentieth century was fundamentally shaped by this handful of full-on “social
revolutions” – which may be defined as “rapid, basic transformations of a society’s state and
class structures … accompanied and in part carried through by class-based revolts from below.”
These relatively rare events have provided enormous inspiration for millions of people around
the world, but too often have gone on to disappoint them as they fell short – inevitably – of the
dreams their makers.
In the twenty-first century, the nature of movements for what we might now call radical
social change1 has itself changed, as radical activists, reformers, dreamers, and revolutionaries
globally have pursued nonviolent paths to a better world, intending to live and act as they would
like that world to be. That is, the ends of justice no longer are held to justify the means of
violence, but the means of non-violent resistance reflect and guarantee the ends that they seek.
One of the rallying cries of many of the new century’s movements has been “global
justice.” The global justice movement, or better, global justice movements (in the plural)
consists of people who work on numerous inter-related issues related to militarism, climate
change, labor struggles, feminism, indigenous rights, taking control away from transnational
corporations and the global regulatory institutions such as the World Trade Union (the WTO)
and World Bank, or even doing away with capitalism altogether.
This course will explore three ongoing experiments with profound social change:
 the global justice movement, a world-wide network of activists whose members have
undertaken countless local struggles for social justice, in all corners of the world, with roots in
the Zapatista uprising in Chiapas, Mexico, in 1994, and including the United States, where a
major victory was won when demonstrators shut down the Seattle meetings of the WTO in late
1999
Radical social change means, for me, “a deep transformation of a society (or other
entity such as a community, region, or the whole world) in the direction of greater economic
equality and political participation, accomplished by the actions of a strong and diverse popular
movement.” This covers many situations, including the social revolutions above, whether
coming to power through armed struggle (Cuba, China, Russia), elections (Chile, Kerala,
Venezuela, Bolivia, or Ecuador), or popular uprising (Iran in 1978 and Egypt and Tunisia in
2011). It includes global social movements such as the global justice movement and movements
not aimed at taking state power such as the Zapatistas and Occupy. “Radical social change” is
thus the most encompassing of all these terms, broader and more relevant today than
“revolutions.”
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 a promising global climate justice movement that has emerged behind the slogan
“System change, not climate change!,” making demands for a socially just, scientifically
appropriate, ambitious, and legally binding climate treaty. To get such a treaty, governments
who do not want to vote for it, or whose short-term interests and economic elites are not served
by signing, will need to be persuaded and/or possibly forced to do so by their own citizens and
Earth citizens everywhere, and
 the Occupy Wall Street movements in the United States, which soon became Occupy
Everything and Occupy Planet Earth, and which have reopened paths to radical social change in
the here and now, including the Arab Spring of 2011
The locations of these three great movements – still in the process of emerging and
defining themselves – are many: Tunisia – Egypt – Seattle – Chiapas – Paris – Mexico City –
Prague 1968 – Kerala – Bolivia – Iceland – Venezuela – Syria – Argentina – Athens – London –
Porto Alegre – Dakar – Mumbai – Madison – Madrid – Ecuador – Uruguay – Benghazi –
Copenhagen – Barcelona – Yemen – Durban – Rio – Oman – France (again) – Seoul – Tehran –
Oaxaca – Japan – Bahrain – Occupy Wall Street – Occupy Oakland – Occupy Everywhere –
Occupy Planet Earth – it’s a long list if we know our histories of the present, with no end in
sight.
London and the United Kingdom have historically played important parts in struggles for
a better world: struggles for democracy that go back to the thirteen-century Magna Carta or the
seventeenth-century English revolution, the movement that led to the abolition of slavery in the
early nineteenth-century, the women’s movement for the vote before and after World War 1,
labor movements and socialist politics which secured for the U.K. a modern, European-style
social welfare state after World War 2, and since then, peace movements, anti-nuclear
movements, the Greenham Common women against U.S.-cruise missiles in Europe, the young
people of Climate Camp, today’s student movements, Occupy London, and many more.
Our course is a study of twenty-first century movements for global justice, with special
emphasis on the U.K. and London. For each of our cases, we will investigate such questions as:
What have been the causes of these movements for change? Why did the happen when and
where they did? Who has participated, and why? What visions of the ideal society have their
participants put forward? What have been their strategies for achieving global justice? What
obstacles have each of the movements confronted, and how much success – whatever that means
– have they experienced? What explains the outcomes to date of these dramatic struggles, and
what lessons do they hold for us?
Finally, we will think about whether there are likely to be further movements for radical
social change in the future – in our lifetimes, and if so, what forms these might take, and how
they could have different (hopefully, better) outcomes than such movements have had in the past.
Are they something that some of us would want to be part of? How would we do that?
The purpose of this course, then, is to get our heads round the reality that we now live on
an Earth in a state of considerable crisis and to explore the implications of this for living in a
better future.
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My Philosophy of Teaching and Learning
I consider teaching a radical act… and don’t forget that the Latin root of the word
“radical” actually means “going to the root”!
Learning and teaching are complex, endlessly fascinating collaborations. I learn
enormous amounts from the students in my classes, whom I consider companions on an
intellectual, potentially life-changing journey. My goals for my classes and myself include
honing our critical thinking skills, improving on the ways we write and speak, acquiring the
ability to work collaboratively, learning the art of applying theoretical concepts to actual
historical and contemporary situations, and making connections between what we study and how
we live.
In the course of more than twenty years of university teaching, I have come to value
interaction, participation, and exchange – discussion in its many forms – as the best way to teach
and learn. So we will teach and learn from each other.
We will do this through a variety of learning approaches, including discussions of many
kinds, student-led presentations, mini-lectures, incredible guest speakers, a novel, short video
clips, field trips, and films,
In the next 26 days, I will ask each of you to do a lot of reading, thinking, discussing, and
writing; my pledge is that engagement with these materials should prove a rewarding – and, who
knows? – quite possibly, a life-changing experience.
Texts
There will be a “good” amount of reading in this course, and you will be reading over the
weekends. The good news is that you decide what to read and how much of to read carefully.
You should find this includes some exciting and inspiring materials you can’t find elsewhere,
and which could change the way you view the world!
One book is required for this course, which you should purchase on Amazon, if possible,
before leaving the U.S. and bring to London:
Saci Lloyd, The Carbon Diaries 2015. London: Holiday House. 2010.
All other course readings are posted on our GauchoSpace for the class. Let me know if
you have any problems accessing them.
Students with Disabilities
This course welcomes and accommodates all interested students. Students with
disabilities who require accommodations to fully participate in course activities or meet course
requirements should speak to the Disabled Students Program, as well as the instructor. If you
qualify for services through the DSP, please turn in a letter of accommodation to the instructor.
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We will do everything possible to accommodate your individual needs. For more information, go
to http://dsp.sa.ucsb.edu/
GauchoSpace …
… is indispensible to our work, so check it regularly – https://gauchospace.ucsb.edu/ –
and that means you have to be on e-mail regularly as well.
Course Requirements
Policy on Plagiarism
The following quote is from the syllabus of Dr. LeeAnn G. Kryder, for Writing 109AC:
“Plagiarism is stealing. It is the copying of a part, or the whole, of another person’s work while
promoting the text as if you created it. Avoid plagiarism by acknowledging the author or source
of that idea or text. Plagiarism may jeopardize a student’s entire career” (note that I cite my
source here). If we detect plagiarism on any assignment (be aware that internet plagiarism is
among the easiest to detect), you will receive an F for the assignment, and quite possibly for the
course, as well as face potential disciplinary action from the University.
Now for the fun stuff! Everyone is expected to attend all class meetings and to prepare
reading assignments in order to participate fully in discussions. We know that speaking in class
is difficult for some – perhaps many – students, and we will all work together to ease the burden
of this. For help, see “On talking in class” on GauchoSpace. Participants will be asked on
occasion to facilitate the discussion in various ways, which we will work out together in class.
You should consult “How to Make a Good Presentation” before you undertake this important
class contribution. We will conduct the class in a discussion-based way most of the time, so you
must be prepared to participate at every meeting.
Attendance and Participation
Attendance at all class meetings is indispensable for making this course a success for all
of us. Class participation will be measured by attendance and participation in class, volunteering
once for presenting a reading, and general engagement with the materials. You may ask for the
occasional excused absence but I will have to see the reason for it within 24 hours of the missed
class, if not in advance, in order to honor your request. It is always greatly to your advantage to
attend class, as I will consider your participation to adjust final grades up or down.
The Written Assignments
Please note: The format guidelines for all papers in this course are 1” margins all around
and 12 point size. We would like all papers double-spaced, and printed on both sides (if
possible).
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Book review (twenty percent)
On Tuesday, July 10, you will be asked to bring to class a book review of no more than 3
double-spaced pages on Saci Lloyd’s novel, The Carbon Diaries 2015. Do not use your space to
summarize the novel. Beyond that, we have no set expectation for this review, other than to see
you engage with the book, analytically and/or emotionally. Be sure to state the reasons for your
views, and back them up with evidence, quotations, and reference to specific page numbers. If
you plagiarize your review, you will receive an “F” for the course.
Short reaction papers (forty percent)
During the quarter you should write two short “reaction” papers – each of no more than 3
double-spaced pages. These should cover one of the issues raised for you by the course
materials or class topics, whether analytic or emotional. In many cases a good way to proceed is
to present information, discuss a theory, identify a controversy, etc., then state your point of
view, and back it up with reasons and evidence. We want to know what you think, so please do
not waste valuable space in summarizing texts!
Your short reaction papers may take any of the following forms:
 A critical discussion (not a summary) of the current class readings, brought to the
class on the day we discuss the piece, or on the day after we discuss it
 A discussion (not a summary) of one of the in-class video clips or films we watch,
due within two class meetings of the screening
 A critical analysis of a news item – see list of news sources below – with the item
attached
 A review of a relevant film, talk, or event attended outside of class, agreed with the
instructor
Final essay (forty percent)
One longer essay of up to five double-spaced typed pages will constitute forty percent of
the grade for the course. The essay options are found at the end of this syllabus. The essay must
be completed and brought to class by 9 a.m. on Thursday, July 19.
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Thus, you can schedule your own work this term, know the questions well in advance,
and focus on the topics that you find most interesting! With this comes the responsibility for
careful planning and organization of your assignments, needless to say.
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Writing Resources
The class GauchoSpace contains several excellent guides on how to write well for this
class and all your classes, by John Foran, Chris Bickel, and Manuel Callahan. It is well worth
your while to study these before every piece of writing you do this summer (and for other classes
as well), until you feel you have mastered and can practice what they say.
Following the News: Tracking Current Issues
As the occasion arises, we may discuss current events, so please feel free to share news
with the class, especially if you are moved to report on the news for a reaction paper. Excellent
resources, among others, are:
The Guardian (the United Kingdom’s best newspaper): http://www.guardian.co.uk/
BBC News (England and U.K.’s news source of record): http://www.bbc.co.uk/
Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now!, the best source of progressive global political
journalism in the U.S.: http://www.democracynow.org/
www.tomdispatch.com – the weblog of U.S. historian and writer Tom Engelhardt is in
my view the world’s best English-language website for critical analysis of global social
movements, U.S. foreign and domestic policy, and the multiple crises of contemporary
capitalist globalization. You can subscribe to this at the website.
Course Topics and Reading Assignments
Week One:
The Crises of Globalization and the Need for Global Justice
Monday, June 25. First meeting: starting up…
Introduction to the course, and first class discussion. We will also start to screen
Capitalism Is The Crisis: Radical Politics in the Age of Austerity (directed by Michael Truscello,
2011, 99 minutes), a radical documentary that examines the roots of the Great Recession and a
shows a variety of paths out of the current crisis, including that of the global justice movement,
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/capitalism-is-the-crisis/
NOTE: Reading to be done before class starts
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Rebecca Solnit, “Iceberg Economies and Shadow Selves
Further Adventures in the Territories of Hope” (December 21, 2010), 1-6,
http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175335/
Tuesday, June 26. A Crisis of Globalization
Today, we will explore the nature of the several global crises that humanity faces in the
21st century, including poverty/inequality, militarism, economic fragility, and climate change.
Readings
Andy Kroll, “Unemployed: Stranded on the Sidelines of a Jobs Crisis”
(October 5, 2010), 1-8, http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175304/
Anup Shah, “World Military Spending,” 1-9,
http://www.globalissues.org/article/75/world-militaryspending#WorldMilitarySpending
Michael T. Klare, “A Tough-Oil World: Why Twenty-First Century Oil
Will Break the Bank – and the Planet” (March 13, 2012), 1-5,
http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175515/
Christian Parenti, “Reading the World in a Loaf of Bread: Soaring Food
Prices, Wild Weather, Upheaval, and a Planetful of Trouble” (July 19,
2011), 1-4, http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175419/
Film/video
We will complete our screening of Capitalism Is The Crisis: Radical Politics in
the Age of Austerity today, and discuss it in class.
Wednesday, June 27. A Beginner’s Guide to Global Justice and Radical Social Change
Today, we will looks at some of the ways in which social movements for radical social
change in the name of global justice have emerged in response to the threats faced by an earth in
crisis.
Readings
Rebecca Solnit, “The Butterfly and the Boiling Point: Charting the Wild
Winds of Change in 2011” (March 20, 2011), 1-7,
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175369/tomgram%3A_rebecca_solnit%
2C_hope_and_turmoil_in_2011/
John Foran, “From Critical Globalization Studies and Public Sociology to
Global Crisis Studies and Global Justice Work: A Manifesto for Radical
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Social Change,” New Global Studies 4 (2) 1 (2010), 1-15,
http://www.bepress.com/ngs/vol4/iss2/1
Jonathan Schell, “How Empires Fall (Including the American One)”
(March 1, 2012), 1-8, http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175510/
John Holloway, “Break,” part I of Crack Capitalism (London: Pluto
Press, 2010), 1-10
Film/video
The Shape of Water (2006, directed by Kum-Kum Bhavnani, 71 minutes)
Thursday, June 28. London in Crisis: The Unseen Tour…
Today, we embark on a fieldtrip to see some of the effects of globalization on the
people of London.
Readings
Dave Zirin, “Mind the Gap: London’s Olympic Games Are Falling Down”
(May 30, 2012), 1-2, http://www.thenation.com/blog/168131/mind-gaplondons-olympic-games-are-falling-down
Susan Watkins, “Blue Labour,” New Left Review (May-June 2010), 5-15
Simon Rogers and Hélène Mulholland, “Poverty is shifting from inner to
outer London,” Guardian (April 11, 2012), 1-2,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/apr/11/poverty-shifting-outer-londonreport
Week Two:
Roots and Visions of the Global Justice Movement, 1994 to the Present
Monday, July 2. It all (maybe) began with the Zapatistas…
Today, we explore the rise of a global justice movement and its roots in the Zapatista
uprising of 1994.
Readings
Wikipedia, “Zapatista Army of National Liberation,” 1-9,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapatista_Army_of_National_Liberation
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Subcomandante Marcos and EZLN excerpts in Subcomandante Marcos,
Shadows of Tender Fury: The Letters and Communiqués of
Subcomandante Marcos and the Zapatista Army of National Liberation,
translated by Frank Bardacke, Leslie López, and the Watsonville,
California, Human Rights Committee (New York: Monthly Review Press,
1995), 80-82, 170-3, 191-3, 209-15, 229-39
Michel Lowy, “Sources and Resources of Zapatism,” in Daniel Castro,
editor, Revolution and Revolutionaries: Guerrilla Movements in Latin
America (Wilmington: Scholarly Resources/Jaguar Books on Latin
America, 1999), 215-19
Wikipedia, “Anti-globalization,” 1-14, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiglobalization_movement
Film
Zapatista! (1998, produced by Benjamin Eichert et al., Big Noise Films,
54 minutes)
Tuesday, July 3. Visions of Global Justice
Today, we will discover the movement through its own self expressions.
Readings
Anonymous, A User’s Guide to Demanding the Impossible (Brooklyn:
Autonomedia, 2010)
“Capitalism Has Only Hurt Latin America” (an interview with Evo
Morales), Der Spiegel (August 28, 2006), 1-6
Amory Starr, Global Revolt: A Guide to the Movements against
Globalization (London, Zed Press, 2005). Access and skim some of the
book on:
http://books.google.com/books?id=gU55Y5D83wcC&printsec=frontcover
&dq=Global+Revolt:++A+Guide+to+the+Movements+against+Globalizat
ion&hl=en&ei=4nuRTcvFFJS8sQOCkPjeDg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=
result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
Film
This is What Democracy Looks Like (2000, Big Noise, 69 minutes)
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Wednesday, July 4. The Girl in the Café
Today, we will take a pause in our reading to look at a delightful feature film about
global justice with a U.K. story-line set in the period of the Tony Blair Labor Party government
(1997-2007), and showing the power an individual may have to effect change at a global level.
Readings
Wikipedia et al., The Girl in the Café, 1-4
Film/video
The Girl in the Café (directed by David Yates, starring Bill Nighy and
Kelly Macdonald, Tightrope Pictures, 2005, 95 minutes).
Thursday, July 5. Manifestos and Strategies for Global Justice Activists
Today, we continue our work on understanding the outlooks and perspectives of the
global justice movement…
Readings
Ana Sofia Suarez and Shimri Zameret, “A Manifesto for Regime Change
on Behalf of All Humanity,” The Guardian, 14 October 2011, 1-2,
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/14/manifesto-globalregime-change
Porto Alegre Manifesto, February 20, 2005, 1-3,
http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/200502/20group_of_nineteen.cfm
CLIMATE SIREN - 23 JUNE 2012, “We are calling for a great effort of
civil disobedience in the UK,” 1-2, www.climate-siren.com
Declaration of the Social Movements Assembly, World Social Forum,
February 10, 2011, Dakar, Senegal, 1-3
Video clip
Shimri Zameret, one of the authors of an “A Manifesto for Regime
Change on Behalf of All Humanity,” refused to be conscripted into the
Israeli when he left school in protest to the illegal occupation of the
Palestinian territories and spent almost two years in prison:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9r7MiZjt6I
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Week Three:
Global Climate Justice
Monday, July 9. A Glimpse of the Future
Today, we will take a first look at how climate change results from the social system that
we know and live in, and we will screen the film, The Age of Stupid (directed by Franny
Armstrong, with Pete Postlethwaite, One-Off Productions, Ltd, 88 minutes).
Readings
John Urry, “High carbon lives,” from his book Climate Change and
Society (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2011), 48-65
Madeline Ostrander, “When Words Fail: Does a Warming World Need a
New Vocabulary?” (September 19, 2011), 1-5,
http://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/when-words-fail-does-a-warmingworld-need-a-new-vocabulary
Joel Kovel, “A Conference that will live in Infamy,” Capitalism Nature
Socialism 21 (1) (March 2010): 1-2
John Foran and Richard Widick, “Breaking the Stalemate on Climate
Change: The Long Road from Durban,” 1-14
Frances Moore Lappé, “Free Your (Eco) Mind” (April 12, 2012), 1-6,
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/04/20-10
Video clip
Patrick Bond of the Centre for Civil Society, University of KwaZulu
Natal, South Africa, on climate change and climate activism,
http://systemchange.ca/?page_id=21
Tuesday, July 10. A Glimpse of London’s Future in 2015
Today, we’ll look first at one possible future for London by exploring Saci Lloyd’s The
Carbon Diaries 2015, with the author, guest speaker Saci Lloyd.
Note: Your book reviews of The Carbon Diaries 2015 are due today in class.
Wednesday, July 11. Visions of the Global Climate Justice Movement
Today, we will “listen” to some of the voices of the global climate justice movement, and
try to figure out what it stands for. Note: class may end early today.
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Readings
Camp for Climate Action, 1-3, http://climatecamp.org.uk/about
Bolivian UN Ambassador Pablo Solon on the World Peoples’ Summit on
Climate Change and Rights of Mother Earth, Democracy Now! (April 19,
2009), 1-4,
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/19/bolivian_un_ambassador_pablo
_solon_on
World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother
Earth, “Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth,”
Cochabamba, Bolivia (April 27, 2010), 1-3,
http://climateandcapitalism.com/?p=2268
Sarah van Gelder, Madeline Ostrander, and Doug Pibel, “Climate Action:
What Will it Take to Avert Disastrous Climate Change?” Climate Action,
52 (Winter 2010), 1-4, http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/climateaction/climate-action-what-will-it-take-to-avert-disastrous-climate-change
Danny Chivers, The No-Nonsense Guide to Climate Change, chapter 9:
“What is it going to take?,” chapter 10: “What might a zero-carbon future
look like?”; and chapter 11: “Ten top tips to save the planet,” 170-196
Video clip
Tom Smith, “We’re Not Done Yet,” a remarkable interview with a young
British climate activist who explains what is at stake for him and many
other climate campaigners: http://yesmagazine.org/planet/were-not-doneyet
Thursday, July 12. Left-Green Politics in the U.K. and Ecosocialism, or, perhaps, the Most
Revolutionary Idea on Planet Earth
“Ecosocialism” combines a critique of capitalism as the cause of the crisis of planet
Earth with an alternative model for a future that would be ecologically advanced, economically
just, and politically free.
Today’s guest speaker, Derek Wall, has served as principal speaker for the Green Party of
England and Wales, is a founder member of the Green Left, an anti-capitalist and eco-socialist
current within the Green Party, and has authored a number of books, including The No-Nonsense
Guide to Green Politics (Oxford: New Internationalist, 2010).
Readings
Derek Wall, The No-Nonsense Guide to Green Politics (Oxford: New
Internationalist, 2010), chapter 6: “Strategies for Survival,” 104-127
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Wikipedia, “Derek Wall,” 1-7, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derek_Wall
Joel Kovel and Michael Löwy, “An Ecosocialist Manifesto” (September
2001), 1-4, http://www.iefd.org/manifestos/ecosocialist_manifesto.php
Week Four:
The Future of Global Justice
Monday, July 16. 2011: Year of the Protestor
Today, we take a look at the explosion of movements for radical social change around the
world in 2011.
Readings
Time Magazine, “Year of the Protester” (December 14, 2011), 1-13,
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2101745_21
02132_2102373,00.html
Greg Burris, “Lawrence of E-rabia: Facebook and the New Arab Revolt,”
Jadaliyya (October 17, 2011), 1-4,
http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/2884/lawrence-of-erabia_facebook-and-the-new-arab-revo
Aditya Nigam, “The Arab Upsurge and the ‘Viral’ Revolutions of Our
Time,” Interface: A Journal for and about Social Movements 4 (1) (May
2012), 165-177
Chris Hedges, “Why the Elites Are in Trouble” (October 10, 2012), 1-6,
https://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/10/10-1
Video clip
“Revolution in Cairo,” a special report from Frontline (this video may or
may not be viewable from the U.K.):
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/revolution-in-cairo/
Video clip
Democracy Now!, Year of Global Uprisings, from the Arab Spring to
Occupy Wall Street: A Special Look Back at 2011, January 2, 2012,
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/1/2/year_of_global_uprisings_from_
the
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Tuesday, July 17. Occupy the U.K., Occupy the UC
Clare Solomon will be our guest today. She has served as President of the University of
London Union, and is the co-editor of Springtime: The New Student Rebellions (London: Verso,
2011).
Websites
Please explore the websites Occupy California at http://occupyca.wordpress.com
and After the Fall is Now: Communiqués from Occupied California at
http://afterthefallcommuniques.info/
Readings
Clare Solomon, “We felt liberated,” in Clare Solomon and Tania Palmieri,
editors, Springtime: The New Student Rebellions (London: Verso, 2011),
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“Communiqué from an Absent Future: On the terminus of Student Life,”
in Clare Solomon and Tania Palmieri, editors, Springtime: The New
Student Rebellions (London: Verso, 2011), 151-160, available at:
http://wewanteverything.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/communique-froman-absent-future/
“Anti-Capital Projects: Q&A,” in Clare Solomon and Tania Palmieri,
editors, Springtime: The New Student Rebellions (London: Verso, 2011),
165-169
Wikipedia, “Occupy London,” 1-10,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occupy_London
Video clip
University of London Union president Clare Solomon debates with Aaron
Porter and Simon Hughes MP on BBC 2 Newsnight Programme,
November 10, 2010, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZZw2EBWtdM
Wednesday, July 18. The Future of Global Justice: Why Not Occupy Everything?
Today, we will consider the future of Occupy and the prospects and limitations of the
global justice movements we have studied this summer.
Readings
Andy Kroll, “How Occupy Wall Street Really Got Started” (October 17,
2011), 1-4, http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/10/occupy-wall-streetinternational-origins
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Rebecca Solnit, “Throwing out the Master’s Tools and Building a Better
House,” Znet (November 11, 2011), 1-7,
http://www.zcommunications.org/throwing-out-the-master-s-tools-andbuilding-a-better-house-by-rebecca-solnit
Redux, “The Do-It-Yourself Occupation Guide” (2012)1-16,
http://anarchistnews.org/content/do-it-yourself-occupation-guide-2012redux,
Chris Hedges, “The Cancer in Occupy” (Feb 6, 2012), 1-5,
http://www.truthdig.com/report/page2/the_cancer_of_occupy_20120206/,
1-5
David Graeber, “Concerning the Violent Peace-Police – An Open Letter to
Chris Hedges” (February 9, 2012), 1-7,
http://nplusonemag.com/concerning-the-violent-peace-police
Video clip: Julian Assange show on Occupy: http://assange.rt.com/ [27:30]
Thursday, July 19. The Struggle for Global Justice Never Ends…
Today, we will conclude our work together with a variety of activities and reflections.
Be prepared to share your thoughts on the course and to be surprised!
The Essay Questions
Due in class, Thursday, July 19
*** Choose One ***
Your essay should be no more than five double-spaced typed pages (1” margins, 12 point
size). Study the different parts of your question carefully before writing, and be sure to address
each part. You must cite the readings in your answer to do a good job, in addition to ideas from
class meetings, films and video clips, guest speakers, outside readings, and your own
interpretations. We are looking for your own statement on the issues, indicating that you
understand them, as well as the reasons for your views.
Before you write an essay, it might be good to read or re-read John Foran, “Tips for
Writers,” and Chris Bickel, “A Writer’s Guide,” at the front of the course reader. You’ll do
better on the papers if you do all this!
Note: Feel free to discuss the questions and your ideas with classmates, until you start
writing, and with John or Summer at any point. The writing, and expression of arguments, must
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be yours alone and should be shown to no one. If you do discuss the issues with classmates,
simply note in writing on the essay whom you spoke with.
Theme One: The Origins, Vision, and Prospects of the Global Justice Movement
Why has the global justice movement arisen? What are its key issues, most compelling
visions, and most promising strategies? Should non-democratic or violent strategies be
considered by global justice activists? Why or why not? What is the potential of the global
justice movement, in your view? Is a “global revolution” or a “post-capitalist” society possible
in your lifetime? If yes, what would it look like, and how would it occur? If no, why not?
Theme Two: Radical Social Change in 2011 and Beyond
How did the world change in 2011? What do the Arab Spring and Occupy movements
mean for the future of radical social change? Can democratic movements for global justice
succeed in today’s world? If you believe they can succeed, why do you think this? If not, why
not? Which aspects of the current crisis identified in our second class meeting can be resolved
for the better, in your view, and how? What is likely to be the outcome of the crisis?
Theme Three: The Ends of Global Justice
Is a “global revolution” or a “post-capitalist” society possible to achieve in your lifetime?
What would it look like, and how would it occur? Do you think you would ever contribute to
radical social change, and if so, how? If not, why not?