Biblio

This brief history of opposition to nuclear weapons has a global focus, though from a US perspective, and covers the evolution of the movement up to 1991. It starts in 1944 with the opposition of nuclear scientists. The author argues that the movement included an array of tactics, from radical dissent to public protest to opposition within the government, and succeeded in constraining the arms race and helping to make the use of nuclear weapons politically unacceptable.

Story of six Maolucho women from the Campo Maripe community in the Argentine Patagonia, who have resisted fracking where they live by chaining themselves to fracking rigs and barricades. Pineiro represents the women as representative of the Latin American wide resistance by indigenous women to oil extraction.

Addresses how photography (using photographs taken in the USA and Australia) can illuminate the unimaginable, namely nuclear catastrophe, in order to fuel the imagination in the search for alternatives that lead to a world free of nuclear weapons.

Numerous protests took place round the world contemporaneously with the global economic crisis, but the left in Europe as a whole failed to organize. This gap should be filled by Blockupy, a European network of activists composed of trade unionists, political parties and different social movements. The article traces the history of this organization and assesses how far Blockupy has the power to create a new left movement in Germany.

The authors note that many of the groups in the Bolivian coalition mobilizing against global warming draw on indigenous philosophy and worldviews to oppose value commitments to economic development. Drawing on fieldwork in 2010, they assess the relationship between state and non-state actors and argue that the coalition has had a significant global impact, despite the failure of multilateral climate change negotiations. See also article by the same authors: 'Bolivia vs. the Billionaires: Limitations of the "Climate Justice Movement" in International Negotiations', Nacla: reporting on the Americans since 1967, Vol. 46, issue 2, 2013, pp.  27-31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10714839.2013.11722008 Examine's Bolivia's role at UN Conferences in Copenhagen and Doha and notes the strength of the opposition, not only from powerful global companies blocking real reduction iof carbon emissions, but 'the capitalist economy itself'. They also discuss the World People's Conference in Bolivia in 2010 and report criticisms of Evo Morales reliance on extractive industries f or economic development, despite his 'anti-capitalist discourse'.

The article focuses on the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Chinese state since 1980 through the prism of 'institutional theory', and charts developments in Wenzhou. It identifies four phases in state policy: religious restoration, tighter control, 'management' of religion, and limiting religious influence. The Church has responded in the past by 'accommodation, negotiation, confrontation and resistance', but in recent years tended towards greater resistance.

Nigerian novelist Helon Habila tells the stories of the girls who have been kidnapped by Boko Harama in the northern part of Nigeria and the impact on their families. Having a deep understanding of the historical context, the author also illuminates the long history of colonialism, and the influence of cultural and religious dynamics that gave rise to conflicts in this region.

Annotated bibliography, with an emphasis on recently published books and articles, compiled by two researchers in the field of nonviolent resistance, organised under useful analytical subheads.  These include: 'Power and People: The Consent-Based View of Political Power', 'Structure, Agency and Civil Resistance Movements',  'Repression, Backfire and Defections', 'External Actors, Civil Resistance and International Law' 'Civil Resistance against Extreme Violence and Violent Nonstate Actors' and Civilian-Based Defense against Foreign Invasion and Coups' d 'Etat'. Ends with a list of multimedia resources. Available online at https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Civil-Resistance-Bartkowski-Merriman-2016.pdf

After a general overviews of politics and resistance in the region, experts on individual countries explore the immediate impact of the Arab Spring in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, Yemen and Syria, and the subsequent developments, discussing the reasons for reassertion of repression on Bahrain and later Egypt; political breakdown in Libya and civil war intensified by external interference in Yemen and Syria. There are also chapters on the monarchical response to pressure for reform in Jordan and Morocco, and why the Arab Spring did not ignite massive resistance in Palestine. Adam Roberts provides a concluding assessment of the problems of using civil resistance in the Arab Spring, the difficulties of democratization, and the lessons to be learned. 

This publication focuses on the role of the Japanese hibakusha’s (atomic bomb survivors) experience in advocating for a Treaty that could ban nuclear weapons. It also discusses the impact of nuclear weapons on the environment as well as the human body, and offers arguments that delegitimise nuclear violence.

The article examines how far in the US consuming green products is linked to a desire to alter corporate practices that lead to climate change. It finds that concern about global warming and belief in consumer activism does predict ‘green purchasing, behaviour and opinion leadership’. The authors note the role of communications in promoting both concern about global warming and belief in consumer activism. See also Laurence, Bill, ‘Boycotts are a crucial weapon to fight environment-harming firms’, The Conversation, 6 April 2014. https://theconversation.com/boycotts-are-a-crucial-weapon-to-fight-environment-harming-firms-25267

In the context of rapid growth in consumption of green products in the US, the authors use national survey data to test their hypothesis that people's beliefs about global warming as well as their beliefs about consumer activism, predict their approach to green consumerism.   See also: Del Valle, Gaby, 'Can Consumer choices Ward Off the Worst Effects of Climate Change? An Expert Explains', Vox, 12 Oct. 2018, Notes that the 2018 UN report on climate change warns less than two decades to limit global warming to 1.5% centigrade, and that in response proposals made for individual actions in response on issues such as meat eating and transport.  But the article also notes that the Climate Accountability Institute in its 2017 'Carbon Majors' report traced 70% of greenhouse gas emissions to 100 companies, which suggests individual actions 'futile'. The article notes that individuals can also reduce emissions per household through energy efficiency and altering houses to conserve energy. 

This study, based on over 1000 slogans and other texts and visual material, assesses the 'community with fluid borders' created by the movement, and the different 'cultural repertoires' including traditional Chinese philosophy and pop music. The author argues that the occupation also tried to develop a form of 'discursive democracy', and was an attempt to create a new civic culture among the younger generation.

This paper identifies the impact of rampant sexual harassment on Egypt’s legal culture. As it had been vaguely defined in Egyptian laws and largely condoned by the society and justice system, sexual harassment increased over the years in both the frequency and in the intensity of its violence. As a result, legal initiatives and grassroots movements arose attempting to criminalise sexual harassment and end its social acceptability. With the fall of Mubarak, the human rights movements optimistically continued to call for an anti-sexual harassment law, but due to the continuing political turmoil, the struggle was more arduous than expected. Three years after the uprising, sexual harassment was finally criminalised and efforts to change public attitudes towards it continue, but the will of the state to enforce the law, beyond statements and promises, is yet to be proven.

In 2012 Uruguay became the second country in Latin America to decriminalize abortion during the first trimester. Drawing on original field research, this article argues that the reform was due to the existence of a strong campaign for decriminalization. The women’s movement framed their case to resonate within civil society, gathered support from key social actors, and collaborated closely with sympathetic legislators. Success was also due to the limited influence of the Catholic Church, a president open to abortion reform, and a highly institutionalized party system creating a strong leftist coalition.

An analysis of the theocratic regime installed in 1979 and the problems facing the country, including corruption and cronyism, deep economic inequality and a brain drain of professionals. The author discusses the potential of the Green Revolution and its suppression, considers whether there is any scope to reform the regime from within, and concludes that the best hope is another revolution. See also: Boroumand, Ladan, 'Iran's Exclusionary Republic', Journal of Democracy, vol. 29 no. 2. (April 2018), pp. 406. This review of the 2016 book Democracy in Iran (see below) begins by commenting on the mass demonstrations that broke out in late December 2017 across 72 cities, calling for regime change, and how they were suppressed (48 killed and 4,792 arrests). Boroumand asks how 'recurrent explosions of popular anger in the Islamic Republic can be explained, and how the most recent protests related to the strong majority vote for the moderate President Rouhani six months earlier. She then turns to the book as a helpful analysis of developments since 1979, when Ayatollah Khomeini came to power.

The author, drawing on fieldwork in unofficial labour organizations, examines how, rather than stage risky collective protests, these groups quite often assist individuals to demand their rights by appealing to officials. She concludes that 'disguised collective action' can secure concessions for participants and enable activists to find 'a middle ground between challenging authorities and organizational survival'.

Describes the main legislative instruments protecting women from sexual violence in Egypt, up to 2016. These are: the Egyptian Constitution of 2014 and the Criminal Code of 1937 and amendments to it. The report also discusses suggestions which have been made for improving the legal system.

Account of the revolt against Mubarak by a Guardian journalist, based on first hand contact with activists, but also people in slums and factories and those living outside Cairo, and covering earlier development of the workers' activism and unionism and also village revolts against landowners. It includes wider-ranging historical analysis of Egypt's political and economic relations with the West.

Fazzi explores Eleanor Roosevelt’s involvement in the global campaign for nuclear disarmament during the early years of the Cold War. Based on an extensive research, it assesses her overall contribution and shows how she constantly tried to raise awareness of the real hazards of nuclear testing.

This is a book examining what strategy protesters should adopt and critical of some common leftist assumptions, but is based on the author's role in the Occupy movement. He discusses Occupy at length, outlining its origins and reflecting on the tactic of occupation, and the movement's failure to adopt additional approaches and develop a movement capable of  promoting wider social change.

Report on a workshop organized by Global Justice Now, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Brussels Office and the Transnational Institute to develop the concept of 'energy democracy' agreed by the German climate justice movement at the 2012 Climate Camp in Lausitz. The aim is to ensure access for all to non-polluting energy, entailing an end to fossil fuel us e, democratizing the means of production and rethinking energy consumption.  The workshop noted that since 2012 many communal, municipal, worker and movement initiatives were making the concept a reality: for example in Bristol in S.W. England, with a co-operatively owned solar generation project and a new publicly owned municipal supply company See also: 'Just Transition and Energy Democracy: a civil service trade union perspective, PCS pamphlet, adopted at PCS conference May 2017. (It was also being promoted in translation by the Portuguese Climate Jobs campaign.) Argues for public ownership and democratic control of energy supplies, and for the creation of a National Climate Service (proposed by the One Million Climate Jobs campaign, launched by the Campaign Against Climate Change Trade Union Group (CACCTU). See also: Greener Jobs Alliance: www.greenerjobsalliance.co.uk; Trade Unions for Energy Democracy (TUED) a global trade union community for energy democracy coordinated in New York in cooperation with the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, New York office. https://energydemocracy.us/

This report by the feminist civil society body, Urgent Action Fund of Latin America and the Caribbean, focuses on the role of women in protecting and defending nature, and warns of increasing risks to their lives and environment. The report discusses ‘the extractive model’ and the social-environmental conflicts it creates, and also the disturbing militarization and violations of women’s rights, including those defending their environment. The report outlines proposals made by women for defence of territory, and also stresses the diversity of the approaches, organizations and activities developed by Latin American women.

This paper aims to assess the ideology of feminism and feminist criticism, with the aim of affirming its success in Africa over the years while focusing on intra-gender relations among women as reflected in Gynotexts, namely literary texts written by women. The author finds that the present relationship between female characters in gynotexts does not promote feminist ideology but is inimical to it. Because healthy sisterhood is not often depicted This is because the lack of healthy sisterhood (though this is not necessarily inherent in women's writing) this omission detracts from the realization of the goals of the feminist movement in Africa'.