Biblio

Provides a round up of what UK based environmental bodies were doing to foreground climate and environmental issues in the run-up to the Glasgow Conference, both in terms of  protest and direct action and in terms of green initiatives such as creating 'green towns'.  It also references the website of the COP 26 Coalition.

This article starts by suggesting the popular resistance in Sudan led the military to make a deal with the civilian politicians they had jailed, but on terms ensuring military control.  It also notes the refusal by the resistance committees that led the 2019 revolution to accept power sharing. Muzan traces the evolution from the 2019 revolution to the coup, stressing that political parties had been dominant in the transition civilian government. He also comments on the economic problems, including very high inflation, which had led to popular unrest, which might have encouraged the coup plotters.

Nowack examines the struggle between 1999 and 2003 to prevent the President serving a third term contrary to the constitution. Drawing on newspaper reports and interviews he argues that a decline in party support and a strong civil society were key, conditions imposed by aid donors and international democracy promotion influenced both these internal factors.

This article positions the Indian farmers’ movement within a conversation about climate justice because a significant demography of farmers in India are dependent on rainfall for the growth of crops. The author highlights that due to uneven rainfall patterns caused by climate change, instances of drought and rainfall are frequent, leading to a feeling of uncertainty about rainfall and sense of insecurity about crops.

This article sets the Indian farmers' movement within the context of climate justice, since farmers, who are a significant proportion of the population, are dependent on rainfall for their crops.  Due to climate change farmers are increasingly affected by changing rainfall patterns and suffering from drought.

The article starts with an analysis of the personal as well as the institutional factors leading to the 2021 coup.  It then assesses the special situation in Rakhine State (previously the kingdom of Arakan), home to Muslim minorities including the Rohingya, and to Arakan Buddhists, who are hostile to both Muslims and to the Burmese (Buddhist) government.

This study of the #EndSARS protests that shook Nigeria in October and November 2020 considers how far they can be related to more violent acts of insurgency such as Boko Haram. The study adopts a historical framework and draws on qualitative and quantitative research methods to explore how endemic governmental corruption and 'the re-enslavement and recolonization' of citizens' by political leaders has led to youth rebellion. The authors conclude that protest and violent forms of revolt will not cease until the deep-seated causes are tackled. See also: Oloyede, F. and A.A. Elega, (2019) 'Exploring Hashtag Activism in Nigeria. A Case of #EndSARS Campaign'. Conference Proceedings: 5th in Communication and Media Studies (CRPC 2018) Famagusta. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, pp. 1-7.

A report on the resistance movement six weeks after the coup. This is one of a number of relevant articles carried by The Conversation (an independent international source of news and analysis run by academics) on the coup and resistance to it and on the wider context in Myanmar. 

This introduction to a substantial report on the latest phase in Kyrgyz politics provides an analysis of the events of October 2020 to February 2021 against the background of the recent political past, including the legacy of the anti-Uzbek violence in 2010.

The article describes the change in police tactics from earlier protests, including immediate intervention to stop obstruction of roads and the use of batons. It then discusses briefly the changes in XR's own approach: the emphasis shifting from 'sounding the alarm' to demanding why there is not 'an emergency response'. See also: 'XR's Latest Rebellion', Peace News, October-November 2021, p.7. Outlines briefly plans for a fortnight of action directed at stopping fossil fuel investment and focused mainly on the City of London.  On the same page there is a brief report on XR Scotland's appeal to all XR activists to respect XR Scotland's 'COP 26 Rebel Agreement' to show respect for the most vulnerable local communities and to demand a just transition for workers and local communities.

Provides a well informed summary of the context and nature of the October military coup. See also: 'Sudan: Coup de Grace', The Economist, 27 November 2021, p. 55. This analysis of the coup leaders' decision to reinstate Prime Minister Hamdok interprets this move as' the army tightening its grip on Sudan's political transition. 

Zunes, a well known theorist of civil resistance and Middle East expert, interviewed activists and civil society groups involved in the movement to overthrow Omar as-Bashir to produce this study. He also interviewed journalists and academics who covered the movement.

Almost a year after protests began, the author reports on the detention of political activists, but also the evolution of decentralized networked forms of communication to promote mobilization against the Thai establishment.

Ockey notes that the Covid pandemic interrupted student-led protests for constitutional reform.  When they resumed students demanded not only constitutional amendments already being considered by parliament, but the resignation of the prime minister, dissolution of parliament and reform of the monarchy.  He notes fears of violence between students and royalists or security forces. 

The article argues that the success of the campaign which resulted in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons provides an example of how global mobilisation around a moral idea can have significant political results. Noting that the Parsi Agreement on limiting climate change does not even mention fossil fuels, the authors argue for a 'Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty'. This would impose a moratorium on developing fossil fuels by rich countries, phase out their use, provide for an end to extracting such fuels, and offer technological support to developing countries to increase alternative sources of energy. They note that growing numbers of people, including prominent political figures like Mary Robinson, now support the idea of a treaty to keep almost all remaining fossil fuels underground.

Combs, a US researcher, travelled throughout Myanmar after 2011 when people were becoming more willing to talk, and interviewed a wide range of people from a punk rocker to a monk. He also observed the role of Buddhism in society and politics, including the fear and hostility towards Muslim minorities. 

Reports the jubilation of pro-choice demonstrators in Buenos Aires after the Senate (which had voted down legalization of abortion in 2018) passed a law allowing termination in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy for any reason.  Argentina became then third South American country (after Uruguay and Guyana) to decriminalize abortion, and there are likely to b repercussions across the region. The authors summarize the five years of mass campaigning by the women’s movement in Argentina that led to this result. See also: ‘Green Wave, Blue Water: Abortion in Latin America’, Economist, 9 Jan. 2021, pp.41-2. This article discusses the significance of and probable repercussions of the legalization of abortion in Argentina, in the context of the generally very restrictive position in many other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.  The article notes the possible positive repercussions in Peru and Mexico and that legalizing abortion may be raised in proposed constitutional change in Chile.  But the article also warns that the Argentinian law will mobilize forces strongly opposed to abortion.

Provides an account of who is protesting in the camps around Delhi, why the farmers oppose the government's new farm laws, the government's responses to the protests, and future plans. 

Provides profiles of some of the women who have taken to the streets to protest against the military coup and demand a return to democracy.

The article draws on interviews with 150 university and 150school students, focus groups and observation of 16 protests to ascertain why high school students joined the demonstrations.  The author concludes that they were rebelling both against conservative, authoritarian and repressive educational systems, and against political institutions - especially the monarchy.

This article provides a useful overview of the immediate and longer term causes of the May 2021 protests, the responses by the government and the international reactions. It notes that New York Times videos showed police firing on demonstrators, as well as gas canisters and other 'low lethal' devices, but also considers briefly whether the protesters too have used violence and the impact of road blocks.

Hundai examines the predominantly Sikh farmers protests centred on Delhi in the context of the history of religious pogroms in India, and notes that fear of persecution has resurfaced within the Sikh community.

The interviews with Dr Sasa, minister for international cooperation in the National Unity Government (NUG) representing the resistance, and with two railway workers involved in the Civil Disobedience Movement, are prefaced by a brief summary of the policy of the  NUG.  The article stresses the ethnic diversity of the NUG and its call for the abolition of the 2008 constitution and the 1982 citizenship law used to exclude the Rohingya.

The authors stress that it is too early to provide either a comprehensive or definitive account of the unfolding  protest movement. Their aim is to cover the main events, to outline the immediate background to the protests, and to draw on current research and surveys to indicate some explanations.

Following the rise of tensions between the US and Iran during 2019 and the increased of awareness within the public of the catastrophic consequences of a nuclear attack, this article critically discuss the potential for movements to advocate a ‘No First Use’ policy in the US, and the potential embedded within the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.