Interview: Ukraine's Fractures

Author(s): Volodymyr Ischenko

In: New Left Review, No 87 (May/June), 2014

Assessment by a Marxist sociologist in Ukraine who demonstrated in 2000 against the Kuchma regime. Topics include: the role of the far right in Euromaidan (he argues that an organised and effective minority was promoting nationalist slogans); the changing of the social composition of protesters; the interim goverment; the cultural roots of the eastern Ukrainian uprisings for independence, and the election of President Poroshenko.

Available online at:

https://newleftreview.org/II/87/volodymyr-ishchenko-ukraine-s-fractures

Revolution 2.0: The Power of the People is Greater than the People in Power

Author(s): Wael Ghonim

Fourth Estate, London, 2012, pp. 308

Memoir of activist who works for Google and focused particularly on promoting the revolution online. He anonymously ran the Facebook page demanding justice for Khaled Said, a young man beaten to death by police in Alexandria in June 2010, and promoted brief demonstrations, for example a ‘silent stand’ by people wearing black and holding hands to express their anger at the lack of justice for Khaled. The Facebook page attracted over 350,000 members.

How People Reclaimed Public Spaces in Beirut during the 2019 Lebanese Uprising

Author(s): Wael Sinno

In: The Journal of Public Space, Vol 5, No 1, 2020, pp. 193-228

In the context of discussing the importance of public spaces where citizens can protest and make public speeches, this article examines how the Lebanese demonstrators have used and reshaped multipupose public spaces such as streets, open public spaces such as gardens, and abandoned urban facilites such as a partially built cinema.

Waging Nonviolence

Editor(s): Waging Nonviolence

The Waging Nonviolence website provides extensive information about past as well as present movements and protests, and also about key figures in the practice and theory of nonviolent action. It includes discussion of strategy and tactics in campaigning. Between its foundation in 2009 and 2020 the website carried reports from contributors in over 80 countries, giving special emphasis to often under-reported movements in the Global South and to issues not covered in mainstream media.

Available online at:

http://wagingnonviolence.org

From the ashes: The rebirth of the Philippine revolution – a review essay

Author(s): Walden Bello

In: Third World Quarterly, Vol 8, No 1 (January), 1986, pp. 258-276

Leftist academic discusses sympathetically the role of the left and armed revolution in the countryside, but also explores the ‘legal, semi-legal and clandestine mass struggles in the cities’. Notes the creation by 1975 of a militant workers’ movement and the 1975 year-long wave of over 400 strikes, as well as networks among Catholics, professionals and students.

Aquino’s elite populism: Initial reflections

Author(s): Walden Bello

In: Third World Quarterly, Vol 8, No 3 (July), 1986, pp. 1020-1030

Observes that Cory Aquino’s movement seen as a third force by the US, though author rebuts US claims to have supported her before the fall of Marcos. Describes movement as ‘a genuine populist phenomenon’ with base in urban middle class, bringing onto the streets the lower middle class, unemployed workers and shanty town residents. Aquino avoided ties to the left, and did not need them to win the election, though – Bello claims – the left had paved the way for her ultimate success.

Nuclear Weapons and Christian Conscience

With Foreword by Archbishop Roberts.

Editor(s): Walter Stein

Merlin Press, London, 1981, pp. 163

Originally published: 1961

Essays by six leading Catholic thinkers on the moral issues raised by nuclear weapons. Had considerable influence in Christian and wider circles. The 1981 edition has a postscript by Anthony Kenny on Counterforce and Countervalue nuclear doctrines.

Young feminist activists in present-day China: A new feminist generation?

Author(s): Wang Qi

In: China Perspectives, Vol 3, No 114, 2018, pp. 59-68

This article studies post-2000 Chinese feminist activism from a generational perspective. It operationalises three notions of generation - 1) generation as an age cohort; 2) generation as a historical cohort; and 3) "political generation" - to shed light on the question of generation and generational change in post-socialist Chinese feminism. The study shows how the younger generation of women have come to the forefront of feminist protest in China and how the historical conditions they live in have shaped their feminist outlook. In parallel, it examines how a "political generation" emerges when feminists of different ages are drawn together by a shared political awakening and collaborate across age.

Coercive Capacity and the Durability of the Chinese Communist State

Author(s): Wang Yuhua

In: Communist and Post-Communist Studies, Vol 47, No 1, 2014, pp. 13-25

The author examines why the Chinese Communist regime has been able to retain control despite the period of rapid economic change and growth that have often elsewhere promoted strong pressure for democratization. The article suggests that one major reason is that the CCP 'has successfully strengthened the state's ’coercive capacity', in particular increased funding for the police. This article primarily covers the period before Xi decided to increase repression, but illuminates the context for his policy. 

Unbowed: A Memoir

Author(s): Wangaari Maathai

Vintage2006, pp. 338

(also published as: Unbowed: My Autobiography, Anchor 2008)

By prominent Kenyan woman who promoted mass planting of trees by women at grassroots level through the Green Belt Movement (founded in 1977) to reverse effects of deforestation. She also undertook vigils and fasts for human rights under the dictatorship of President Moi. See also her book: 1985 Wangaari Maathai, The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experiences, 1985 New York, Lantern Books, 2004 , pp. 117

Handbook for Nonviolent Campaigns

(2nd edition)

Author(s): War Resisters' International

War Resisters' International, London, 2014, pp. 232

Originally published: 2009

Sections on ‘Introduction to Nonviolence’, ‘Developing Strategic Campaigns’, ‘Organising Effective Actions’, ‘Case Studies’ with examples from round the world, ‘Training and Exercises’ and advice on compiling one’s own handbook and lists of helpful manuals, references and websites.

Available online at:

http://handbook.wri-irg.org

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