A Hundred Years of Feminism in Indonesia

Author(s): Arivia Gadis, and Nur Iman Subono

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Jakarta, 2017, pp. 27

Examines the long history of feminism in Indonesia, and how it has contributed to the discourse of equality. This study shows that Third World feminism stems from its own ideals and cultures, while being frequently accused of acting as a proponent of western ideology or adopted from Western cultures. 

See also https://www.rappler.com/world/regions/asia-pacific/indonesia/bahasa/englishedition/171774-indonesian-muslim-women-feminism

Armenia's Path to Democratization by Recursive Mass Protests

Author(s): Armen Grigoryan

In: Caucasus Survey, Vol 7, No 2, 2019, pp. 157-175

The article compares the 2018 revolution with earlier unsuccessful political protests in Armenia since 2003-4, to try to determine what made success possible. Grigoryan also makes comparisons with some other examples of regime change, and considers the implications of the nature of the 2018 revolution for post-revolutionary politics and society.

Democracy Building in Post-Soviet Armenia

Author(s): Armine Ishkanian

Routledge, London, 2008, pp. 206

Critical assessment of western support for civil society groups, noting that it can create a backlash and needs to be considered in the historical, social and cultural context of the country involved. Also makes comparisons with other post-Soviet states.

Environmental Movements in Asia

Editor(s): Arne Kalland, and Gerard Persoon

Routledge, London and New York, 1999, pp. 297

Includes campaigns against logging, tree plantations, factories and tourist facilities and in defence of nature reserves. Argues environmentalism in Asia has a local focus and is often a form of cultural and political protests where overt political opposition is too dangerous.

Environmental Conflicts and Defenders

Author(s): Arnim Scheidel

In: Global Environmental Change, Vol 63, 2020, pp. 1-12

This analysis of 2743 cases highlights the characteristics of environmental conflicts and the activists involved, examining their mobilization strategies and the need for specific support for indigenous for indigenous activists. The study finds that bottom up movements for more sustainable and socially just approaches to the environment can be found worldwide, and across all income groups, indicating that grass roots environmentalism is a promising force for sustainability. The authors note that environmental defenders are of ten members of vulnerable groups and use largely nonviolent methods, playing a significant role in preventing environmental destruction in 11 per cent of cases studied. However, these activists also face serious risk of criminalization (20 per cent of cases), physical violence (18 per cent) and assassination (13 per cent). These risks increase significantly when indigenous people are involved. The analysis is based on the Environmental Justice Atlas, (EJAtlas) database), which the authors created in 2011 to monitor worldwide climate justice protests.

See also: Grist, ‘For Indigenous Protesters, Defending the Environment Can Be Fatal’, Eco Watch, 11 June 2020.

https://www.ecowatch.com/environmental-activist-violence-2646168966.html#toggle-gdpr

The Resurrection of Hungary: A Parallel for Ireland

Author(s): Arthur Griffith

University College Dublin Press, Dublin, 2003

Originally published: 1904

(The 1918 edition, which includes references to the unarmed campaign for independence in Finland, is now online.)

This brief book – originally a series of articles – was influential in Ireland and translated into a number of Indian languages, and was almost certainly read by Gandhi. Whilst the historical accuracy is questionable, Griffith’s account was important in conveying the idea of nonviolent resistance. Csapody, Tamas and Thomas Weber, ‘Hungarian Nonviolent Resistance against Austria and its Place in the History of Nonviolence’, Peace and Change, vol. 32 no. 4 (2007), pp. 499-519, analyses the influence of Griffith’s interpretation.

Available online at:

https://archive.org/details/resurrectionofhu00grifiala

A History of the Plowshares Movement - a talk

Author(s): Arthur Laffin

Kings Bay Plowshares 72019

Laffin, a Plowshares activist and member of the radical Catholic Worker organization, gave this talk to 100 supporters of the seven protesters on trial that week for entering the Kings Bay naval submarine base in Georgia in 2018 and symbolically damaging weapons systems. They were found guilty of conspiracy, damaging government property and trespassing. The first Plowshares protest in 1980 involved eight Catholics trespassing on the General Electric Nuclear Missile facility in the King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, and taking  action that became characteristic of later protests: they damaged nuclear warhead cones and poured blood on files, before publicly announcing  their actions and being arrested. Laffin notes that Plowshares (drawing on the biblical injunction 'beat your swords into plowshares') grew out of the Catholic protests at draft offices during the Vietnam War, when draft records were destroyed. The Berrigan brothers took part in both.

See also: Cohen-Joppa, Jack, ‘They Came to Stop a Crime: The Trial of the Kingsbay Plowshares 7’, Peace News, 2636-2637, Dec. 2019-Jan. 2020, p.7.
(Article first published on 10 Nov. 2019, on Beyond Nuclear International: beyondnuclearinternational.org)

The article provides brief background on Plowshares and outlines the testimony by defendants during their trial. It also records the jury decision to convict each of the seven on four counts: trespass, destruction of government property, ‘depredation’ of government property on a military installation; and conspiracy to commit these illegal acts.

Available online at:

https://kingsbayplowshares7.org/plowshares-history/

Swords into Plowshares, Volume Two: A Chronology of Plowshares Disarmament Action, 1980-2003

Foreword by Daniel Berrigan.

Editor(s): Arthur Laffin

WIPF and Stock Publishers, Eugene, OR, 2010, pp. 110

This is the second volume of the history of the direct action movement launched by radical Catholics in the USA, whose tactics were taken up by Protestants and committed advocates of  disarmament in both the US and Europe. Protests have over the years been directed at a range of ICBMs designed to carry nuclear warheads, Trident submarines, and nuclear weapons plants. This volume, which includes individual accounts and information on trials of protesters, covers actions not only in the US, but in Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK.

Book Review: Future Forward: The Rise and Fall of a Thai Political Party

Author(s): Arun Swamy

In: Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 2021

Future Forward was founded as a political party before the 2019 election and managed to come third in the polls, after the junta-controlled coalition and the pro-Thaksin party. It was led by former student radicals who had become successful (key leaders were an industrialist, law professor and TV journalist) and aimed to change the nature of  Thai politics. A year later the government banned it.  Swamy provides a useful summary of the book and its aims, and his own critique - he argues the authors do not explain the continuing strength of the Thaksin party.

See also: McCargo, Duncan and Chattharakul Anyarat, Future Forward: The Rise and Fall of a Thai Political Party, Copenhagen. Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 2020, pp. 240 (pb).

The Greater Good

Author(s): Arundhati Roy

India Book Distributors, Bombay, 1999, pp. 76

Commentary by Booker-winning novelist and prominent Narvada Dam activist on struggle against the Sardar Sarovar Dam and the wider implications of government policy on building dams. Also available in various forms on the internet.

When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir

Author(s): Patrisse Khan-Cullors, and Asha Bandele

St. Martin Press, New York, NY, 2018, pp. 257

When They Call You A Terrorist is the story of Patrisse Khan-Cullors, one of the co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement. It collects her reflections on humanity, on her life and activism since early age, her brother’s first-hand experience with police brutality, and on the founding of a movement for racial justice and its development during the Trump era.

When Police Brutality and Digital Rights Collide - Lessons from Nigeria

Author(s): Ashoka

In: Forbes, 2020

Forbes discusses with Ashoka fellow, Gbenga Sesan, how both offline and online mobilization contributed to the build-up of the End SARS protests. The discussion also includes the intersection of police brutality and digital rights in the light of accusations that SARS officials were arresting individuals working in start-ups and stealing their data.

See also:  https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/endsars-young-nigeria-protest-p...

Available online at:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashoka/2020/11/30/when-police-brutality-and-digital-rights-collide--lessons-from-nigeria/?sh=746f54f83ecd

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