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The period of sustained dissent in the USA in the 1960s and 1970s, associated particularly with the Civil Rights Movement, the rising opposition to the Vietnam War and second wave feminism, also proud forms of radical art. The Getty Research Institute Library, which was active in documenting this art in Los Angeles, helped to define this era. Drawing primarily on the holdings of the Library, such as photobooks, photographs, performance art, and art books, this presentation discusses the visual language of different types of art media used for social activism. It also illustrates the role the Getty Research Institute has played in collecting these primary materials and making them increasingly available to the public, both locally and globally, through collaborative initiatives, exhibitions and publications.
This issue is focused on the roles of long established environmental NGOs (ENGOs), which often act as lobbying and advocacy groups seeking to influence government policy, and the potential of more radical campaigning groups. The introduction examines the implications of both approaches, as well as possible relations between ENGOs and protest movements. Other articles explore the role, strength and weaknesses of specific organizations, such as Friends of the Earth, and the problems as well as the benefits of transnational mobilization (as at the 2015 Paris Climate Summit). Topics covered include: an assessment of the effectiveness of transferring the US model of using the law to promote public interest environmental concerns to a European setting; the expansion of ENGOs in France; and a discussion of how to avoid conflicts of interest between indigenous peoples (concerned about economic opportunities) and environmental activists in Australia.
Palestinian activist el-Baghdadi, based in Oslo, speaks about his role in providing news about the Arab Spring to the international media, and publishing his ideas about securing radical change in the longer term. He also explains why he now seeks to counter disinformation online and to campaign in particular against the autocratic model of Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia.
The 1966 anthology included writings by opponents of slavery, anarchists and ‘progressives’ in the 19th century, and trade unionists, conscientious objectors and peace campaigners in the 20th century, up to the Civil Rights Movement and anti-Vietnam War protests. The revised edition covers radical Catholic resistance, nonviolent trade unionism, resistance to US imperialism in Central America in the 1980s and assistance to Central American refugees, opposition to the 1991 Gulf War and environmental protests.
Contributors to this book include democracy activists as well as scholars, who look critically at the process of democratization in: Malawi, Cameroon, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Ghana and Gabon. The focus is not on institutions but on leadership, and also on the role of the military and churches in the reform process.
Discusses models of democratization, opting for an emphasis on processes rather than preconditions. Examines rather dismissively role of protest in 1970s, but notes evolution in the 1980s, and concludes that although 1986 did not mark a Philippine-style people power transition, it was a ‘tacit negotiation’ between the regime and the opposition. Cheng Tun-jen provides a similar analysis in Cheng Tun-jen, Democratizing the quasi-Leninist regime in Taiwan, 1989 , pp. 471-489 .
Sanguinetti, a lawyer and journalist, was President from 1985-1990 and played a central role in the negotiations at various times between 1980 and 1984 and notes the importance of dialogue, although this is a more broad ranging analysis of forms of transition.
Brief article which details evolution of strike from 10-16 August.
Analysis by social anthropologist of campaign against the Alta Hydropower Dam, and its impact in promoting cultural and political rights.
Examines the impact of anti-base movements on politics, and the role of bilateral military alliances influencing results of protest. Findings drawn from interviews with activists, politicians and US base officials in the Philippines, Japan (Okinawa), Ecudaor, Italy and South Korea. See also: Andrew Yeo, Anti-Base Movements in South Korea: Comparative Perspective on the Asia-Pacific, 2010 , pp. 39-73
Recounts Fryer’s anonymous appearance on stage, at the 1972 American Psychiatric Association session on psychiatry and mental illness, to announce his homosexuality. (He spoke anonymously – as he explained later – through fear of being refused tenure at his university.)
This collective work analyzes the origins and early stages of conscientious objection and insumision in Spain, its ideological debates and evolution. It includes an analysis of the national and international political context, a chapter on alternative civilian service in the Federal Republic of Germany, and a guide to becoming an objector.
Account by labour activist of protracted struggle from 1962 in PETRUS cement factory in Sao Paolo against strikebreaking, police repression and an employer-created ‘union’.
Analysis by political sociologist depicting the revolt as a power struggle between the military, the security services and the political leadership in the context of the previous six decades. Challenges the widespread assumption that after the popular rebellion the military continued to control the political developments.
Looks at Global Justice Movement in a broad historical framework and relates it to case studies of earlier struggles in the USA, UK, France, South Africa, Algeria, the Philippines and Jamaica.
Discusses roots of the group founded in 2011 and their international support, especially among musical celebrities, after their 2012 demonstration in Moscow Cathedral, leading to imprisonment of the three involved. See also: Pussy Riot, Pussy Riot!: A Punk Prayer For Freedom, London, Feminist Press, 2013 , pp. 152 , including letters from prison, court statements, poems and tributes by international admirers.
This work narrates the anti-mafia movement that started in Sicily at the end of the 19th century and extended to the entire Italian peninsula in more recent years. Santino recounts the origin of the Sicilian mafia organisation, the reactions to it by Italian institutions, and the socio-cultural context by drawing from different authors and first-hand interviews.
Inspired by the debate over whether globalisation has brought more benefits or disadvantages, and whether feminist movements around the world are gaining more agency and leverage, this thesis explores what influence feminist movements exercised on labour rights legislation in Morocco.
Smucker has spent many years in grass roots community organising and is co-founder of the campaign in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Lancaster Stands Up. He was active in Occupy, but is critical of its failure to move beyond a symbolic impact, and argues for the need to link campaigning to the political electoral process.
For more detail see interview with Smucker, 'Roadmap for Radicals', Red Pepper, Jan-Jul. 2018, pp 35-39.
International lawyer and expert on ecocide Polly Higgins sets out the full case for an international ecocide law which would hold corporations and governments to account for actions and policies that result in massive harm to the environment. She also examines how law has operated effectively in other contexts. The book is linked to the international campaign she headed to broaden the remit of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to include ecocide as a crime (alongside genocide, war crimes, crimes of aggression and crimes against humanity). An example of ecocide was the massive oil spill of 134 million gallons by BP in the Mexican Gulf in 2010. Higgins died from cancer in 2019, but an international campaign continues. See: stopecocide.earth
See also: Cooke, Ben, 'Could Ecocide become an International Crime?', New Statesman, 16 Mar. 2020. https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/environment/2020/03/could-ecocide-...
Useful overview of possible examples of ecocide, such as the 2019 Amazon forest fires and tar sand oil extraction , and of the goals and current strategy of the campaign, now headed by Jojo Mehta. The campaign now focuses on getting support from states most vulnerable to climate change (any ICC signatory state can propose an amendment to the Rome Statute governing the court, and the votes of all states are equal). The South Pacific island state, Vanuatu, has indicated it might initiate the process - if two thirds of the signatories agree the ecocide law would apply to them. Cooke notes that the idea now has support from Extinction Rebellion activists, and that Pope Francis indicated in 2019 that he was considering making ecocide a sin
The article begins by describing the Sumud Freedom Camp in May 2019, where over 300 Palestinians, Israelis and international activists set up camp in the destroyed village of Sarura, with the aim of rebuilding it. Despite raids b y the Israeli Defence Forces the rebuilding had some success. The author as the title indicates queries the nature of power relations between the volunteers. Her main example of unequal power relations (seen as form of structural violence) is, however, based on her analysis of a nonviolent protest at the Erez checkpoint into Gaza held in January 2008, promoted as a joint Palestinian-Israeli protest, but in fact only involving Israeli Arab and Jewish citizens (plus a few international participants), and planned and controlled by veteran Jewish Hebrew speaking activists.