Social Movement History & Analysis
The workshops in this course area will help us develop an understanding of the major systems that have created, and that continue to recreate, injustice, exploitation and oppression. They will also teach us how to transform these deathly systems into more just ones that enable all to thrive.
We will discuss colonialism, white supremacy, capitalism, and cisheteropatriarchy, and how these over-arching systems result in the daily lived experiences of ableism, racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, poverty, and environmental destruction.
We will also study theories of change–how people have resisted (and have imagined resisting) these systems and built alternative ones. We will learn about past and present social movements, examining concrete examples of how people have enacted their theories of change on the ground. We will examine efforts that have focused on non-violent civil disobedience, armed resurrection, legal/policy change, electing progressive (or even radical) people to public office, reforming institutions from the inside, building alternative institutions so as to opt out of existing ones, protests, cultural work, educational work, the provision of direct services, and spiritual work. While we will examine the unique potential and pitfalls of these various approaches, we also emphasize that these areas are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the premise of this program is that we need to learn to see and appreciate these elements as part of a larger ecosystem in which the sum is greater than the individual parts.
This primary purposes of this area are:
We will discuss colonialism, white supremacy, capitalism, and cisheteropatriarchy, and how these over-arching systems result in the daily lived experiences of ableism, racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, poverty, and environmental destruction.
We will also study theories of change–how people have resisted (and have imagined resisting) these systems and built alternative ones. We will learn about past and present social movements, examining concrete examples of how people have enacted their theories of change on the ground. We will examine efforts that have focused on non-violent civil disobedience, armed resurrection, legal/policy change, electing progressive (or even radical) people to public office, reforming institutions from the inside, building alternative institutions so as to opt out of existing ones, protests, cultural work, educational work, the provision of direct services, and spiritual work. While we will examine the unique potential and pitfalls of these various approaches, we also emphasize that these areas are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the premise of this program is that we need to learn to see and appreciate these elements as part of a larger ecosystem in which the sum is greater than the individual parts.
This primary purposes of this area are:
- To provide us with an understanding of current realities, including an understanding of individual experiences as situated within larger structural contexts
- To inspire us through examples of work that has already happened/is already happening, so that we a) understand ourselves as contributing to a larger legacy and b) have our own ideas sparked regarding what contributions we want to make