Contemporary Social
Movement Strategies
Spring 2006 -- Gray Cox -- gray@coa.edu -- ext. 326
Office Hours MT 2-4:00 pm and by appointment, Davis third floor
Course Description
When groups organize others to promote social change, what alternative strategies do they employ and how effective are they in varying circumstances? Can any general principles or methods for social change be gleaned from the successes and difficulties encountered in various social movements around the world? How can we best judge when one strategy or another is the right one to use? How does change work best in your own life and community?
This is a course for students interested in how people can best understand significant, systematic social change and how they can best help it happen.
The goals of this course are to help students further develop their abilities:
* to articulate and analyze alternative theoretical models for strategies for social change
* to apply these models to the analysis of concrete cases in appropriate and illuminating ways -- both to learn things about the cases from the models and to learn things from the cases about the models including the case that each of us represents with our own life and community
* to research theoretical models and concrete cases using a wide array of methods in efficient, effective ways that are systematic and critical in their appreciation of alternative sources of information and the methodologies they rest on.
* to share the fruits of this research and analysis effectively in writing and oral presentations
Class format will include mini-lectures, open discussion, occasional role plays, and small group activities.
We will use Bill Moyer's DOING DEMOCRACY, Internet Politics by Andrew Chadwick, Gene Sharp÷s WAGING NONVIOLENT STRUGGLE, Sidney Tarrow÷s Power in Movement : Social Movements and Contentious Politics and a series of other theoretical readings to look at general models and strategies.
And we will use a series of other case studies which may include, for instance, the U. S. Civil Rights movement, the Zapatistas, Moveon.org, the liberation of Eastern Europe, the anti-Globalizaton movement, the Breast Cancer Movement, the Gay and Lesbian movement, and the ”Republican Ascendancy’.
There will be various homework and writing assignments to help engage with the texts, bring extra materials to class, and prepare for class discussions and class group activities. [It is essential that these be done before class because they will often be used in class.]. Work for the course, beyond the readings assigned, will include reading of a daily paper (THE NEW YORK TIMES or CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR or something equivalent), There will also be some screenings of movies as part of the homework.
Some of these homework assignments will ask you to undertake a personal project of social change and consider what helps or hinders your progress in it. The final paper for the course, due on the last day of class, will ask you to assess your own experience of change in light of the theories and ideas developed in the class.
Each student will do two case studies examining significant social movements putting each in its historical context, considering in what ways theories covered in the course do or do not explain its dynamics, and proposing recommendations for actors involved in the case as to how they might best define their goals and work to achieve them. Presentations of these cases should be offered to the class as though we were members of the community involved in the social movement, making as effective use of multiple styles of presentation as possible (e. g. audio-visual aids, interactive exercises, powerpoint, posters, handouts, skits, video et cetera.)
For students taking the course for a letter grade, evaluation will be based on the quality of class participation (25%), homework and short writing assignments (20%), case studies (20% each) and final paper (15%). This is an intermediate course that counts both for HY and HS.
Class Schedule
3/28 Introductions, syllabus, theories of history
3/31 Movie in class ”Eyes on the Prize’, read Moyer pp. 1-41
4/4 Moyer pp. 116-136 and other reading on Civil Rights Movement from EYES ON THE PRIZE and PARTING THE WATERS Writing assignment: In a short piece (less than one page), describe a time in your life when you experienced a significant, positive, personal change and describe what things most helped and hindered it.
4/7 Moyer pp. 42-114
4/11 Moyer pp. 137-199
4/14 Sharp Part I
4/118 Sharp Part II, selections
4/21 Sharp Part III
4/25 Sharp Part IV selections
4/28 Tarrow pp. 1-53
5/2 Tarrow pp. 54-105
5/5 Tarrow pp. 106-160
5/9 Tarrow pp. 161-210
5/12 Chadwick pp. 1-48
5/16 Chadwick pp. 49-113
5/19 Chadwick pp. 114- 176
5/23 Chadwick pp. 177-228
5/26 Chadwick pp. 229-288
5/30 Chadwick pp. 289-327
6/2 Closing
Class Schedule
Presentations of Case Studies
4/11 Moyer pp. 99-115 & 152-175 & 186-199
4/14 Sharp Part I
4/18 Sharp Part II, selections -- Case Study on FMLN by Mirza
4/21 Sharp Part III -- Case Study on Bolivia by Laura and Rich
4/25 Sharp Part IV selections -- Case Study Climate change by Sarah and Rashmi
4/28 Tarrow pp. 1-53
5/2 Tarrow pp. 54-105 -- Case Study on Chipko Movement by Michelle and Ashlesha
5/5 Speaker: Leonard Joy (and reading his article ”The Connection’
Also continue in Tarrow pp. 106-160, Moyer pp. 176-185
5/9 Tarrow pp. 161-210 -- Case Study Jubilee 2000 by Helena
5/12 Discussion of Tarrow
5//15 POTLUCK 6:00 pm, Davis Seminar Room -- Case Study on Resistance to Globalization by Molly, Case Study by Sabrina, Central Asia by Zach
5/16 Chadwick pp. 1-48, visitor: Steve Savage, candidate for Maine Legislature
5/19 Chadwick pp. 49-113-- Case Study on _South African Homelands by Michele and Ashlesha
5/23 Chadwick pp. 114- 176 Case Study by Helena and by Rich
5/26 Speaker: Laura Holliday
Chadwick pp. 177-228
5/30 Chadwick pp. 229-288 -- Case Study on Art as a form of social action by Luara and Molly
AND POTLUCK at 6:00 in Turrets II, Case Study on FMLN by Mirza, Zach, Sabrina, Case Study on Microfinance by Sarah and Rashmi_
6/2 Chadwick pp. 289-327, Closing