STPEC 392H
Social Thought & Political Economy (STPEC)
Spring 2014
Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:00AM - 12:45PM
Dickinson room 209
Instructor: Graciela Monteagudo, PhD
gracielamonteagudo@sbs.umass.edu
Email messages will be answered within 48 hours
Office Hours: Tuesdays 1:30 to 2:30 PM
and by appointment
Machmer Hall Room E-27C
Course Overview
STPEC Junior Seminar II, 392H, is the second half of the STPEC Junior Seminar
sequence. This seminar focuses on a series of interrelated political, social, and
theoretical movements of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Century. We will study
some of the major political, economic, and social events paying attention to the ways
in which ideologies and political consciousness are constructed and de-constructed
in relation to historical events and in oppositional social movements. As this is an
interdisciplinary class, we will be bringing in analytic tools from various disciplines.
This course is designed to encourage students to continue developing the criticalanalytic methods and approaches discussed in STPEC Junior Seminar 1 and apply
them to some of these centuries’ pivotal events. To that end, we will pay particular
attention to the Russian, Chinese, and Cuban revolutions, as well as to the Spanish
Civil War and a number of contemporary social movements that changed the world.
Having studied postcolonial theories in 391H, students will now have the
opportunity to delve into liberation struggles, paying particular attention to the
Algerian struggle against the French Government in North Africa. We will also
examine the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, assessing its major impact
on post World War II racial relations in the United States. Moreover, we will look
into the legacies of Malcolm X and the struggle of the Black Panther Party.
Jumping continents, we will study the French May 1968, as it heralded the birth of
less centralized, less hierarchical social movement structures. Students have the
opportunity to study this time period by reading the words of one of its most
recognized protagonists, Dany Le Rouge.
1
While touching on gender theories, this seminar will address, as well, queer
movements and struggles of women of color for recognition within the feminist
movement.
Students will also read texts on neoliberalism (or globalization) in an effort to
understand the deep causes of cultural and economic changes the world has been
going through in the past decades. Focus will be on the social movements that have
sprung in opposition to neoliberalism: the Zapatistas in Chiapas and the AntiCorporate Globalization and Occupy movements in the US, Bolivian Water Wars, and
other struggles for control over natural and discursive resources.
Junior II is an interactive seminar rather than a lecture course. Full and prepared
participation is needed and expected. All students are expected to attend all class
meetings, arrive on time, read assigned texts, and participate in discussions.
Attendance Policy
Because this class is based on our discussions attending every class is crucial. Make
every possible effort to not skip classes as the theories we are analyzing build on
each other. It would be hard to understand what comes next if you did not
participate in the class discussions of the previous theories.
Excused Absences: If you are forced to miss all or part of a class period due to a
known conflict, please email me in advance. If you are forced to miss a class due to
an emergency (illness, family crisis, etc.), contact me as soon as possible.
Unexcused Absences: You are allowed 2 unexcused absences. More than 2 unexcused
absences will result in the loss of a letter grade in the participation portion of your
final grade.
Lateness: Arriving to class late is disruptive to the instructor and to other students,
and puts you at a disadvantage during the class. Unless you have cleared it with me
previously, each 2 classes you are late will count as an unexcused absence. Arriving
to class more than 30 minutes late also counts as an absence.
Students with Disabilities
STPEC is committed to providing successful learning opportunities for every
student. If you have a documented physical, psychological or learning disability on
file with one of the university disability service offices, you may be eligible for
academic accommodations to help you succeed at UMass. Please talk to me
immediately so we can make appropriate arrangements to support your learning
and success.
We also understand that there can be barriers to receiving documentation, or that
2
psychological or learning disabilities may present themselves in the course of
adapting to the college environment and heightened academic expectations.
Students are urged to be proactive and meet with me if they feel they are
experiencing such barriers to their success in this course.
Class Dynamics
We expect students to engage in class discussions respectfully, thinking critically
about your own perspective and maintaining openness to ideas and experiences
that are in conflict with your own.
The content of this course will lead to a number of discussions about “hot topics”
such as class, gender, and racial constructions. Students are expected to engage in
these conversations sensitively and with openness to critique. If you feel you cannot
speak in class, please talk with me privately and we will figure out strategies that
might help.
Grading
Attendance and Participation
Eight MOODLE Responses
Midterm Paper
Annotated Bibliography and summary
Final paper
20%
30%
20%
10%
20%
A 94-100
A- 93-90
B+ 87-89
B 84-86
B- 80-83
C+ 77-79
C 74-76
C- 68-73
D+64-67
D 60-63
F below 60
Attendance and Participation (20%): This includes thoughtful comments and
questions during class time to support discussion, contribution to small groups, and
attendance. See above for attendance policy.
Four MOODLE Responses (30%): Students will post questions and comments
pertaining to their readings to Moodle. Length should be one page (double spaced).
When critiquing or appraising an argument, you are expected to use direct citations..
Deadlines: February 6, February 20, March 25, and April 10.
Midterm Paper (20%): The midterm paper is an analytical piece in which the
student articulates his or her reaction to the readings assigned during the first part
of the course. The student is expected to think about the different approaches of the
authors, put them in conversation, and analyze them in context. At least three case
studies or theories need to be analyzed in this way for this assessment. It should be
5-6 pages (double spaced, Times New Roman/Cambria font 12). Due March 6.
3
Abstract, Annotated Bibliography and Final Paper (30%): The process for the final
paper includes an abstract and an annotated bibliography, which must be presented
two weeks before the final paper is due. Abstract and bibliography due April 15.
Abstract and Annotated Bibliography worth 10% of your grade. The paper itself
should be 10-12 pages (double spaced, Times New Roman/Cambria font 12) and
should demonstrate your ability to analyze texts, support your arguments with
quotations from texts, and make broader connections with other materials of the
course centered on a relevant theme of your choice. Later in the semester I will
provide a rubric with more details. Final paper due April 29. Final paper worth 20%
of your grade.
Note on Lateness: Unless arrangements are made before the deadline, late papers
will not be awarded credit.
Technology Policy
This class will rely heavily on texts posted online in Moodle. If you can annotate and
underline texts online, you can bring your laptop to class for reference, but you
cannot use the computer for any other task, except that of taking notes. Checking
email, FB, Twitter, etc., will amount to being absent from the class and will be
graded accordingly. Attendance and participation amount to 20% of your overall
grade.
Please turn your cell phone off during class.
Citations
Wikipedia can and should be used as a general reference. It is a great way to get
acquainted with different authors and ideas, but it does not work as academic citation.
You can use the site but then you must check on the references and quote from the
references read, not from the information supplied by Wikipedia.
When you cite an outside source, you must cite it in academically acceptable formats.
This includes references to websites. Just the name of the author and the book is not
sufficient, or mentioning that the text is online. If you do not know how to cite
academically, you can consult the online guide by the American Anthropological
Association, http://www.aaanet.org/pubs/style_guide.htm.
Academic Honesty
DO NOT PLAGIARISE. That means no copy and pasting, and no direct paraphrasing.
Any form of academic dishonesty (including but not limited to plagiarism from another
student's writing) will result in an automatic failure in this course, following UMass
policies. In addition, UMass requests that instructors turn students to the University
Academic Honesty Board for further academic discipline, a process that does not sound
like fun for anybody involved. So.
4
Course Calendar
Week 1: January 21—Introduction to the seminar. What were the main
concepts/theories in 391H? Timeline of Main Events 20th and 21st. Century
January 23— Vanguardism
In Core 1 we studied Marx and his theories for a worker-led society. This week we
will read Lenin’s theoretical contribution to the organization of the proletariat: the
professional, centralized, vanguard party. What did this kind of party allow for?
What would the working class gain from organizing under such a party? What could
be the negative consequences of such an organization?
Readings: Lenin, Vladimir. What is to be Done?
http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/download/what-itd.pdf (in
Moodle)
Selection:
2. The spontaneity of the Masses and the Consciousness of the Social-Democrats, Pp
16-25
3.5 The Working Class as Vanguard Fighter for Democracy, Pp. 47-58
4.3 Organization of Workers and Organization of Revolutionaries, Pp. 70-81
4.4 The Scope of Organizational Work, Pp. 81-85
5.3 What type of Organization do we require?, Pp. 110-115
Week 2: January 28 — History of the Russian Revolution (1917)
After thinking about the formation of the Bolshevik party in Russia, students will
now read about the Soviet Revolution in the words of one of its main characters,
Leon Trotsky. The first proletarian revolution to triumph, the birth of the Soviets
was celebrated by many around the world. However, is it possible to read into this
story to find the seeds of Stalinism in the Soviet Union?
Readings: Trotsky, Leon. [1932] 1957. The History of the Russian Revolution. Ann
Harbor: University of Michigan Press. (ebrary)
Selection:
The Conquest of the Capital – Chapter 24, Volume 3, eBook: Pp. 764-792
The Capture of the Winter Palace – Chapter 25, Volume 3, eBook: Pp. 793-818
Conclusions – Volume 3, eBook: Pp. 869-874
January 30 — Leftist Critiques of the Soviet Revolution
5
Throughout the world, many in the leftist camp considered the Soviets as a
successful example of a state that represented the workers, as opposed to the
bourgeois. However, even at the time, important questions were raised not only by
old time adversaries, Anarchist thinkers and organizers, but also by fellow Marxists.
We will focus on critiques of the “dictatorship of the proletariat” by Anarchists and
by German Marxist revolutionary, Rosa Luxemburg.
Luxemburg, Rosa. [1922] 1940. The Problem of Dictatorship. In The Russian
Revolution. New York: Workers Age Publishers. (In Moodle)
An Anarchist FAQ – Appendix 4 – The Russian Revolution.
http://www.infoshop.org/AnarchistFAQAppendix4 (also in Moodle)
Movie: Rosa Luxemburg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiR0MmxB2qU
Week 3: February 4— The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
Following a fascist dictatorship and later the abdication of Alfonso XIII, a wide
coalition of Spanish democrats and Socialists won the elections in 1930, establishing
what became known as The Republic. Almost immediately, the military, the Catholic
Church and the landowners reacted against the democratically elected government.
Soon, Spain became engulfed in a civil war. Fighting for the Republic were Social
Democrats, Communists, Anarchists, and Trotskyists. As the conflict was viewed
internationally as a struggle between fascism and progressive democratic forces,
international brigades supported The Republic, while Germany, Italy and Portugal
supported the Nationals (fascists). Among other youthful organizations, the US
based Lincoln Brigade joined the struggle. However, the Soviet Union, one of the few
countries that supported The Republic, engaged in factional attacks against
Anarchists and Trotskyist. This internal confrontation has been blamed, in part, for
the fall of The Republic
Readings: Orwell, George. 1952. Homage to Catalonia. New York: Hartcourt Brace.
Selection: Chapter Five and Chapter Tex (in Moodle)
February 6 — Chinese Revolution (1949)
After two decades of civil and international war, Mao Zedong established the
People’s Republic of China. Although Stalin’s ally and longtime communist, Mao was
a different breed of revolutionary. His guerrilla and pro-peasant tactics during the
Long March (1934-35) put him at odds with Marxist-Leninism. In the early sixties,
and upon Stalin’s death, Nikita Krushev’s rejection of Stalinism encouraged Mao to
proclaim that the Chinese were the leaders of the Communist movement and that
the Soviet Union was now counter-revolutionary. At the same time, part of the
6
Communist Youth abandoned the Communist Party and joined Mao’s forces, in part
as a result of the alleged role of the Communist Party in the “Che” Guevara’s capture
and execution by the Bolivian Army and CIA.
Readings: Maurice J Meisner. 1999. Mao's China and after: a History of the People's
Republic. New York: Free Press.
Selections: The Maoist Revolution and the Yan’an Legacy, Pp. 31-51
And
Mao, Zedong. (1927) Report on the Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan.
http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/ps/china/mao_peasant.pdf, retrieved January 7, 2014.
(In Moodle)
*********************** First Moodle Response due ****************************
Week 4: February 11 — National Liberation Struggles (Post WW2)
Following WW2, European colonies rebelled against their masters’ economic and
cultural domination. In some cases, as for example with the Vietnamese,
independence wars were supported by the Soviet Union, although their support did
not always end in Soviet domination or influence over the region. On the other hand,
immediately after the war, the United States was interested in these countries’
independence so that they would become markets available for US commerce. Also,
colonial powers were weakened by the war and their weakness greatly hurt the
colonies as these countries had been forced to produce raw materials for European
markets, which collapsed during the war. This economic dependency left the
colonies further impoverished. Japan’s invasion of some of these colonies also
weakened the colonial powers, since fighting off the Japanese empowered people in
Asia. As former colonies became independent, a new concept and worldwide order
was generated: the Third World —aiming to maintain independence from both the
Soviet Union and the United States.
Readings: Fanon, Franz. [1963] 2004. On Violence in the International Context. In
The Wretched of the Earth. New York: Grove Press.
Selections: Bhabha, Omni. Foreword: Framing Fanon. Pp. vii-xliii
Concerning violence, Pp. 35-94
Strongly recommended reading: Prashad, Vijay. 2007. Algiers: the Perils of an
Authoritarian State. In The Darker Nations. New York: New Press. Pp. 119-133.
February 13 — Cuban Revolution (1959)
7
The Cuban Revolution was a different kind of national liberation struggle. While
Cuba was not officially a colony of a European country, it was unofficially a US
colony at the time. Cuba, known at the time as a brothel and a gambling site for the
wealthy in the US, was also oppressed by the economic violence of US companies,
particularly United Fruit. In 1953, Fidel Castro led a failed armed insurrection
against the pro-US dictator, Fulgencio Batista. After serving some time, Castro went
to Mexico and from there organized 81 men who sailed from Mexico to Cuba. This
small group landed on the island and was immediately attacked by Batista troops.
The survivors, including the Argentinean Che Guevara, were able, in two years, to
organize masses of campesinos, establish alliances with labor groups, and
eventually, through guerrilla warfare, take over the state. Recognizing the hand of
the CIA at the “Bay of Pigs” fiasco, Castro proclaimed Cuba socialist and
strengthened ties with the Soviet Union.
Chomsky, Aviva, Barry Carr, and Pamela Maria Smorkaloff. 2003. The Cuba Reader:
History, Culture, Politics. Durham: Duke University Press.
Selection: TBA
Film: Che, Part 1, 2008, 134 mins
Recommended (Critiques): Reinaldo Arenas. 2003. Homosexuality, Creativity,
Dissidence. In The Cuba Reader: History, Culture, Politics. , Aviva Chomsky, Barry
Carr, and Pamela Maria Smorkaloff, eds. Pp. 406-411. Durham: Duke University
Press. (in Moodle)
Farber, Samuel. The Future of the Cuban Revolution.
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2014/01/the-cuban-revolution/, accessed January 6,
2014. (In Moodle)
Primary documents: http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/cuban-revolution.htm
Week 5: February 18 – Monday Class schedule – No Class
February 20— Civil Rights Movement in the US (1955-68)
Characterized by a non-violent approach, African Americans in the United States
engaged in a deep struggle to end racism and access voting rights in their own
country. The movement employed a diverse repertoire of civil disobedience, most
prominently engaging in marches, sit-ins, and boycotts. While post-1968 African
American activists critiqued what they envisioned as these leaders’ “cooperation”
with the white establishment, the movement should, nevertheless, be credited with
a number of legislative achievements, including The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting
Rights of 1965, as well as the Fair Housing Act of 1968.
8
Gibson Robinson, Jo Ann and David J. Garrow. 1987. The Montgomery bus boycott
and the women who started it: the Memoir of Jo Ann Gibson Robinson. Knoxville:
University of Tennessee Press.
Selection: The Origin of the Trouble, Pp. 53-76
The Boycott Begins, Pp. 77-90
*********************** Second Moodle Response due *************************
Week 6: February 25— Not so Peaceful Struggles for Civil Rights: Malcolm X
Educating himself in prison, Malcolm X became one of the most important leaders in
the struggle for civil rights in the United States. A radical, passionate speaker,
Malcolm became a threat to the US government and was expelled from the Nation of
Islam. He was murdered in 1965.
Reading: X, Malcolm and Bruce Perry. 1989. The Final Speeches. New York:
Pathfinder
Selections: Whatever is necessary to defend ourselves, Pp. 83-90
There is a worldwide revolution going on, Pp. 111-149
Film: Malcolm X, 1992, 202 mins
Audio Clip: Message to the grassroots
February 27— Self-Defense: The Black Panthers (1966-1980s)
Out of Oakland, California, the Black Panthers organized originally to fight against
police brutality in the black neighborhoods. They were soon to expand to many
major US cities. Although originally influenced by Frantz Fanon’s “The Wretched of
the Earth”, later on the Panther’s moved from Black Nationalism to socialism (for
all). They also engaged in a number of community programs designed to support
their constituents and, most importantly, to exemplify that black people could take
care of their own, while the white establishment kept them in poverty.
Reading: Seale, Bobby. 1970. Seize the time; the story of the Black Panther Party
and Huey P. Newton. New York: Random House.
Selections: TBA
Week 7: March 4— French May 68 (May – June 1968)
It has been said that French May 68 started over sex. At Nanterre University,
students demanded access to opposite sex bedrooms. A week later, demands
9
included an end to the war in Vietnam. Twenty days later, and after brutal
repression and massive arrests, unsuccessful attempts were enacted to burn down
the Paris Stock Exchange. Soon, factory workers went on a wildcat strike, which
seriously concerned the government. When the workers’ unions accepted salary
raises and a reduction in working hours, May 68 was over. Sort of. In reality, the
short-lived insurrection inspired many around the world and cleared the air for
non-Soviet aligned social movements and thinkers (Foucault, Derrida, Deleuze, and
others).
Readings: For a quick history and appreciation of French May 68
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/egalit-libert-sexualit-parismay-1968-784703.html (In Moodle)
Graffiti: http://www.bopsecrets.org/CF/graffiti.htm
For a primary source, by the main student organizer: Cohn-Bendit, Daniel (Dani
le Rouge). 1968. Obsolete Communism: The Left Wing Alternative. New York:
McGraw Hill.
Selections: The Student Revolt, Pp. 23-90 (In Print Reserves)
March 6 — Black Feminism (Sixties)
Early in the sixties, Audrey Lorde’s voice was one of the loudest and angriest against
a “white” interpretation of feminism and women’s struggles. Her voice was also a
call for feminists to acknowledge lesbianism. In her words, being a Black woman
poet in the sixties meant being invisible. “It meant being doubly invisible as a Black
feminist woman and it meant being triply invisible as a Black lesbian and feminist."
Lorde demanded that her difference be acknowledged but not judged. She called for
what is today known as an intersectional approach, one that takes into account
issues of class, race, age, gender and even health.
Audre Lorde. "I Am Your Sister: Black Women Organizing Across Sexualities
(Selections)
***************************Midterm paper due ********************************
Week 8: March 11— Queer Theory (nineties)
Women’s struggles in the XIX and XX Centuries opened a social space for women to
formally enter adulthood. Women, who were not even the subjects of law in
Western societies, gained voting and other rights through a long, protracted struggle.
Although useful to unify in a struggle for basic civil rights, in time the concept of
10
“women” came under attack by women of color and poststructuralist thinkers.
While women of color did not feel white feminists represented their own struggle,
poststructuralist author Judith Butler critiqued the concept from a different angle.
For her, the concept of “women” was responsible for reinforcing the women-men
binary, leaving out a myriad of other possibilities. Butler’s work gave rise to the
queer movement.
Reading: Butler, Judith. 1997. Excerpt from Gender Trouble. In Feminist Social
Thought: A Reader. Diana Tietjens Meyer, Ed. New York: Routledge, Pp. 112-128.
March 13 — Neoliberalism (early 1970s to present)
Globalization has created a new interconnected, mobile and shifting world. As
capital flows freely across borders, protected by laws and regulations, it collides
with social movements that oppose it, at the same time that it creates new scenarios
for interregional stress. In a move that David Harvey famously defined as
“accumulation by dispossession”, neoliberal policies were implemented to
guarantee the freedom of markets. Unevenly deployed across the world, these
policies created ethnicized and genderized situations of oppression. As a result, the
gap between those who have and those who have not has increased exponentially in
these last years, giving rise to new social movements, even in developed nations and
areas such as the US and the EU.
Reading: Harvey, David. 2002. Introduction and Freedom is Just Another Word. In A
Brief History of Neoliberalism. New York: Oxford University Press, 1-4 and 5-38.
Film: The Take, 2004, 87 mins
Week 9: March 18 — SPRING RECESS NO CLASS
March 20— SPRING RECESS NO CLASS
Week 10: March 25— Against Empire
The global Marxist was deeply impacted by the fall of the Soviet Union in the late
nineties. Theories that had been envisioned as marginal became the focus of
attention, as activists and organizers worldwide tried to find an alternative to the
corporate globalization of the world. Basing their analysis on the social movements
that were opposing globalization around the world, Italian author and ex-Red
Brigade leader, Toni Negri, and US activist and academic, Michael Hardt, wrote
Empire. Controversial, the book became, along with Naomi Klein’s No-Logo, a
central theoretical reference for the Anti-Corporate Globalization Movement.
Reading: Hardt, Michael and Toni Negri. 2000. Preface and Introduction. In Empire.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Pp. xi-xvii and 3-21.
11
Recommended: Monteagudo, Graciela. 2012. Autonomist Social Movements. In
Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization (in Moodle)
*********************** Third Moodle Response due ***************************
March 27— Neoliberalism and Structural Adjustment in “Africa”
Africa is a huge, diverse continent. However, although the concept of “Africa” is
socially constructed, nevertheless people in the continent have to live and be
defined by this concept. Formal democratic processes in the 90s opened up many
countries to democratic elections. However, these elections did not alter the nature
of most of these states, clientelistic, authoritarian, and inefficient. These
democracies have now been blamed for the entirety of Africa’s problems and
theorists argue that democracy might have been a good vehicle to make the
structural adjustment less painful. At the same time, powerful NGOs act as
governments that do not need to be elected. Moreover, as the states recede,
warlords and multinational corporations operate freely. Export-production enclaves
have become increasingly detached from the rest of society. Ferguson analyzes the
impact of the West in creating shadows of democracy and argues that our focus on
the “African” states as free standing in reality shadows the transnational relations
that created “Africa’s” poverty.
Reading: Ferguson, James. 2007. De-Moralizing Economies (Chapter 3). In Global
Shadows: Africa in the Neoliberal World Order. Durham: Duke University Press, 6988 (In Moodle).
Film: Bamako, 2006, 115 mins
Week 11: April 1— Anti-corporate Globalization Movements (mid nineties to
early 2000s)
If we were to define the anti-corporate globalization movement for what it stood
against, we would say that it was neoliberalism and it’s “unelected treaty
organizations like the IMF, WTO, and NAFTA”. However, this was, above all, a
movement that advocated for the free movement of people, possessions, and ideas
across the world. The aim of the movement was to fight against the international
order that prevents people from moving freely across the planet. At its core, the
movement was also about reinventing daily life in the movement’s own
organizational techniques and structures. Spokescouncils, affinity groups,
consensus, fishbowls, and vibe-watchers were examples of these democratic
practices. Participants tried to live their movement as they would have like to live
their everyday lives: by experiencing “another possible world” in the moments
when they got together and organize for this “possible —and better— world.”
12
Reading: Graeber, David. 2003. The Globalization Movement and the New New
Left. In Implicating Empire: Globalization and Resistance in the 21st. Century World
Order, ed. Stanley Aronowitz and Heather Gautney. New York: Basic Books, Pp. 325338.
April 3— Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (1984 to present)
Thirty years ago, a small guerrilla group of Maoist intellectuals met in the Lacandon
Jungle with the indigenous of Chiapas, Mexico. After ten years of intense dialogue,
the Zapatistas appeared in public for the first time taking over the capital of Chiapas,
San Cristobal de Las Casas, on January 1st. 1994 —exactly on the day when the
NAFTA (“free” trade agreement) was put into effect. At the same time, millions of
progressive people all over the world received an email inviting them to support the
Zapatista struggle. Thanks to this global online move, the Mexican government did
not massacre the Zapatistas. This was their last, an only, armed action. Instead of
engaging in armed struggle, they focused on building an autonomist enclave among
the poorest of the poor. Twenty years later, the Zapatistas control an important part
of Chiapas, and are organized through “Juntas de Buen Gobierno” (Good
Government Juntas). Campesinos from different communities rotate between their
fields and their service to the communities in the Juntas, women have achieved a
better status, and there are schools, hospitals and microenterprises where there had
been despair and starvation.
Reading: Marcos, Subcomandante and Žiga Vodovnik. 2004. A year of the Zapatista
Government. In Ya Basta!: Ten Years of the Zapatista Uprising. San Francisco: AK
Press, Pp. 114-119. (In Moodle)
Marcos, Subcomandante and Žiga Vodovnik. 2004. The Seven Loose Pieces of the
Global Jigsaw Puzzle (Neoliberalism as a Puzzle). In Ya Basta!: Ten Years of the
Zapatista Uprising. San Francisco: AK Press, Pp 257-279. (In Moodle)
Zapatista Manifest of Autonomy and Diversity: Sixth Declaration of the Selva
Lacandona
http://enlacezapatista.ezln.org.mx/sdsl-en/ (In Moodle)
Film: Zapatista, 1999, 56 mins
Week 12: April 8— Bolivian Resistance to Neoliberal Globalization
In 2005, Evo Morales, who claims indigenous roots, was elected president of Bolivia
with a 54% of the vote. Since 2003 and up to the 2005 election of coca-leaf union
leader, Evo Morales, El Alto (poor city built on the hills that surround La Paz, capital
of Bolivia) has been one of the main protagonists in the struggle against the
exploitation of mineral resources by multinational corporations. El Alto citizens are
13
organized as “vecinos” (neighbors) in residents’ councils or as workers in trade
unions. These organizations (which are represented on a local and national level)
negotiate with the state and at times also supplant the state, as they deal with issues
of justice. Through massive unprisings, the social movements organized in El Alto
were able to place restrictions on how Bolivian governments deal with the IMF.
Reading: Lazar, Sian. 2008. In El Alto, Rebel City: Self and Citizenship in Andean
Bolivia. Durham: Duke University Press.
Selection: Chapter 1.
Also see timeline Bolivia:
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bolivia/timeline.html
April 10— Coca Globalization
Coca Cola became global after WW2 as they opened the European market for the
consumption of America’s most iconic corporate drink. But with globalization, it
went viral! Robert Forster, our author for this class, examines what it means for
people in Papa New Guinea (PNG) to consume this American product.
Reading: Foster, Robert J. 2008. Introduction. In Coca-Globalization. New York:
Palgrave-Macmillan, Pp. IX-XXVII. (In Moodle)
Film Clips: The Gods must be Crazy, 1980, 109 mins
*********************** Fourth Moodle Response due **************************
Week 13: April 15— Water Wars
It has been said that the Third World War will be about water. Whether this is true
or not, the situation with water scarcity is serious. In certain areas of Mexico, for
example, babies and children drink Coca-Cola because water is not reliable.
However, bottled water is not always more reliable, and has been found to have
more bacteria than tap water. The use of bottled water also increases pollution, as
water is packed in plastic bottles. As with many social and ecological problems,
the poorest suffer the most when water is scarse. What is the connection between
worldwide water issues, corporate profit, and neoliberal policies and agencies?
Reading: Shiva, Vandana. 2002. Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution and Profit.
Cambridge: South End Press.
14
Selection: Climate Change, Pp. 39-51 and The World Bank, WTO, and Corporate
Control over Water, Pp. 87-105 (in Moodle)
Film: Blue Gold: World Water Wars, 2009, 90 mins
****************** ABSTRACT AND ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE **************
April 17— Bolivian Water Wars (2000-01)
(From Cochabamba! book summary) Historically a common trust, water is now
bought and sold as a private commodity. With billions at the mercy of an
unrestrained marketplace, it is easy to understand why this precious resource is at
the center of the international movement working to turn back the rising tide of
corporate globalization. The triumphant struggle of grassroots activists in
Cochabamba, Bolivia, sounded a significant opening salvo in the water wars. In
2001, water warriors there regained control of their water supply and defied all
odds by driving out the transnational corporation that had stolen their water in the
first place.
Reading: Olivera, Oscar and Tom Lewis. 2004. Privatization. In Cochabamba! Water
War in Bolivia. Cambridge: South End Press, Pp. 7-23
Olivera, Oscar and Tom Lewis. 2004. Organization. In Cochabamba! Water War in
Bolivia. Cambridge: South End Press, Pp. 25-32
Olivera, Oscar and Tom Lewis. 2004. War. In Cochabamba! Water War in Bolivia.
Cambridge: South End Press, Pp. 33-49
Week 14: April 22— Occupy Movement
Hot on the heels of the Spanish “Indignados” and the hopeful beginning of the Arab
uprisings, the Occupy Movement marked the re-emergence of the Anti-corporate
globalization movement. The difference between these two movements can be
found not in the way the organized (de-centralized, direct action oriented, nonhierarchical, mostly through consensus), but rather in their focus and sense of
timing. While the Anti-Corporate Globalization movement fought over global justice,
the Occupy movement was mostly concerned with domestic issues following the
2008 economic crisis. By addressing Wall Street as the monster behind the debacle,
Occupy hit the right spot to mobilize important sectors of the US population.
Readings: Graeber, David. 2013. Why did it Work? In The Democracy Project: A
History, a Crisis, a Movement. NY: Spiegel and Grau. Pp. 55-149
April 24— Student Presentations
Week 15 – April 29— Student Presentations and conclusions
15
**********************************FINAL PAPER DUE *******************************
16