Critical Race & Political Econ 363 - A Social Movements' History of the States from Grassroots Organizing to Social Movements

This course will be an interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary exploration of grassroots organizing, community experiences, and social movements from 1700 to the present day by highlighting how community organizing has been affected by socio-structural problems and, in the words of Patricia Hill Collins, "the matrix of oppression"; but also by critically analyzing the historical contributions of grassroots organizations to dismantling all systems of domination. We will track how various organizations and social movements have understood, challenged, contested, and transformed power hierarchies. Simultaneously we will enter the history of community organizing in the United States of America and interrogate how multidimensional processes of racialization, gender classification, class, and sexual division inform experiences within and around these social movements.

This course is open to juniors and seniors