Social Thought & Polic. Econ 492H - STPEC Focus Seminar II
Fall
2020
01
4.00
Stellan Vinthagen
W 4:00PM 6:30PM
UMass Amherst
66985
Fully Remote Class
vinthagen@soc.umass.edu
A four credit honors seminar for STPEC students who have completed STPEC 391H. Focus seminar topic changes each semester. Fulfills the STPEC Focus seminar requirement.
STPEC students only STPEC 391H Constructive Resistance: Building a new society out of the ashes of the old.
This course focuses on movements and communities that apply "constructive resistance" or build new societies while simultaneously resisting the existing oppressive systems. Constructive resistance is pre-figurative action that change here and now (as "direct action"), and as such it stands in contrast to "protest," "demands" or "respectability politics" by activists who wants to compel or force the state, elites or others to create the change. Constructive resistance is a neglected concept, in academia and among activists, despite being practiced everywhere. It shows a wide variation, with more or less "construction" of alternatives or ?resistance? to existing systems; and, is guided by very different values, principles, strategies and visions. Such productive resistance is particularly developed among Indigenous communities and poor people's movements in the Global South. They fight to survive against physical and cultural genocide, marginalization or colonization of their land, resources and communities, and stay alive by regenerating, recreating and developing resilience through autonomous social structures. They create parallel societies of political, economic, cultural or spiritual organizations, which also serve as the basis of their ability to resist repression, cooptation and marginalization. We also find at least elements of "constructive resistance" in the Global North, as for example within cooperatives, counter-cultural centers, food-banks, mutual aid networks, local exchange trading systems, non-profit banks, and within resistance movements that care for each other during repression. This course builds on both academic and activist texts, films and examples, making sure the course has both a clear activist perspective and an academic basis. The course gives social science concepts and theories to analyze resistance, creation of alternatives and parallel structures, but focuses on empirical examples of how poor and marginalized communities go to direct action: try to create autonomy, self-governance and build their own constructive programs and resist injustices. Key themes are community-based struggles and the combination of resisting injustice with building new societies and alternatives. Seminars will involve students through discussions, which follow up on background lectures, guest visits from researchers and activists, films, literature readings, student projects, etc. Assignments consist mainly of a book review, oral presentations, and a course paper analyzing a chosen case of relevance. Extra credits are offered for excursions to relevant projects in New England. The overall aim with this course is to develop strategies of social change: to critically assess popular struggles that build alternative ways of life, and what challenges and possibilities movement activists face when they try to combine resistance with the building of new societies.
This course focuses on movements and communities that apply "constructive resistance" or build new societies while simultaneously resisting the existing oppressive systems. Constructive resistance is pre-figurative action that change here and now (as "direct action"), and as such it stands in contrast to "protest," "demands" or "respectability politics" by activists who wants to compel or force the state, elites or others to create the change. Constructive resistance is a neglected concept, in academia and among activists, despite being practiced everywhere. It shows a wide variation, with more or less "construction" of alternatives or ?resistance? to existing systems; and, is guided by very different values, principles, strategies and visions. Such productive resistance is particularly developed among Indigenous communities and poor people's movements in the Global South. They fight to survive against physical and cultural genocide, marginalization or colonization of their land, resources and communities, and stay alive by regenerating, recreating and developing resilience through autonomous social structures. They create parallel societies of political, economic, cultural or spiritual organizations, which also serve as the basis of their ability to resist repression, cooptation and marginalization. We also find at least elements of "constructive resistance" in the Global North, as for example within cooperatives, counter-cultural centers, food-banks, mutual aid networks, local exchange trading systems, non-profit banks, and within resistance movements that care for each other during repression. This course builds on both academic and activist texts, films and examples, making sure the course has both a clear activist perspective and an academic basis. The course gives social science concepts and theories to analyze resistance, creation of alternatives and parallel structures, but focuses on empirical examples of how poor and marginalized communities go to direct action: try to create autonomy, self-governance and build their own constructive programs and resist injustices. Key themes are community-based struggles and the combination of resisting injustice with building new societies and alternatives. Seminars will involve students through discussions, which follow up on background lectures, guest visits from researchers and activists, films, literature readings, student projects, etc. Assignments consist mainly of a book review, oral presentations, and a course paper analyzing a chosen case of relevance. Extra credits are offered for excursions to relevant projects in New England. The overall aim with this course is to develop strategies of social change: to critically assess popular struggles that build alternative ways of life, and what challenges and possibilities movement activists face when they try to combine resistance with the building of new societies.