Next week At York

1. Next weekAt York

2. TODAY's Class: 1. The Arab Spring 2. Occupy Movement 3. Course Evaluations / Next term 4. Course Summary/Review

3. The Arab Spring

4. “The Arab Spring” • Wave of pro-democracy popular uprisings in the Middle East starting in winter 2010-2011 • Involved: Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan...

5. Mohamed Bouazizi1984-2011

6. Tunisia • Tunisia, December 2010: a frustrated unemployed fruit vendor Mohammen Bouazizi, sets himself on fire, dies two weeks later: his act sparks anti-government protests • January 2011: Tunisian president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali steps down and flees the country • His defeat after 23 years in power helps spark anti-government protests in Egypt adn beyond

7. January 2011: Ben Ali flees Tunisia

8. Muammar al-Gaddafi

9. Libya • Protests in Libya began in February, 2011 against corruption and poverty due to government of Muammar al-Gaddafi • peaceful demonstrations turned into confrontations which were met with military force; months of fighting between rebel militias and government • October 2011: Gaddafi assassinated during a battle; a year later, democratic elections (but country still in turmoil)

10. Egypt Hosni Mubarak

11. Egypt • Ruled for 3 decades by dictator Hosni Mubarak • Mubarak ousted in January 2010, followed by democratic elections of Islamist president Mohammed Mursi in 2012 (Muslim Brotherhood candidate) • Mursi overthrown by the military this past July, a secular president installed • Country in civil war between Mursi supporters and revolutionaries who want more reforms

12. Arab Spring:the “Facebook Revolution”? • Use of blogs, Facebook, Twitter by protesters led some to argue for “Revolution 2.0” • #egypt, #jan25, #tahrir: most active Twitter hashtags

14. What happenedto the Arab Spring? • Democratization takes years, decades, more • Important not to make hasty assessments • Lesson from the Arab Spring: change is possible! Sometimes it happens suddenly and quickly

16. Occupy's Origins • Started September 17, 2011 in Zuccotti Park, New York City's Wall Street district • Called by Vancouver-based anti-consumerist magazine Adbusters (key player in global justice movement, culture jamming) • Spread to almost a thousand cities, including Toronto, within days thanks to mainstream & social media

18. Occupy Toronto: St. James Park

19. Occupy's Goals • To oppose corporate greed, social inequality, corporate greed (and others) • Multiple demands = no coherent demand or media frame (same problem as global justice movement, “movement of movements”) • Adbusters attempts to determine “one demand” but largely fails • The movement does endorse specific goals e.g. the Robin Hood Tax campaign

20. Problem: Sustainability • Most media/social media has stopped paying attention – implies the movement is dead • Arun Gupta: the Occupy movement less visible but not dead • Movements need space to become grounded, more permanent

21. Name/Frame Controversy

22. Occupy's Structure • General Assemblies within camps similar to global justice movement, emphasize internal democracy, i.e. consensus decision-making • Consensus means anyone can block a decision (versus majority rule)

24. Internal Organization • Women's tent, library, kitchen, media tent • Committee meetings • Marshalls meetings • General Assemblies

25. “Mic Check” • A trademark tactic of the movement • Originates in NYC due to laws against sound amplification – a tactic that spreads to all Occupy cities • The crowd repeats the words of the speaker, several at a time, so that everyone can hear

26. Adbusters creates Hashtag

27. #Occupywallstreet Hashtag

28. Problem: Sustainability • November 2011: most Occupy sites evicted by local governments • Most media/social media has stopped paying attention – implies the movement is dead • Arun Gupta: the Occupy movement less visible but not dead • Movements need space to become grounded, more permanent

29. Problem: Counter-Framing • Ezra Levant on Sun Media (Canada's Bill O'Reilly / Fox News equivalent): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDpVs2_GDRQ

30. The Revolution will not be tweeted • Malcolm Gladwell: social media do not build strong trust, do not facilitate long-term commitment or high-risk activism • Must always remember the power of face to face, not just digital communication • Both were critical to success of the Arab Spring

31. COURSE SUMMARY 30 slides in 30 minutes...GO!

32. What are social movements? • Charles Tilly's definition: social movements are one form of contentious politics • developed in the West after 1750 • sustained campaigns that make collective claims aimed at authorities • enacted by participants with common interests, goals, and a distinct identity

33. Repertoire of Contention • Charles Tilly: the set of protest tactics available to activists in a given historical period • Historically short in duration and local in scope, e.g. food riots, grain seizures, land revolts and charivari

34. Modular repertoire • “adaptable” tactics like large-scale demonstrations, can be aimed at any target, based on any grievance, e.g. Mass petition, boycott • emerged in the West in the late 18th century due to emergence of nation-states and spread of capitalism

35. Three Major Approaches 1. Collective Behaviour Theory 2. Resource Mobilization Theory PLUS Political Process Theory 3. New Social Movement Theory

36. Collective Behaviour Theories • Chicago School • Structural Functionalism • Mass Society • Relative Deprivation

37. Resource Mobilization • Movement participants as rational actors pursuing their interests (rather than irrational mobs a la structural functionalism) • There are always grievances present in society -- collective action happens when resources become available • 5 types: moral, cultural, organizational, human & material

38. Political Process Theory • emphasises interactions of SM with the state & the role of political opportunities in the mobilization and outcomes of SMs

39. Key Terms • Political Opportunity: features of political environment that encourage movement emergence and success • Sidney Tarrow's 5 elements • Cycle of Contention: phase of heightened conflict across the social system

40. New Social Movement Theory • focus on collective identity and culture, “post-materialist” values (although that's debatable) • emerged in Europe in the 1960s • includes peace, environmental, gay and lesbian, student, and womens' movements

41. Collective Action Frames Frames are interpretations of issues and events that inspire and legitimate collective action • Framing is the process of constructing movement frames • e.g. “rights” master frame used by social movements • Movements and media struggle over framing

42. Marxism and Anarchism • Agree that capitalism has to go • Differ when it comes to tactics used to get there

43. Marxism • Karl Marx: 19th century philosopher who theorized that history unfolds according to the progress of class struggle: from slavery, feudalism, capitalism, onto communism. • Fatalism: the belief that the force of history is bound to cause the collapse of capitalism with or without human effort (linked to catastrophism)

44. Marxism • Marxists see capitalism as inherently destructive and exploitative; focus on economic exploitation of the proletariat by the bourgeoisie (today: the middle class is shrinking and the rich 1% is richer than ever) • They see seizing state power as the first step toward a utopian, classless society (communism) where workers contribute to the common good, and property is held in common trust

45. Anarchism • Key quality: anti-authoritarianism, including rejection of the authority of the state • Prefigurative politics: living the revolution in the here and now by rejecting leadership structures and majority vote in favour of consensus-decision making and decentralized networks (e.g the anarchist “sensibility” (Epstein) of the Global Justice Movement) • belief in propaganda of the deed, i.e. Direct confrontation with the state

46. Anarchism • Insurrectionism/voluntarism: belief that it is not necessary to mobilize the masses of workers to start a revolution (small groups of revolutionary volunteers – the vanguard – can do it too)

47. Movements and media as interacting systems: the relationship is asymmetrical: movements need media more than media need movements Movements need the news media for 1. Mobilization 2. Validation 3. Scope Enlargement Bill Gamson

48. Gamson and Wolfsfeld Movements need the news media for three major purposes: 1. Mobilization 2. Validation 3. Scope Enlargement Bill Gamson

49. History of radical communication • The subversive role of the printing press since 15th century (pamphlets, prints, porn) • Print: comics, Victorian women novelists, samizdat printed in USSR • Textiles as radical communication: quilts and zoot suits in the US • Radio: Voice of Algeria • Dance

50. Anti-slavery movement • An example of a pre-internet international movement: began in Britain in the 19th century, against the slave trade, joined with US activists (thru letters, visits, speakers tours) • 1863: In the US, Emancipation Proclamation issued by Lincoln freeing the slaves in the South