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Social Movements

Participation Is Our Biggest Advantage In The Fight Against Authoritarianism

August 9, 2024 Alessandra Bergamin, Waging Nonviolence. , , ,
For more than 40 years, Scot Nakagawa has served as an organizer, political strategist and social movement analyst in the struggle against authoritarianism. A movement veteran, Nakagawa got his start in Oregon in the late 1980s, where he worked on anti-racist and LGBTQ+ organizing, drawing not only parallels between the threats communities were facing but also the potential organizing solutions. In the decades since, Nakagawa has worked with many organizations, including the Coalition for Human Dignity, the National Anti-Klan Network, the National LGBTQ Task Force and ChangeLab. He currently serves as co-director of the 22nd Century Initiative, a national strategy and action center he co-founded to help build widespread opposition to authoritarian movements and ideas.

Movement Leaders Gathered For Second Edition Of World Social Alternative

July 26, 2024 Makiza Micheline Latifa, People's Dispatch. , , , , , ,
Mass movements, progressive organizations and social leaders from all sectors convened in Caracas for the second edition of the meeting of movements and social leaders for a World Social Alternative, an initiative put together by the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America – People’s Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP), in collaboration with the Simón Bolívar Institute for Peace and Solidarity amongst Peoples (ISB). The meeting ran from July 23-24, and featured debates, plenary sessions, and panel discussions at the Simon Bolivar Hall of the Bolivar Theater of Caracas in the capital of Venezuela, with delegates from across the globe. It follows the first encounter for a World Social Alternative which was held in Caracas between April 18 to April 20.

The Pacific Lands And Seas Are Neither Forbidden Nor Forgotten

July 19, 2024 Vijay Prashad, Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. , , , , , , ,
Since May, a powerful struggle has rocked Kanaky (New Caledonia), an archipelago located in the Pacific, roughly 1,500 kilometres east of Australia. The island, one of five overseas territories in the Asia-Pacific ruled by France, has been under French colonial rule since 1853. The indigenous Kanak people initiated this cycle of protests after the French government of Emmanuel Macron extended voting rights in provincial elections to thousands of French settlers in the islands. The unrest led Macron to suspend the new rules while subjecting islanders to severe repression. In recent months, the French government has imposed a state of emergency and curfew on the islands and deployed thousands of French troops, which Macron says will remain in New Caledonia for ‘as long as necessary’.

The Solution To Political Violence In The US: Transfer Power To The People

July 18, 2024 Lucas Estanislao, Resumen English. , , , ,
Violence has always been at the heart of how the United States makes policy, whether internally or externally, from the massacres of original populations and minorities to the two-party system that favors economic power and alienates the people. The way out of this vicious cycle is the empowerment of the working class, both politically and economically. This is one of the thoughts that the minority candidate for the presidency of the United States, Claudia De la Cruz of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), expressed in an interview with Brasil de Fato, after the shots fired at the rally of Republican Donald Trump on Saturday. If the far-right candidate came out practically unscathed, his electoral chances could have increased for the November elections.

Why Protests Work, Even When Not Everybody Likes Them

July 11, 2024 Mark Engler and Paul Engler, Waging Nonviolence. , , ,
efore this latest wave of action, we have witnessed in recent years a proliferation of disruptive protest, spanning a wide range of social movements. A small sampling of activity since the start of 2023 could note that animal rights advocates have disrupted the U.K.’s Grand National horse race and Victoria Beckham’s fashion show; abortion rights protesters have been sentenced for impeding the proceedings of the U.S. Supreme Court; striking dockworkers “upended operations at two of Canada’s three busiest ports;” and climate protesters have blocked access to oil and gas terminals, chained themselves to aircraft gangways to prevent private jet sales, and spoken out forcefully at corporate shareholders meetings.

High In The Himalayas, Resistance To Modi Is On The Rise

July 2, 2024 Safeena Wani, Waging Nonviolence. , , , , , ,
The return of Narendra Modi as prime minister of India for a third consecutive term has come as a wakeup call for the right-wing Bharatiya Janta Party, or BJP. Unlike 2014 and 2019, Modi’s party this time fell short of the numbers needed to win an outright majority in parliament, despite his pre-election boasts to the contrary. Analysts attribute concerns over unemployment, inflation and growing conflict with China for Modi’s modest mandate. Apart from losing support from strongholds like Uttar Pradesh, Modi also lost ground in the mountainous region of Ladakh, which shares borders with China and Pakistan.

British Foreign Policy: The Elite Vs The Public

July 1, 2024 Ian Sinclair, Morning Star. , , , ,
Two polls published earlier this month make interesting reading. Asked by YouGov “Do you think the UK was right or wrong to take military action in the following wars…?”, just 26 per cent of respondents answered it was right to take military action in the 1991 Gulf War, 29 per cent in Kosovo in 1999, and only 20 per cent in Afghanistan and 16 per cent in Iraq in 2003, while 48 per cent and 54 per cent said it was wrong to take military action in Afghanistan and Iraq, respectively. Another poll by Focaldata for news and opinion website Unherd found 44 per cent of respondents thought Britain should be less engaged in overseas conflicts, compared to just 7 per cent who said the nation should be more engaged.

Bolivia: A Coup Attempt With Winds From The North

June 30, 2024 Hedelberto López Blanch, Resumen English. , , ,
It was not long before the legitimate Bolivian government of Luis Arce faced an attempted military coup led by the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, General Juan José Zúñiga that it failed. The firm position of the president, the support of the workers’ organizations and the people, managed to stop the onslaught. Of great importance was the live coverage provided by Telesur, which at the same time as it offered live images, its correspondent and the studio announcers gave data and offered declarations from leaders and organizations of the world that rejected the coup. On Wednesday, June 26, while President Arce was meeting with his team in the Government House, the Murillo Square was invaded by hundreds of soldiers.

The Goal Is To Attack A Movement

June 30, 2024 Micah Herskind, Welcome to Hell World. , , , ,
The Georgia Attorney General’s office appears to have made a major blunder in the ongoing prosecution of 61 Stop Cop City activists—one that could potentially cost the state its case altogether. According to a motion filed by attorneys for three defendants who run the nonprofit Atlanta Solidarity Fund (ASF), Georgia Deputy Attorney General John Fowler’s prosecutorial team has extensively and brazenly violated multiple defendants’ right to attorney-client privilege. This motion is just the most recent episode in the RICO case that has been denounced by activists and legal experts as a political prosecution intended to punish and intimidate those in the Stop Cop City movement.

How The Bolivian People Defeated The Coup

June 29, 2024 TeleSur, People's Dispatch. , , , ,
On Wednesday June 26, hundreds of members of the Bolivian Armed Forces had mobilized under the order of General Juan Zúñiga in the center of La Paz and surrounded the Quemado Palace, attempting to stage a coup d’état. Their attempt was quickly diffused by a combination of the swift response from Bolivian President Luis Arce to replace the leadership of the military, an immediate and unanimous condemnation by the international community, and most importantly, the overwhelming mobilization of the Bolivian people to the center of La Paz to defend their democracy. TeleSUR journalist Marcela Heredia spoke with former Minister of the Interior, economist, professor and Bolivian analyst, Hugo Moldiz

The Bolivian People Defeated Another Coup

June 27, 2024 People's Dispatch. , , , , ,
Bolivian President Luis Arce addressed the people of Bolivia on the afternoon of Wednesday June 26 to declare that the attempted military coup had been defeated. On the afternoon of June 26, hundreds of military personnel had mobilized under the order of General Juan Zúñiga in the center of La Paz and surrounded the Quemado Palace (the government palace) ahead of a ministerial meeting. They proceeded to break down the main door to the palace with a tank and attempted to enter by force. Zúñiga then announced that the military personnel would mobilize to the prison and free Bolivia’s “political prisoners” including Jeanine Áñez and Luis Fernando Camacho who are imprisoned over their involvement in the 2019 coup against Evo Morales.

AFGJ Strongly Condemns The Attempted Military Coup In Bolivia

June 26, 2024 the Alliance for Global Justice. , , , ,
Alliance for Global Justice congratulates the Arce Administration for its swift action to restore popular democracy in Bolivia just hours after its National Army surrounded the Palacio Quemado with tanks and armored vehicles during a Cabinet meeting, calling for the resignation of the President and the entire Cabinet. The effort was led by Commander Juan José Zúñiga Macías, now under arrest, who had also made a series of threats against former president Evo Morales. Popular movements quickly took to the streets en masse across the country to defend Bolivia’s democracy, shouting “Lucho is not alone!” and “stop the coup d’état!”

You Saved Julian Assange

June 26, 2024 Chris Hedges, Scheer Post. , , , ,
The dark machinery of empire, whose mendacity and savagery Julian Assange exposed to the world, spent 14 years trying to destroy him. They cut him off from his funding, canceling his bank accounts and credit cards. They invented bogus allegations of sexual assault to get him extradited to Sweden, where he would then be shipped to the U.S. They trapped him in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London for seven years after he was given political asylum and Ecuadorian citizenship by refusing him safe passage to Heathrow Airport. They orchestrated a change of government in Ecuador that saw him stripped of his asylum, harassed and humiliated by a pliant embassy staff.

Europe’s Shift To The Right Must Be Countered With Mass Mobilization

June 12, 2024 Giuliano Granato, People's Dispatch. , , , , , , , ,
The composition of the new European Parliament will more or less trace the outgoing one. Much ado about nothing? Not really. It’s not just a question of how many votes and seats you get—the conservative European People’s Party (EPP) increased their share by 10 seats, and the ultra-right parties Identity and Democracy and European Conservatives and Reformists by 13—but also where and how. The ultra-right is the leading force in two key countries such as France and Italy, where it won around 30% of votes (40% if we add the votes of Zemmours Reconquuête in France and Salvinis Lega in Italy).

People’s Conference For Palestine Closes With A Pledge To Mobilize

May 27, 2024 Natalia Marques, People's Dispatch. , , , , , , ,
After three days of idea exchange and relationship building, the People’s Conference for Palestine ended with a bold call to mobilize: surround the White House on June 8 in protest of Israel’s ongoing offensive against Rafah.  “Biden said he had a red line, remember the red line? He said, if Netanyahu dares go into Rafah, that’s a red line, we the United States, will stop sending weapons to Israel,” said Brian Becker, executive director of the ANSWER Coalition, said during the plenary session entitled “How Do Movements Achieve Transformation?”  “Israel went ahead and invaded Rafah, and what did Biden do? He continued to send the bombs and the missiles to carry out the massacre in Rafah and throughout Gaza."
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