Skip to content

Social Movements

Corporate Power Doesn’t Always Win: Remembering FTAA

January 30, 2016 Aldo Orellana López and Thomas Mc Donagh, www.fpif.org , , ,
By Aldo Orellana López and Thomas Mc Donagh for Foreign Policy In Focus - In retrospect, it sounds like a dream come true: a mobilized population, intercontinental organizing, cooperative left-wing governments — all culminating in the downfall of a major corporate-friendly trade agreement that would have covered a large chunk of the global economy. It wasn’t just a dream. The proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas, or FTAA — meant to span all of North and Latin America — went down in defeat in 2005. Now, over a decade later, as we face two other upcoming trade deals...

What Drove Changes To Policy On Solitary Confinement?

January 28, 2016 Sharmini Peries, www.therealnews.com , ,
By Sharmini Peries for The Real News - Alan Mills of Uptown People's Law Center and Bernadette Rabuy of Prison Policy Initiative say lawsuits, psychological studies, and persistent grassroots pressure were behind Obama's recent policy changes. On Monday, January 25, President Obama announced a set of sweeping reforms centered on the policy of solitary confinement in prisons. The reforms include a complete ban on solitary confinement for juveniles in the federal prison system and drastically reduced time for first offenders in isolation.

Creating Transformation Through Building Deeper Relationships

January 28, 2016 Ejeris Dixon, www.truth-out.org ,
By Ejeris Dixon for Truthout - As I dream about the possibilities for 2016, I believe we are uniquely positioned to engage more people in social movements than at any point I've seen in the last decade. During the past two years we've witnessed a brilliant escalation of our justice movements to build and sustain the level of direct action needed to win incredible and unprecedented victories. There is actually public conversation beyond activist and organizer circles on discriminatory policing, state violence against Black communities, and homophobic and transphobic violence.

The Fake Left

January 26, 2016 Dady Chery and Gilbert Mercier, www.newsjunkiepost.com , ,
By Dady Chery and Gilbert Mercier for News Junkie Post - All writers with a desire to rattle people out of their torpor occasionally wonder if it is worthwhile to continue to try to raise their voices over the din of lies and distractions. More and more for us, such thoughts are occasioned, not by the mainstream, which predictably treats all the pronouncements from the powerful as being newsworthy, but by the fake left, which lobotomizes most of whom it touches. The increasing sophistication of this group and its rate of expansion are astounding. Its purpose is to annihilate and replace the real left, and it is making great strides in this regard.

What Happens To The Bernie Sanders Movement If He Loses?

January 23, 2016 George Lakey, www.wagingnonviolence.org ,
By George Lakey for Waging Nonviolence - The corrupted system, however, does not lead me to dismiss Bernie Sanders’ campaign for the Democratic nomination for president. He and the many people working with him have already contributed mightily to the task of preparing Americans for a living revolution. How so? First, he articulates clearly truths about our system that many Americans have figured out, but have wondered — for good reason — if they are alone. In a recent ABC/Washington Post poll, 68 percent agreed that we live in a country whose economic system favors the rich rather than the rest of us.

Gut Reactions Key To Building Powerful Movements

January 22, 2016 Brian Martin, www.wagingnonviolence.org
By Brian Martin for Waging Nonviolence - Many protesters are driven by their emotions, including anger at injustice and sympathy for victims of oppression. Acts of resistance, such as by Rosa Parks in Montgomery, Alabama in December 1955, can trigger an outpouring of support. Yet, at other times, people are acquiescent to injustice. What happened to their emotional responses? Insight into the role of emotions in nonviolent action can be obtained from studies by psychologist Jonathan Haidt and colleagues into “moral foundations.”

The Rumble From The People Can Work

January 1, 2016 Staff, www.blog.nader.org ,
By Staff of The Nader Page - If only the people who engage in “road rage” would engage in “corporate rage” when they are harmed by cover-ups or hazardous products and gouging services, aloof CEOs would start getting serious about safety and fair play. With press report after press report documenting how big business stiffs millions of its consumers and workers, why is it that more of these victims do not externalize some of their inner agonies by channeling them into civic outrage? It has happened on occasion and with good results. After Candy Lightner lost her daughter to a drunk driver, she founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in 1980 as the only way she could deal with her intense grief.

The Biggest Justice Movements Of 2015

December 29, 2015 Staff, www.rhrealitycheck.org ,
By Staff of RHRC - If we learned anything in 2015, it was that activists of all ages and backgrounds are up for the challenges that lie ahead. We at RH Reality Check are certain not a day went by this year without aRepublican presidential candidate oranti-choice public figure saying something awful about already marginalized groups, a person of color being killed or assaulted by the police, an anti-abortion bill being introduced that was more terrible than the last one (not an easy feat), or a woman being prosecuted for her pregnancy. You could say we’re seeing a half-empty glass. But what gives us hope are the dozens of justice movements happening nationwide to fight back against the anti-choice policies, state-sanctioned violence, wage violations, and so much more.

Social Movements In Spain: Insiders’ Perspectives

December 22, 2015 AK Malaboca, www.roarmag.org ,
By AK Malaboca for ROAR Magazine - In February this year, two weeks after Syriza’s victory in the Greek elections, we spoke to many activists in Athens. Despite the many different assessments of the situation, the mood was reserved but optimistic. After more than four years of austerity, with increasingly harmful effects for most sections of the Greek population, the new government was welcomed as much needed “breathing space”. It’s now ten months later and we have to conclude that, unfortunately, it are the worst fears that have been realized and the political climate is starting to suffocate again.

Millennials Are Revitalizing Organized Labor

November 14, 2015 Amy B. Dean, www.america.aljazeera.com ,
By Amy B. Dean for Aljazeera - Millennials are often made out to be selfish and individualistic, but they appear to be taking a greater interest in social movements and dramatic social change than some previous generations. A series of polls suggests that, compared with other demographic groups, Americans in their 20s have less favorable views of capitalism and higher opinions of unions and government intervention in the economy. Millennials are also the first generation in a long time to feel a sense of common purpose in the economy and to look toward collective action as a means of improving their circumstances.

What Became Of Occupy Wall Street?

November 5, 2015 Arun Gupta, www.telesurtv.net ,
By Arun Gupta for Tele Sur TV - Far from fizzling, the movement has a contested legacy that continues to shape the political landscape One of the more puzzling aspects about Occupy Wall Street is not that there was a moment when millions of people hoped or feared it might overthrow the rule of the banks, but that so little is said about it four years on. Its anniversaries come and go without comment: Occupy’s founding on September 17, 2011, the high-water mark of the Oakland general strike on November 2, the eviction of of the New York camp on November 15, the creation of Occupy Sandy after the superstorm walloped the Northeast on October 29, 2012.

Mayan People’s Movement Defeats Monsanto Law In Guatemala

September 23, 2015 Christin Sandberg, www.intercontinentalcry.org , , , , ,
By Christin Sandberg in Intercontinental Cry - On September 4th, after ten days of widespread street protests against the biotech giant Monsanto’s expansion into Guatemalan territory, groups of indigenous people joined by social movements, trade unions and farmer and women’s organizations won a victory when congress finally repealed the legislation that had been approved in June. The demonstrations were concentrated outside the Congress and Constitutional Court in Guatemala City during more than a week, and coincided with several Mayan communities and organizations defending food sovereignty through court injunctions in order to stop the Congress and the President, Otto Perez Molina, from letting the new law on protection of plant varieties, known as the “Monsanto Law”, take effect.

The Same Hymn Sheet

September 18, 2015 George Monbiot, www.monbiot.com , , ,
By George Monbiot - Hostile colleagues, a furious press, an elite determined to destroy him and everything he stands for: Jeremy Corbyn cannot hope to survive by following the traditional path to power. Labour can no longer operate only – or even mostly – from the centre. Its electoral hopes now grow from the grassroots movements that raised him to his improbable position. It is not up to “them” any more. Now it’s up to us. This is a new politics, of the kind that has proved effective in Scotland, but which is so far untested in elections south of the border. Success now relies not on the clapped-out institutions of a post-democratic state, or on the bloodless calculations of machine-made strategists, but on volatile, uncontainable mass movements. The new politics are thrilling, inspiring, brimming with hope, but not without their problems.

Social Media & Movements: Is The Love Affair Really Over?

August 3, 2015 Thomas Swann, www.roarmag.org ,
By Thomas Swann in Roar Mag - Social media was increasingly seen as an essential element in how large groups were able to organize without centralized leadership. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter were allowing people to mobilize not as hierarchical structures like trade unions and political parties but as horizontal networks. Individual activists and sub-groups enjoyed a tactical autonomy while remaining part of a larger whole. Almost four years have passed, and now at the end of my PhD the gloss to this narrative has to a large extent worn off. Some elements of the 2011 uprisings have been consumed by the tragedy of civil war and renewed dictatorships, while others have dispersed.

Same Sex Marriage Is Not Equality, LGBT Movement Must Continue

June 27, 2015 Chelsea E. Manning, www.theguardian.com , , ,
By Chelsea E. Manning in The Guardian - Transgender folks have been part of the push for LGBT equality from the beginning, and we’ve spoken with loud and intelligent voices, and have found political and personal success and advancement all over the world. We fought police discrimination during the riots of Compton Cafeteria in San Francisco in 1966, the Stonewall Inn in 1963 and the White Night in San Francisco in 1979. We have been inspired by leaders from Sylvia Rivera and Miss Major, and from Janet Mock to Laverne Cox. We have created political organizations for ourselves, like the Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries (Star) to Sylvia Rivera Law Project and Black & Pink. But despite our successes and our participation in the struggle for LGBT equality, there are still queer and trans folks who struggle every single day for the right to define themselves, to access gender-appropriate healthcare and to live without harassment by other people, the police or the government. Many queer and trans people live – and lived – in our prison and jails, in our homeless shelters, in run-down houses and apartment buildings, and on the corners of every major city.
«12345678910»
assetto corsa mods

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

Donate Here

Urgent End Of Year Fundraising Campaign

Online donations are back! 

Keep independent media alive. 

Due to the attacks on our fiscal sponsor, we were unable to raise funds online for nearly two years.  As the bills pile up, your help is needed now to cover the monthly costs of operating Popular Resistance.

Donate Here
Sign Up To Our Daily Digest

Independent media outlets are being suppressed and dropped by corporations like Google, Facebook and Twitter. Sign up for our daily email digest before it’s too late so you don’t miss the latest movement news.