A Citizen' Guide to Social Movements

A Citizen' Guide to Social Movements
Author: John Markoff
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 128
Release: 2018
Genre: Democracy
ISBN: 9780415661034

The role of social and political movements are crucial in shaping the way we understand democracy. This brief and accessible guide explains how the formal rules of democratic political systems encourage citizens to engage in the kinds of action we commonly associate with movements: picketing, petitioning, fundraising, occupying public spaces, chanting, displaying slogans, demonstrating, parading, blocking access to public spaces and (sometimes) violence. Markoff discusses the ways movements have been instrumental in redefining democracy and how they have changed as new issues have emerged, new means of communication have affected the possibilities for mobilization, and other kinds of institutional change have altered the constraints within which movements act. Markoff is especially focused on the role of movements within democratic politics, the interplay of movements with political party competition, the passage of legislation, and the actions of regulatory agencies. In addition to looking at the national politics of democratic states, this short primer also examines the ways in which democratic claims have also figured in justification for assertions of domination abroad as well as in claims for overturning colonial rule. The book ends with speculation about the current forms of social movement activity and the ways these might reshape democratic politics for good or ill in the near future.

A Citizen's Guide to City Politics

A Citizen's Guide to City Politics
Author: Jason Prince
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2021
Genre: LAW
ISBN: 9781551647791

Eric Shragge taught community organizing and development at Concordia and now works with Mostafa Henaway as an organizer at the Immigrant Workers Centre. Jason Prince is an urban planner and social economy expert who teaches at Concordia University in Montreal,

Handbook of Political Citizenship and Social Movements

Handbook of Political Citizenship and Social Movements
Author: Hein-Anton van der Heijden
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 710
Release: 2014-10-31
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1781954704

øThis Handbook uniquely collates the results of several decades of academic research in these two important fields. The expert contributions successively address the different forms of political citizenship and current approaches and recent development

A Citizen's Guide to American Ideology

A Citizen's Guide to American Ideology
Author: Morgan Marietta
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2012-03-29
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1136593659

Conservatives and Liberals often resort to cartoon images of the opposing ideology, relying on broadly defined caricatures to illustrate their opposition. To help us get past these stereotypes, this short, punchy book explains the two dominant political ideologies in America today, providing a thorough and fair analysis of each as well as insight into their respective branches. To help us understand the differences between the two contrasting ideologies, Morgan Marietta employs an innovative metaphor of a tree—growth from ideological roots to a core value, expanding into a problem that creates the competing branches of the ideology. This approach suggests a clear way to explain and compare the two ideologies in an effort to enhance democratic debate. A Citizen’s Guide to American Political Ideologies is a brief, non-technical and conversational overview of one of the most important means of understanding political rhetoric and policy debates in America today.

Networks of Outrage and Hope

Networks of Outrage and Hope
Author: Manuel Castells
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 151
Release: 2015-06-04
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0745695795

Networks of Outrage and Hope is an exploration of the new forms of social movements and protests that are erupting in the world today, from the Arab uprisings to the indignadas movement in Spain, from the Occupy Wall Street movement to the social protests in Turkey, Brazil and elsewhere. While these and similar social movements differ in many important ways, there is one thing they share in common: they are all interwoven inextricably with the creation of autonomous communication networks supported by the Internet and wireless communication. In this new edition of his timely and important book, Manuel Castells examines the social, cultural and political roots of these new social movements, studies their innovative forms of self-organization, assesses the precise role of technology in the dynamics of the movements, suggests the reasons for the support they have found in large segments of society, and probes their capacity to induce political change by influencing people’s minds. Two new chapters bring the analysis up-to-date and draw out the implications of these social movements and protests for understanding the new forms of social change and political democracy in the global network society.

Doing Democracy

Doing Democracy
Author: Bill Moyer
Publisher: New Society Publishers
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2001-08-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780865714182

An empowering guide to understanding the strategies behind successful social movements.

Manifesto for New Social Movements

Manifesto for New Social Movements
Author: César Augusto Rossatto
Publisher: IAP
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2019-10-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1641137932

The world is currently witnessing the emergence of a new context for education, labor, and transformative social movements. Global flows of people, capital, and energy increasingly define the world we live in. The multinational corporation, with its pursuit of ever-cheaper sources of labor and materials and its disregard for human life, is the dominant form of economic organization, where capital can cross borders, but people can’t. Affirmative action, democracy, and human rights are moving in from the margins to challenge capitalist priorities of “efficiency”, i.e. exploitation. In some places, the representatives of popular movements are actually taking the reins of state power. Across the globe new progressive movements are emerging to bridge national identities and boundaries, in solidarity with transnational class, gender, and ethnic struggles. At this juncture, educators have a key role to play. The ideology of market competition has become more entrenched in schools, even as opportunities for skilled employment diminish. We must rethink the relationship between schooling and labor, developing transnational pedagogies that draw upon the myriad social struggles shaping students’ lives and communities. Critical educators need to connect with other social movements to put a radically democratic agenda, based on the principles of equity, access, and emancipation, at the center of educational praxis. Many countries in Latin America like in other continents are developing new alternatives for the reconstruction of social projects; these emerging sources of hope are the central focus of this book. Major historical change always starts with people’s social movement. Democracy can be one of the best political and social systems in the world but for it to work entails the sustainable participation of citizens. Above all, it requires that people be informed and critically educated since the quality of democracy depends on quality of education. There are 2 kinds of power: money and people. If people exercise their agency, they can be more powerful than money. There are some organizing principles of social movements, as: “don’t do for others what they should do for themselves.” Saul Alinsky wrote: Rules for Radicals: A pragmatic primer for realistic radicals; Mary Rogers: Cold Anger: A story of faith and power politics; Michael Gecan: Going Public: An organizer’s guide to citizen action; and Ernesto Cortez’s, Industrial Area Foundation, are all great sources for organized activism that do work. I put some of these principles to the test and they produced positive results, I was a founder and president of a union at my university and I lived my whole life as an activist and learned that, we can do more together than alone. Now we also have a new digital war with the Cambridge Analitica and Breitbart’s fake news manipulation; however, we also have social-justice hacktivism to counter act it, as well as other democratic social media venues that critical thinkers and activist use. The chapters in this book demonstrate the importance of widening and diversifying social movements, at the same time, emphasizes the need to build cohesive alliances among all the different fronts. What some people think is “impossible” can become a transformed reality, for those who dare attempt changing the world as global citizens.

The Citizen's Guide to Lobbying Congress (Rev and Updated Ed)

The Citizen's Guide to Lobbying Congress (Rev and Updated Ed)
Author: Donald E. deKieffer
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2007-09
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1569764174

Individuals and grassroots organizations interested in becoming involved in petitioning their government will discover essential information on the techniques and laws to lobbying in this clear and enlightening guide. New lobbyists will learn how to best craft and direct their messages so that their concerns will be heard, make congressional contacts, get the most out of letter-writing campaigns, generate press, give campaign contributions, and even get invited to testify before congressional committees. This resource details the most recent lobbying laws, including the Federal Election Campaign Act amended in 2002, as well as a list of appropriate gifts to give to a member of Congress or their staff. This revised edition contains updated chapters and resources that will ensure that neophyte lobbyists will have the most up-to-date information when lobbying their government.