Final paper prompt for Glos4221/Soc4321, Globalize This!, paper due to the Canvas site, Thurs May 2, by 5pm
I quote here the (slightly abridged) last lines of the Intro to the course, still there on our Canvas site:
“In Part Four, we will read a series of articles ((or rather look at TC-based groups’ websites and their information)) on social and ecological politics, on climate change justice, on the living wage and alternative notions of right to housing and the city, and movements to reclaim land for alternative forms of use than commodity production and resource extraction. Our focus will zoom in on the social activism of the Twin Cities (and allies around the world). You may ask: What are the links between slavery and Empire, and today’s challenges of climate change and economic/social/cultural injustice?
According to David Graeber, author of Debt: The First 5000 Years, today “there are two insoluble problems: On the one hand, we have witnessed an endless series of global debt crises … which are obviously unsustainable. On the other, we have an ecological crisis, a galloping process of climate change that is threatening to throw the entire planet into … chaos.” What’s the connection? Both are about debts, and debts are nothing more than “the promise of future productivity.” We promise to produce ever more goods and services, more than we do today, which is unsustainable for our human health and “precisely what’s destroying the planet.” So, how do we begin to discuss the possibility of a “planetary debt cancellation”? Can we discuss the possibility of producing, consuming, and borrowing less from the future and the planet? And how can we consider it in a way that could enable socially and ecologically just practices of work, provisioning, and living that reverses the damage to the planet and to the social world? These are tough questions, but ones that are well worth pursuing. We will hear from social movements here and elsewhere that are actively trying to meet these challenges and produce the new world that we all can hope to nurture and be nurtured by.”
Ok, so we didn’t talk at length about climate or debt in class, even though both sat there in the background of our readings and discussion. But what is relevant for us and your final paper in this Graeber quote is that things are interconnected, with deep roots in history, and they need to be resolved. So, the prompt for this final paper asks that you think through: What are these TC-based groups you are studying working toward? It might not be debt alleviation or climate justice, but it might be still about social justice and equity for all. How do these groups navigate in this unequal and contentious world their goals and objectives? How do they work, what are their strategies, tools for outreach and persuasion; how do they turn their lofty ideals into practice? I am fully aware that you don’t really know deeply that which you have only studied for two weeks – just put your doubt aside (for this exercise) and identify: a) what their intentions are, b) whom they are working with and for, c) with what goals, d) against which existing societal/institutional obstacles, e) using what strategies and tools to succeed, and f) how far-reaching have they become over time (from a single issue to multiple issues or organizing in a coalition with others here and even with others from a great distance). Next, think about the similarities and differences from the three or four big campaigns/movements of the course: 1) the movement to abolish the slave trade; 2) campaigns to create global South-South solidarity (e.g., Bandung and the African movements for independence) and an alternative to colonialism and the Cold War; 3) the elite campaign to create a new world order through debt financing and investment that puts the global North back into the driver seat; and finally, 4) the pink revolutionary tide of change starting in Cochabamba and spreading, however briefly/unevenly, across Latin America.
In a five-page paper, with 1.5 spacing and (practically) no quotations, start with an overview of what your paper covers and why it matters or is thought-provoking, then explain what your group found [see a) to f) above] and then discuss connections/lessons from any of the movements from the course [see 1) through 4) above]. Conclude with any over-arching thoughts you have as to what you have learned from this exercise and the course.
Sources and links for reference:
https://www.inquilinxsunidxs.org/en/about#media-gallery
