Democratic Movements, Self-Education, and Economic Democracy: Chartists, Populists, and Wobblies (original) (raw)
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We present a study that pertains to the discussion about educational dimensions in the field of different economies (Solidarity Economy Networks, Solidarity Purchasing Groups, Degrowth movement, etc.). These organisations have developed their own practices and values that have given rise to new ways of living and new models of work. In terms of adult education, we ask under which conditions these informal contexts can be environments for self-education in citizenship and political engagement. They are witnessing the creation of practices that demonstrate an enthusiasm for learning, participation, justice and responsibility, all against the backdrop of a rejection of the prevailing neo-liberal model. This study employed a qualitative methodology based on Case Studies and Grounded Theory. The results reveal that (transition) workers in different economies are experiencing new types of education and work in which the group involved, and the processes of self-education in play, all have...
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While the study of popular education has thematic proximity to the social movement literature, it is not a terrain of systematic research and theorising by social movement scholars. On the other side of the equation, while scholars of popular education may frequently invoke terms such as ‘social movement’ and ‘activism’, the tools of social movement theory are rarely put to use within this literature. That these two literatures are so close, but so far apart is rather astonishing given their overlapping concerns for issues of resistance, solidarity, democratisation and social transformation. In this essay, I address the gap between social movement studies and popular education studies, and then proceed to engage in some initial bridge-building work by discussing the concept of ‘free space’.
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Text of a talk given at the Marxist Education Project (Brooklyn Commons) on 18 October 2016 (http://marxedproject.org/event/we-make-our-own-history-on-marxism-and-social-movements/)
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Three chapters available under "Papers", below. ""Marxism and Social Movements is the first sustained engagement between social movement theory and Marxist approaches to collective action. The chapters collected here, by leading figures in both fields, discuss the potential for a Marxist theory of social movements; explore the developmental processes and political tensions within movements; set the question in a long historical perspective; and analyse contemporary movements against neo-liberalism and austerity. Exploring struggles on six continents over 150 years, this collection shows the power of Marxist analysis in relation not only to class politics, labour movements and revolutions but also anti-colonial and anti-racist struggles, community activism and environmental justice, indigenous struggles and anti-austerity protest. It sets a new agenda both for Marxist theory and for movement research." Download flyer for 25% discount offer."
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History has revealed that overtime Students and Workers through their activism have played significant role in politics as they have acted as checks in any political dispensation that is against the common interest. This is because while the proletariats (workers) produce the wealth plundered by those in authority, the students form the literati, on whose shoulders rest the conscience of the society. It was in line with this mandate that in the 19 th Century, Russian students were in the forefront of the struggle against the Czars' exploitative and dictatorial social system. Similarly, Chinese students constituted the most active groups in the fight against feudalism and Japanese colonization. In the 1960s, students took up arms in opposition to inhumane Western consumer societies and their exploitation and repression of the poor, black and yellow races. Also American students were actively involved in the civil right movements, especially in the Southern parts. Under the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) they created a climate of opinion about the Vietnam War which the American people could not ignore. In Africa, outbursts in Mali,