Social movements are often pitted against other forms of organization, like unions or political parties, in both analysis and in everyday practice. The argument sometimes reduces to a pitched battle between community, or “identity”-based, politics and “class struggle.” But is this the case? Since the mid-20th century, social movements have increasingly reflected the complexity of modern capitalism. On the one hand, conditions related to social class—and capitalism more broadly—remain pivotal, as inequality and precarity increase, and living standards decline.
On the other, increased recognition of cultural realms beyond the economy, labor, and the workplace has recast social and political life–spurring greater popular participation in political life and reframing questions of democracy, activism, and oppression. What are the arguments for (and against) separating the experiences of racialized, gendered, sexual, and other marginalities from the experiences of economic dispossession? Can economic struggles be conceived apart from struggles for recognition and vice versa? What is a social movement? What are the possibilities between identity formation and capitalist dynamics? What role has neoliberalism played in shaping the relationships between class and identity?
In this course, we’ll attempt to answer these questions as we read analyses from social movement, Marxist, and other critical theoretical perspectives. We will examine the stories and experiences of several social movements and organizations from the mid-20th century onwards to bring together textured histories and theoretical analyses. How do these perspectives work together and complicate each other? What can be gained from examining them all together and, perhaps, synthetically?
Case studies may include the Black Panthers, Young Lords, Wages for Housework, Poland’s Solidarity, Occupy Wall Street, and Brazil’s Landless Movement. Drawing from theory, history, and experience we students will explore the vast strategic vacuum that exists between reductive economic and cultural accounts.
There *is* no physical Brooklyn Institute. We hold our classes all over (thus far) Brooklyn and Manhattan, in alternative spaces ranging from the back rooms of bars to bookstores to spaces in cultural centers, including the Center for Jewish History, the Goethe-Institut, and the Barnard Center for Research on Women. We can (and do) turn any space into a classroom. You will be notified of the exact location when you register for a class.
This course is available for "remote" learning and will be available to anyone with access to an internet device with a microphone (this includes most models of computers, tablets). Classes will take place with a "Live" instructor at the date/times listed below.
Upon registration, the instructor will send along additional information about how to log-on and participate in the class.
