CA/Continuations/Discussion Group

A series of discussions about how people locally and around the world are resisting austerity and building strong coalitions to protect public services, education, and the safety net. Our goals are to educate ourselves, strengthen our relationships, and develop a shared analysis of austerity and a shared orientation to strategies that work.

Discussion Questions

1. What makes this particular movement / uprising powerful?
2. Who is involved (students, workers, disenfranchised, etc.)?
3. How do they confront power?
4. How does this movement connect to the broader social ills / issues (beyond single issue)?
5. How does this movement compare / contrast with ours?

Upcoming Study Group Event

Facebook Invite Page: People's Budget Movement Building Study Group
When: Saturday, July 14, 2012
Time: 10:00am
Where: 214 NE Thompson Street (map)
Topic: We'll be reading 3 pieces about 3 different communities in struggle: students in Quebec, teachers in Chicago, and youth in Chile. We will start out with a potluck brunch and spend time getting to know each other. We'll have some discussion in the large group and then break into small groups for more in-depth conversations using the discussion questions provided as a starting point.

Discussion Notes

Chile Rising

Megan's Suggestions

“

There were lots of articles reporting events, but I thought this one was a good balance of history and practical info on student strategy and tactics. The video is not too long, and it’s so exciting.

”

• Article: A New Chile is Possible: Students and a Society in Motion
• Supplemental video: Chile Rising: Behind the Student Protest Movement

Quebec's 'Maple Spring' Protests

Dave's Assignments

• Article: Ten Points Everyone Should Know About the Quebec Student Movement

• Podcast (hat tip to Shamus for sending me this link): Maple Spring: The Québec Student Strike

Please Note: As of 11:16, 8 July 2012 (PDT) the mp3 file for the Maple Spring: The Québec Student Strike podcast appears to be missing. The web player doesn't plan and the "download" link is currently a dead link to a Dropbox account. Stay tuned.

• Extra credit: A still-expanding list of other material (just below "Dave's Notes"):

Dave's Notes

• Canada's Maple Spring - Student protests in Quebec grow to nationwide movement. (Video)

Clanging pots and pans are sounding across the streets of Montreal as hundreds of thousands of Quebecers take part in what is being termed the "Maple Spring" - Canada's largest and longest protests ever. It all started three months ago when the provincial government announced an 75 percent increase on university tuitions.

• How Quebec's 'Maple Spring' Protests Fit With the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street (Sort Of)

Pullquote:

“

What started as a students-only protest is spilling over into a much broader debate about inequality and, ultimately, the future that peoples' leaders appear to be offering. But this is also part of a larger trend. It's amazing how quickly these regional and specific discussions -- police brutality in Tunisia, income inequality in the U.S., college tuition in Quebec - spill over into some of the same themes we see globally. A government, possessing economic and military authority, makes a move that finally angers people enough to send them into the streets.

”

• Maple Spring: The Québec Student Strike (Podcast)

• Québec Students Spark the ‘Maple Spring’ (Series of articles and videos.)

• Quebec Student Strike (Series of video reports hosted by The Real News.)

• Quebec student strike (List of reports on Democracy Now!)