CA/Continuations/Discussion Group

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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.

Other Events

Portland Student Organizing Meeting #2
Wednesday, July 25, 2012 - 7:00pm
WHY ORGANIZE?
Student loan debt is a looming disaster that concerns all of us. As a trend that continues to fuel the creation of a generation of indentured servants, the growing debt will follow us as long as we live, or only as long as we let it.

Study Assignments

Chicago Teachers Union Strike

Luis Recommends
“ The most comprehensive article out there about the Chicago Teachers Union strike is the ISO's piece. ”

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. ”

Quebec's 'Maple Spring' Protests

Dave's Assignments

Please Note: The kindly Karen from We Are Many restored access to the Maple Spring: The Québec Student Strike podcast again. Please "like" the We Are Many Facebook page.

Here's a backup link to the .mp3 file (just in case)...
Extra credit -- A still-expanding list of other material on the Quebec student strike.
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.

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. ”

Role, Assumptions, Content, Outreach, Next Steps

1. Role

Draw in leaders and rank and filers; be inclusive.
Relationship building.
Help us all think through strategies, collectively.

2. Assumptions we are making about “change,” and about what it takes to build social movements.

Change and “sudden leaps of consciousness” often happen based on an event; we need to help lay the groundwork, “prepare the soil” in the meantime.
Wisconsin marked a shift in consciousness, that led to concrete political action.
A key part of preparation is to present an alternative model.
People are often duped into the theme of “There is NO alternative.” While they feel discontented, they aren’t sure how to proceed. They will join our fight when they see an alternative.
Effective systemic analysis is central to preventing infighting.
No action is radical unless it confronts power.
At some point, a movement has to set up alternative structures.

3. Content For July 14 (initial session) and beyond, we should focus on the movement building since 2008.

  • Wisconsin-- what worked, what didn’t, why, what can we learn?
  • Measures 66 & 67—what worked, what didn’t, why…etc.
  • Occupy Wall Street / Occupy Portland—what worked, what didn’t…etc.
  • Greece anti-austerity—what works…etc.
  • Spain / Madrid
  • Chile’s student movement / occupations
  • Chicago teacher’s strike
  • Montreal student strike
  • Britain—student movement

Possible questions we might discuss with each topic:

  1. Why did this movement emerge when it did?
  2. Why was / is this movement powerful?
  3. What groups are involved? (on both sides)?
  4. How did this movement confront power?
  5. How does this movement connect to broader social ills?
  6. How can we apply insights from this movement to our current organizing?

4. Outreach

“Each one reach one.” We will each do direct recruiting of someone.

5. Miscellaneous

Recommendations: Richard Wolf’s “Occupy the Economy.”[1]

6. Next steps:

  • Luis will send suggestions for articles on Chicago.
  • Megan will send suggestions on articles about Chile.
  • Dave will send suggestions about Montreal.
  • Trudy will create a draft worksheet for the July 14 discussion group.

Discussion Notes

References

  1. ↑ Occupy the Economy: Challenging Capitalism (Richard Wolff, David Barsamian)
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