David Cortright

Syllabus and Course Guide

Spring 2008
M-W 1:30-2:45 PM
IIPS 50801 - 01

David Cortright
336 Hesburgh Center
1.8536
and

Fourth Freedom Forum
1.800.233.6786, Ext. 14
dcortright@fourthfreedom.org

Meetings by Appointment

This course will help students understand and participate more effectively in movements for nonviolent social change.  Students will become familiar with both the theories of nonviolence and social action and the practice of effective social organizing.

Topics to be addressed include the religious roots and philosophy of nonviolence, recent cases of nonviolent social struggle, principles of strategy, and the techniques and methods of nonviolent action, including media communications, fundraising, lobbying, grass roots organizing, and coalition building.  Relevant historical and contemporary examples will be reviewed to illustrate how movements for social change work in practice. The historical examples will include the U.S. civil rights movement, the Iraq antiwar movement, the nonviolent overthrow of Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia, the movement against ‘blood diamonds,’ and other cases students may wish to bring to class attention.

Course work will consist of readings, lectures, videos, and class discussion on the identified topics. In addition, students will be asked to participate in class activities and team learning exercises. Two team learning exercises are scheduled during the semester. The course will feature occasional guest speakers. Attendance may be required for occasional campus lectures, with compensating reductions in class sessions.

The course will feature a number of videos, including segments from Gandhi, the Academy Award-winning film by Richard Attenborough; the PBS documentary series “A Force More Powerful”; the Academy Award-winning documentary, “A Time for Justice”; the documentary on Serbia, “Bringing Down a Dictator”; and videos on fundraising and decision-making issues.

Each student will identify a particular social change movement and/or organization and provide to the class periodic reports and critical analyses on the activities of that movement or organization, applying the principles and lessons drawn from the course.

The course will include two or three tests for grade. The tests will be either reflection papers or short essay questions on the required readings.

Students will be required to write a term paper on a major aspect of nonviolent social change theory or practice. The paper must be at least 10-15 pages in length, double-spaced, and must conform to scholarly standards for style and research.  A one-page proposal for the term paper will be due in late February, prior to semester break. The proposal will give the title, describe the topic, and list at least three bibliographical sources to be cited. The completed paper will be due three weeks prior to the end of the term. Students will be asked to present their papers in class during the final weeks of the semester for group discussion and evaluation.

Grading will be based on the term paper, the tests, and the quality of class participation. Regular attendance is required. Unexcused absences will result in a lowered grade. There will be no final exam.

Required reading materials for the course include all or parts of the following:

Ackerman, Peter and Christopher Kruegler. Strategic Nonviolent Conflict: The Dynamics of People Power in the Twentieth Century. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1994.

Alinsky, Saul. Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals. New York: Vintage Books, 1971.

Cortright, David. Gandhi and Beyond: Nonviolence for an Age of Terrorism, Boulder, Colo.: Paradigm Publishers, March 2006.

Deming, Barbara. “On Revolution and Equilibrium.” 

Free at Last: A History of the Civil Rights Movement and Those Who Died in the Struggle.  Montgomery, Ala.: Teaching Tolerance, 1989.

King, Dr. Martin Luther.  “Loving Your Enemies,” “Letter from the Birmingham Jail,” and “Declaration of Independence from the War in Vietnam.”

Global Activision, Global Media, edited by Wilma de Jong, Martin Shaw and Neil Stammers, Pluto Press, February 2005

In addition to these reading materials, a variety of articles, fact sheets, and reprints will be distributed during the term.

 

Unit 1.  Perspectives on Gandhi and Nonviolence

The religious roots of nonviolence.  The philosophy and method of Mohandas K. Gandhi (satyagraha).

Readings:

Cortright, Gandhi and Beyond, Chapters One and Two

Segments of “Gandhi,” the film by Richard Attenborough, and the “A Force More Powerful” video series, PBS.

Unit 2.  Martin Luther King, Jr: His Philosophy and Method

The influence of Gandhi on Martin Luther King, Jr.  King’s philosophy of nonviolent resistance and agape.

Readings:

King, Dr. Martin Luther.  “Letter from the Birmingham Jail,” and “Loving Your Enemies.”

Cortright, Gandhi and Beyond, Chapter Three.

Unit 3.  Other Perspectives on Nonviolence

Barbara Deming’s perspectives on nonviolent revolution. Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker movement. Cesar Chavez and the farm workers movement.

Readings:

Deming, Barbara.  “On Revolution and Equilibrium.”

Cortright, Gandhi and Beyond, Chapters Four, Five and Six.

Unit 4.  Methods and Strategies of Social Action

The techniques of nonviolent action as defined by Gene Sharp, drawn from the experiences of Gandhi.  The principles of strategy and their application to social action, as defined by Ackerman and Kruegler.

Readings:

Ackerman, Peter and Christopher Kruegler.  Strategic Nonviolent Conflict:
The Dynamics of People Power in the Twentieth Century.  Chapters One, Two, Five, and Eight.

Cortright. Gandhi and Beyond. Chapters Seven, Eight, and Nine.

“How Nonviolent Struggle Works.”  Albert Einstein Institution.

“198 Methods of Nonviolent Action.”  Albert Einstein Institution.

Class Activity.  Students will divide into teams to participate in a group activity. The assignment will be to develop the outline of an organizing strategy for a hypothetical (or real) social action campaign of the team’s choosing. The teams will report to class for evaluation and general discussion.

Unit 5.  Taming Dictatorships: The Role of Strategic Nonviolent Action in Serbia

The role of disciplined nonviolent resistance in bringing down the Milosevic dictatorship in Serbia.

Showing of the film, “Bringing Down a Dictator.”

Unit 6.  The Tradition and Methods of Community Organizing

The rules of organizing according to Saul Alinsky.  The application of the Alinsky method in modern settings.

Readings:

Alinsky, Saul.  Rules for Radicals: A Practical Primer for Realistic Radicals.
New York: Vintage Books, 1971.  Pages 48-164.

Unit 7.  A Time for Justice: The Civil Rights Movement

An analysis of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement of 1955-68.  The use of the Gandhian method in the struggle against racial segregation in the United States, as emphasized by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the leaders of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.

Readings:

Free at Last: A History of the Civil Rights Movement and Those Who Died in the Struggle.  Pages 6-35.

“A Time for Justice,” video, Teaching Tolerance, 1992.

Segments of “A Force More Powerful” video series.  PBS.

Unit 8.  Activism and the Media

The role of the media and new communications technologies in social change. An examination of the social impact of corporate and government controlled media, the Internet and web-based communications, and independent media.

A review of case studies and lessons learned from activist campaigns and citizen group uses of the media.

How to obtain media coverage: understanding what is news; telling a personal story and appealing to emotion; using “leads, pegs and bites”; understanding the daily work routines of journalists and editors, etc.

Evaluating current activist group media and advertising efforts. An examination of specific television spots, radio ads, media stunts and communications campaigns of contemporary social action groups.

Class Activity. Students will participate in the experience of developing a media project.  Student teams will create a sample radio ad, press release, or other media “product.”  These will be shared with the class for evaluation and discussion.

Readings:

Global Activision, Global Media, edited by Wilma de Jong, Martin Shaw and Neil Stammers, Pluto Press, February 2005, Chapters One, Two, Six, Seven, Eleven, Thirteen, and Fourteen.

Unit 9.  Financing Social Change

The importance of fundraising and finances to successful social action.  The link between successful organizing and fundraising.

The techniques of grant writing, direct mail, telemarketing, canvassing, event organizing, etc.

An examination of examples of social movement fundraising.  The class will look at specific direct mail pieces, witness a canvassing “rap”, and test telemarketing “pitches”.

Readings:

Cortright, David. “Notes on Fundraising.”

“The Grassroots Fundraising Series: Core Elements,” video, Kim Klein, The Headwaters Fund, 1994.

Unit 10.  Participation and Coalition Building

Coalition building: the key to power and political success.  Reaching beyond the core constituency to build alliances with other social forces that can help you achieve your goals.  How to identify groups that share your objective.

The “quid pro quo” rule of effective coalition building.  Linking issues to achieve success.

Unit 11.  Decision Making and Leadership

The problems that social groups encounter on questions of decision-making.  How to organize an effective meeting. 

Concerns within social movements over leadership and participation by women, African Americans, and other minorities.  The challenge of leadership.