Social Justice Movements: Global and Local

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Across the globe, people stand together in struggles to create a better world. Social justice movements refer to forms of collective action that seek to challenge oppression and transform society. The overall objective of this module is to provide students with a theoretically informed understanding of these movements, and historical and contemporary attempts to achieve social change. Case studies of particular social justice movements are interspersed with an examination of some important cross-cutting issues. Examples of social movements covered may include anti-capitalist, feminist, and civil rights movements, as well as more recent social movements such as the Arab Spring, Black Lives Matter, Occupy and the Climate Justice movement. Examples of cross-cutting issues addressed include the role of the media, the relationship of the movement to the state and mainstream politics, and the explosion of digital activism in recent years. We will explore the forms of oppression, inequality and injustice that motivate each movement, as well as the strategies deployed in order to achieve change. We will consider the often revolutionary ideas developed within each movement, the potential for these ideas to bring about a new social order.