Tag Archives: nonviolent

Listen to Prof. George Lakey on #Occupy

Prof. George LakeyIn case you missed Peace and Conflict Studies Prof. George Lakey’s interview about the Occupy movement on Radio Times today, you can listen at the bottom of this post or on the Radio Times site.

Summary From Radio Times:

Occupy protesters were evicted in Philadelphia and Los Angeles overnight. We’ll get an update on the latest news of the confrontations between protesters and police and we’ll take stock of the Occupy movement, what it’s done and failed to do, how it fits into U.S. political mainstream and social movement history, and how it doesn’t, and the messages the campaign has sought to project vs. the message we in the media have conveyed vs. the messages received by the public at large. Joining us in studio is GEORGE LAKEY, longtime nonviolence activist, founder of Training for Change and research associate at Swarthmore College’s Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility. And we’ll also hear from WILL MARSHALL, president and founder of the Progressive Policy Institute, a leading intellectual of the American centrist left and a critic of the Occupy movement. And finally, we’ll hear from MATTATHIAS SCHWARTZ, a writer whose examination of the roots and dynamics of the Occupy movement, “Pre-Occupied,” was published in this week’s The New Yorker.

Peace and Conflict Studies Professor George Lakey on Radio Times on #Occupy November 30, 2011

Recap: Sanger, Awad, and Alwadi

We have had a busy and engaging couple of weeks in Peace and Conflict Studies with events on nonviolent resistance in the Middle East, U.S. foreign policy, mountaintop removal, and women and violence in the Congo.

Here are some pictures and video offered as a brief recap:

(click on the thumbnails below for larger images)

David Sanger

David Sanger

David Sanger addressed the college on October 27, 2011

Mubarak Awad

Mubarak AwadMubarak Awad

Prof. Mubarak Awad addressed the college and local community on November 7, 2011. Stay tuned for the video of Prof. Awad’s talk, which we will post here on the blog.

Nada Alwadi

Nada AlwadiNada AlwadiNada Alwadi

Bahraini journalist, Nada Alwadi, spoke on November 8, 2011. She visited with John Meyer of Pendle Hill after the event and posed for a picture with (L to R) Lee Smithey, Jim MacMillan, and Brahim El Guabli. After her appearance at Swarthmore, she moved on to address the International House of Philadelphia on November 11, 2011.

If you missed Nada Alwadi’s talk, you can hear her online. You can see her webinar with the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict.

Ms. Alwadi was also interviewed by Marty Moss-Coane on WHYY’s Radio Times on the morning following her presentation at Swarthmore. You can listen to the interview here.

Prof. Mubarak Awad, renowned expert on nonviolent resistance to speak on Nov 7

A talk and discussion by Professor Mubarak Awad, School of International Service at American University.

Monday, November 7, 2011

4:30 p.m.

Science Center 101

(maps and directions)

Mubarak Awad is the founder and national president of the Youth Advocate Program, which provides alternative foster care and counseling to “at risk” youth and their families.  He is also the founder of the Palestinian Center for the Study of Nonviolence in Jerusalem.  Dr. Awad was deported by the Israeli Supreme court in 1988 after being jailed for organizing activities involving nonviolent civil disobedience.  Dr. Awad has since formed Nonviolence International, which works with various movements and organizations across the globe.

Sponsors: Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine

Mountaintop removal event

Monday, November 7 · 7:00pm – 8:00pm

Bond Hall at Swarthmore College

(maps and directions)

Ken Hechler

Ken Hechler '35

West Virginian activists Larry Gibson and Swarthmore alumnus Ken Hechler ’35 will speak about the devastating impacts of mountaintop removal coal mining, and the struggles of Appalachian communities to stop the practice.

Mr. Gibson is the founder of Keeper of the Mountains Foundation and an icon in the movement against mountaintop removal. He has bravely resisted intimidation from the coal industry and inspired thousands of people across the country to join the movement.

Mr. Hechler represented West Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives for nearly 20 years, and also served as the West Virginia Secretary of State. Since 2004, he has also tirelessly campaigned to end mountaintop removal.

Larry Gibson

Larry Gibson

A photography exhibit by Mark Schmerling documenting the impacts of mountaintop removal will accompany the speakers.

This is the first of several events this year with activists who are fighting on the frontlines of fossil fuel extraction. Keep your eyes open for more!

Sponsored by Swarthmore Mountain Justice, Forum for Free Speech, the President’s Office, Political Science, Sociology/Anthropology, Peace and Conflict Studies, Biology, Environmental Studies, and the Alumni Relations office.

 

Bahraini journalist, Nada Alwadi, to speak on nonviolent resistance and the media

Bahrain: The Current Political and Communication Challenges, A View From the Inside

Nada Alwadi

Bahraini Journalist

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

4:30 p.m.

Science Center Room 101

Swarthmore College (maps and directions)

(view or download a flyer)

Nada AlwadiNada Alwadi was a reporter for Alwasat, the most popular newspaper in Bahrain, a monarchy on a small island in the Persian Gulf. Alwadi covered the pro-democracy protests this spring for several media outlets including USA Today Newspaper.

US backed Saudi Arabia sent troops to help shore up the Bahraini monarchy and suppress the popular uprising. Ms. Alwadi was detained in April while reporting on the pro-democracy movement and was forced to sign a statement saying that she would not write on or engage in any political activities, and was fired from her job.

In her presentation, Alwadi will discuss the Bahraini experience of strategic nonviolence and the importance of Bahrain in building a new Middle East. She will address the media blackout in Bahrain, and the current political and communication challenges facing the country as well as the region. She will relate the untold story of a struggle which was forgotten and abandoned by the world and the international media.

Ms. Alwadi is co-founder of the Bahrain Press Association which seeks to defend Bahraini journalists from government repression.

Sponsors: The President’s Office, Peace and Conflict Studies, the Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility, History, Sociology and Anthropology, Political Science, Islamic Studies, the Intercultural Center, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and the Arabic Section of Modern Languages and Literatures

 

New media technology brings nonviolent protest to our desktops

Llivestreaming technology allows protest movements to broadcast live news, providing new opportunities for activists to frame their concerns and raise the costs of repression by authorities. The broad availability of such technology raises interesting questions about the conceptual boundaries of journalism and freedom of the press. Here are several lives streams from the October 2011 and Occupy Wall Street movements.

October 2011

Live streaming by Ustream

Occupy Wall Street DC

 

Watch live streaming video from globalrevolution at livestream.com

Occupy Wall Street NYC

Watch live streaming video from globalrevolution at livestream.com

Watch live streaming video from occupywallstnyc at livestream.com

OccupyPhilly

Free live streaming by Ustream