what’s the story?
for thu. 1.26.12
Overview question: The global financial meltdown of 2008 continues to squeeze economic and educational opportunities for youth in Europe, the U.S., Latin America and the Middle East. Yet there’s a marked contrast in the responses of young people in countries like Spain, Greece, Mexico, the UK, France, Italy, Israel, Puerto Rico, and Chile and the quiescence of youth in the U.S. How might we explain such differences?
UK students oppose higher ed funding cuts, Nov. 2010
Readings and questions — be prepared to discuss in class; for unfamiliar terms, jot them down and bring them to class.
1. Daniela Pastrana. Mexico: Youth on the Front Lines of Protest Movement. Upsidedown World. Dec. 28. 2011.
Reading questions: The Indignado movement in Spain, provoked in part by the Arab Spring uprisings, served as a model for the general assemblies of the Occupy Movement in the US and elsewhere. The account of youth protests in Mexico (reading #1) reports the collecting of proposals for change from gatherings in city squares, and the importance of creating alternative media that sparks youth to “interact rather than consume, to occupy public spaces to draw the community into debates, using the tools of popular education and liberating art to generate active hope, as an engine of human happiness.”
What does this mean to you? What does it mean to “interact rather than consume”? Can you conceive of participating in such public gatherings? What public spaces might be occupied? What reform ideas might you contribute to how varied U.S. institutions – government, economy, education, including this Dept. of Communication – might create a fairer economic, political and social order?
2. View YouTube video: Chilean students rally for public education. July 15, 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN96bci-CZE&feature=endscreen&NR=1
3. Paolo Gerbaudo. Los indignados: the emerging politics of outrage…that have swept southern Europe. Red Pepper. August 2011 http://www.redpepper.org.uk/los-indignados/
4. About Red Pepper. http://www.redpepper.org.uk/about/
Reading questions: Red Pepper (reading #3) describes itself as journal with a clearly-stated political perspective: “a socialist publication drawing heavily on feminist, green and libertarian politics see… a space for debate on the left, a resource for movements for social justice, and a home for anyone who wants to see a world based on equality, meaningful democracy and freedom.”
While Red Pepper makes its political ideology explicit, how does this contrast with “mainstream” corporate-owned media in the U.S. such as the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and Fox News? Do these media have a political perspective? What ideologies, if any, are normalized? What impact might such media have on the ability of readers to think outside the box?
5. Marta Ramoneda. [View slide show] In Want of Jobs, Protesters Take Over the Streets. The New York Times. June 6, 2011. NOTE: Link may require registering as a free online subscriber to the New York Times.
6. View YouTubevideo: BBC Newsnight – Paul Mason report on Tuition Fees protest, 9th December 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vfINMJBwcU&feature=related
7. Young Workers: A Lost DecADe – AFL-CIO. Download PDF and read Executive Summary, pdf, pp. 3-5, 15-23.
Reading questions: The AFL-CIO report, “Young Workers, A Lost Decade” (reading #5) finds that just over half of young worker are more hopeful than worried about their economic future and that diminished job opportunities have “deferred dreams” related to starting a family and living on their own.
What’s your sense of the economic future for yourself and cohorts? This report optimistically suggests greater political engagement by young people. What’s your assessment of young people’s participation in and visions for a better economic and political order?
