From the Zapatista Uprising to Occupy Wall Street: Global Justice Movements in North America

A workshop from CLAC's anti-capitalist teach-in, presented by CKUT's Off the Hour

by CKUT Community News Collective

This is the full footage from the workshop given at CLAC's anti-capitalist teach-in on Saturday, November 24th.

From the Zapatista Uprising to Occupy Wall Street: Global Justice Movements in North America
presented by Jaggi Singh & Nandita Sharma.

This presentation and discussion will look at the most recent generation of resistance movements in North America to neo-liberal capitalism (1994 to 2013), exploring the strategies used to articulate clear anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist and anti-racist opposition to structural exploitations and oppressions. We’ll look critically at the past two decades of resistance. We’ll address movement debates ranging from the role of NGOs and political parties, to state and police repression; from rooting resistance in community organizing to building solidarity through a respect for a diversity of tactics; and about how to effectively prefigure radical alternatives and practice direct democracy. We’ll emphasize the emergence of clear discourses of opposition that reference capitalism and anti-capitalism, colonialism and decolonization, global apartheid, as well as horizontal organizing and direct action. We’ll attempt situate and contextualize the current movements of opposition – anti-austerity, the recent student strike, climate change, and “occupy” movements – in previous resistance efforts in Montreal, Quebec and in North America. This will be an introductory style presentation, to acquaint participants with the organizing references from the immediately previous “generation” of activists, thinkers and organizers.

Jaggi Singh is a member of CLAC, No One Is Illegal Montreal and Solidarity Across Borders.

Nandita Sharma is an activist scholar whose research is shaped by the social movements she is active in, including No Borders movements.

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