5.03 alternative political systems and movements

Building on Afghanistan's Traditions of Peacemaking: An Interview with Abdul Aziz Yaqubi

Summary:

We're caught between warlords, drug lords, the government, international armies, and the Taliban.

From

Repression at the Republican Convention: The Criminalization of Dissent

Anti-war demonstration in St. Paul, MN, September 4, 2008. photo: Zoe Prinds-Flash
Authors: Tom Good

Summary:

The Republican Party Host Committee bribed St. Paul to violate protesters' rights. The city, and Homeland Security, complied.

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Rethinking Leadership: Ella Baker as Role-Model

Freedom Cannot Resist cover

Summary:

Good leadership creates opportunities for others to expand their potential to become leaders themselves.

From

The Tyranny of Tyranny

Homeless women at St. Patrick's shelter in Somerville MA protest against Catholic Charities cancelling onsite HIV/AIDS education programs and access to condoms, as well as the firing of the program director, Gayle Basten, November 16, 1991. Photo: © Ellen
Authors: Cathy Levine

Summary:

Small groups aren't the problem. They're the solution.

From

Human Rights and "Asian" Values

Authors: Amartya Sen

Summary:

When Zilu asks him "how to serve a prince," Confucius replies, "Tell him the truth even if it offends him."

From

The Burmese Cyclone, Nonviolent Action, and the Responsibility to Empower

Pushing the relief truck out of the mud, photo: Beyond Rangoon Project, May 17, 2008
Authors: Patrick Meier

Summary:

It is not acceptable to let regimes like Burma's dictate the rules of humanitarian intervention.

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Assisting Burmese Cyclone Survivors: Defying the Government to Save Lives

A generous monk who shared relief supplies with his entire region stands in front of the village's damaged monastery photo: © Beyond Rangoon Project, May 17, 2008

Summary:

When we made it to villages farther down the road, we found that a monk had shared the rice for his village with all the surrounding villages, which had received no aid and were starving.

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Stop the Killing: Arab Activists Call for Ending the Death Penalty in Arab Countries

Egyptian labor bloggers Hossam el-Hamalawy and Kareem el-Beheiry. Kareem was jailed from April to early June 2008 after promoting and covering an April 6 general strike (partially organized via Facebook!) and ongoing independent labor union activism cente

Summary:

Sharia'a law insists that room be left for forgiveness and reconciliation.

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A Politics of Inclusion: An Interview with Egyptian Democracy Advocate Saad Eddin Ibrahim

 Following a fire in the Qale't el-Kabsh slum of Cairo, residents were promised replacement housing and compensation, but many received nothing. After a prosecutor told residents and the Egyptian Center for Housing Rights that they would not pursue

Summary:

Women got upset and marched to the Royal Palace. The King called me and said, 'Saad, do you see what is happening?' I said, 'Yes, but that is democracy, your Majesty.'

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The Damascus Declaration for Democratic National Change

Summary:

The process of change has begun. It is not directed against anyone, but requires everyone's efforts.

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