Anarchy in America: From Haymarket to Black Lives Matter
AMST 255
Spring 2022 not offered
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In the summer of 2020, Trump effectively declared war on anarchists, casting them as "outside agitators" who had taken over widespread protests of police violence. Anarchism as a political philosophy and practice is an important but little-known aspect of American culture and society. This lecture/discussion course will introduce students to select aspects of anarchist political thought and praxis in the United States and the ways that anarchism has been represented positively, vilified, or dismissed. The class will have three parts: histories; philosophies and theories; and activism. In the history section, we will examine key events and periods from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. In the philosophy and theory segment, we will examine anarchist theory as radical critique and review various political traditions including individualist anarchism, socialist anarchism, anarcha-feminism, Black anarchism, queer anarchism, Indigenous influences and critiques, and other schools of thought. In the activism section, we will examine the diverse ways, including blac bloc tactics and the overlap between antifa actions, by which people mobilize and organize for political change. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS AMST |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (AMST) |
Major Readings:
Required Texts:Colin Ward, ANARCHISM: A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION;
Andrew Cornell, UNRULY EQUALITY: U.S. ANARCHISM IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY; William Anderson & Zoe Samudzi, BLACK AS RESISTANCE; Jacqueline Jones, GODDESS OF ANARCHY: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF LUCY PARSONS
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Examinations and Assignments:
Major assignments include: two short papers, a mid-term research prospectus, and a final (research-based) anarchist pamphlet. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Student attendance and participation in class discussion and online Moodle discussion forums, as well as occasional homework assignments. |
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