Occupy Who?! Analyzing Indignation and Revolution in a Time of Crisis
Occupy Who?! Analyzing Indignation and Revolution in a Time of Crisis
(17) Occupy Who?! Analyzing Indignation and Revolution in a Time of Crisis - Philip Mellizo, Department of Economics
Financial Times columnist Gideon Rachman labeled 2011 as “The Year of Global Indignation” with an explosion of worldwide protest questioning the legitimacy of the political, economic, social, and cultural systems of power that influence the way humans, plants, and animals are able to live their lives. In this seminar, we will attempt to identify and critically assess many of the provocative and polarizing issues that have motivated millions of citizens to take to the streets in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Americas including concerns over (1) inequalities in wealth, earnings, mobility across demographic and economic groups, (2) the location of power in modern democracies, (3) the environment, (4) the role of the state in both social and fiscal matters, (5) the wide influence of banks and private enterprise, (6) the role of the media, and (7) freedom of expression/speech. To explore these issues, we will make use of multiple media, including reading excerpts from Noam Chomsky’s Manufacturing Consent, Joel Bakan’s The Corporation, Richard Wolff’s Capitalism Hits the Fan; and watching excerpts from Office Space, The Matrix, Lunes al Sol, Food, Inc., The Reluctant Revolutionary, and An Inconvenient Truth, as well as some lectures from TED.com. This seminar will include daily in-class discussions as well as assignments focused on developing writing, research, and critical inquiry skills.