Teaching Activism:  A Look at Non-Violent Resistance

Reverend James Lawson trained activists for months before the infamous Nashville sit-ins.  Mohondas Gandhi trained Indian workers before they challenged British imperialism in the Salt March.  The Movement for Black Lives offers guidance on safety for participants in mass actions.  All of these examples lend to the body of learning that the labor movement both draws from and contributes to as we continue to mobilize for workers’ rights and the future of democracy.
Exactly how can we learn best practices in teaching non-violent direct action for the moment we’re in?
Below is a collection of sources that offer tools for labor educators.  They range from books, articles, and essays to curricula, games, and videos that can prove useful as we play our part to build a stronger labor movement.
 
A Force More Powerful. This series of 30-minute videos examine resistance in various parts of the world:  India, Denmark, Chile, USA, South Africa and Poland.
 
Beautiful Trouble.  Based on the book with the same name, there are numerous modules on tactics, principles, theories, and case studies that offer amazing insights into the relationships between strategy and tactics, power and targets, and the focus is on creativity. This is a comprehensive source for practitioners of non-violent direct action.
 
Blackout Collective.  Among other useful resources, the Blackout Collective offers tactical suggestions during the time of COVID-19 (in both English and Spanish).
 
Movement for Black Lives.  M4BL offers resources that range from safety considerations while protesting to educational fact sheets on various issues as they relate to communities of color.
 
Joshua Kahn Russell.  A contributor to Beautiful Trouble as well as a lead designer of curricula for the Labor-Community initiative 99% Spring, Joshua Kahn Russel provides many links to training materials on non-violent resistance. These materials include facilitation tips, icebreakers, and modules on diversity/anti-oppression, media, strategies and tactics.
 
As the socially-distant holidays are among us, give yourself the gift of time to explore and reflect upon the above sources. While not an exhaustive list, they provide inspiration and creativity for our educational practices.  And, we can both adapt ideas to our current environment as well as imagine possibilities for online teaching, virtual movie nights or book clubs. Whatever the goal, we owe a debt of gratitude to the courage of workers who engage in non-violent resistance and to the curriculum writers, coordinators and documentarians who share their work so that we may all benefit and grow as labor educators.

Kate Shaughnessy, UALE Board Member

AFL-CIO
 

VIRTUAL UALE 2021 CONFERENCE

University of Illinois at Chicago, May 24 - 27, 2021
“REIMAGINING WORKERS’ EDUCATION TO TRANSFORM THE WORLD”

The United Association for Labor Education (UALE), a community of  educators dedicated to promoting education as an essential tool to worker training, leadership development, and equity in the workplace, welcomes your proposals for our 2021 conference at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Our conference will overlap with the Labor and Working Class History Association (LAWCHA) conference, May 26-28, 2021, allowing for shared programming and dialogue. LACHWA is an organization of scholars, teachers, students, labor educators, and activists.
 
This year’s theme is “Reimagining Worker Education to Transform the World.” The conference planning committee is seeking proposals that will explore the many challenges workers are facing in the midst of massive economic inequality, a global health pandemic, attacks on worker rights and labor organizations and increasing violence against people of color, immigrants, and LGBTQ folks. Is another world possible?  How can labor education help to realize another world? How has the COVID pandemic exposed the unequal distribution of services, resources, and income? What does “essential” mean and how does society value work and workers? How do race, class, gender, and sexuality impact public health needs such as mask wearing, social distancing, and workplace changes? What actions must we take as labor educators to change the balance of power in the workplace and society?  How do we teach and what do we teach?
 
We encourage panels and workshops that go beyond the borders of the United States either entirely or comparatively. We welcome proposals that include:

     -  traditional paper panel (3 people);
     -  curriculum demonstrations/teaching techniques workshop;
     -  roundtable discussion (5-6 people);
     -  performance art;
     -  film showing; &
     -  posters.

All sessions/roundtables MUST designate a chair/commentator or moderator separate from the panelists. While we will consider individual paper submissions, we STRONGLY encourage you to organize a full panel. To assist in finding additional panelists, we recommend submitting a query to the UALE listserv (ualelist@list.uale.org).

Submissions link for conference submissions

We will ONLY be accepting submissions via this form

 - DEADLINE EXTENDED -

Submissions will be accepted until December 30, 2020

If you have any questions, please email ualeconference@gmail.com.
 

Worker Ed Wednesdays

Worker Ed Wednesdays is UALE’s effort to boost online worker education programming. Tag @Uale in your relevant event posts or message them to our Facebook and we will share each Wednesday.

LABOR STUDIES JOURNAL SEEKS BOOK REVIEWS! 

Stuck at home during COVID-19? Need a new book to read and want it to arrive instantly? Labor Studies Journal has electronic copies of books for review! (….or we can still order and mail you a print copy.)

To check out the books available to review for Labor Studies Journal, CLICK HERE. 

See something you are interested in?

To request an electronic or print book, or for more information, email LSJ Book Reviews Editor, Ericka Wills, LSJbookreviews@gmail.com or willsericka@gmail.com.

UALE WANTS YOUR HELP & EXPERTISE!

UALE is only as strong as its volunteers. Sign up to help out today just email ualeconference@gmail.com!

Click on this link and create a new user name and password.