November 2015 - Page 3 of 4

What Became of Occupy Wall Street?

Arun Gupta November 11, 2015 Arun Gupta

Far from fizzling, the movement has a contested legacy that continues to shape the political landscape

One of the more puzzling aspects about Occupy Wall Street is not that there was a moment when millions of people hoped or feared it might overthrow the rule of the banks, but that so little is said about it four years on.

Its anniversaries come and go without comment: Occupy’s founding on September 17, 2011, the high-water mark of the Oakland general strike on November 2, the eviction of of the New York camp on November 15, the creation of Occupy Sandy after the superstorm walloped the Northeast on October 29, 2012. read more

Three Lessons From University of Missouri President Tim Wolfe’s Resignation

Dave Zirin November 11, 2015 Dave Zirin

Source: The Nation

The administrators created a world in which universities revolve socially, politically, and economically around the exploited labor of football. Now let them reap what they sow.

In shocking news that comes in utter contradiction to a statement released just yesterday, University of Missouri President Tim Wolfe has announced his resignation.

The move comes after incidents of bigotry and racial vandalism that scarred the Columbia campus, followed by weeks of protest, a hunger strike by grad student Jonathan Butler, as well as the announcement that faculty members would not be showing up for work.

Yet the tipping point for Wolfe’s departure was the announcement Saturday night that the black football players at Mizzou would be refusing to practice or play until the school president was gone. Their announcement was followed the next day by a widely circulated photo of most of the team, including many white players, sitting with head coach Gary Pinkel, and the statement that the players had full support of the coaching staff in their efforts. Tim Wolfe makes $459,000 a year and the school would have to forfeit $1 million just for missing this weekend’s game against BYU. In other words, math was not on Tim Wolfe’s side and he was as good as gone. read more

Is the Paris Climate Conference Designed to Fail?

Brian Tokar November 11, 2015 Brian Tokar

From the end of this month through early December, much of the world’s attention will be focused on Paris, the site of the upcoming round of UN climate negotiations. This is the twenty-first time diplomats and heads of state will gather under the umbrella of the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change.

We Are the Solution: African Women Organize for Land and Seed Sovereignty

Simone Adler and Beverly Bell November 10, 2015 Simone Adler and Beverly Bell

"Traditional, small-holder peasant agriculture is done by women. Women are the ones who save the seeds – the soul of the peasant population. This is to honor what women have inherited from their ancestors: the conservation of seeds as part of their knowledge to care for the whole family and nourish their communities." - Mariama Sonko, farmer and organizer in Senegal.

Dancing with Dynamite in Latin America: Looking Back at Half a Decade of Political Struggle

Benjamin Dangl November 10, 2015 Benjamin Dangl

This month marks five years since the publication of the book Dancing with Dynamite: Social Movements and States in Latin America. The dance with dynamite between social movements and states in Latin America that the book followed in 2010 continues today, but in a transformed political landscape.

South African student protesters win first big victory

Patrick Bond November 4, 2015 Patrick Bond

Source: Pambazuka News

What started with rejection of the statue of a Dutch colonialist in Cape Town fast expanded to nationwide student protests against a racist, colonialist and classist education system that denies many South Africans the right to study. President Zuma finally respondend and turned an intended increase in tution into a 6 per cent cut for 2016, but this can only be a beginning.

An historic victory over South African neoliberalism was won on October 23, after the most intense three-week burst of activist mobilization here since liberation from apartheid in 1994. University students have been furious, as their cry “Fees must fall!” rang out on campuses and sites of political power across this society. But though there will be an effective 6% cut in tuition for 2016, the next stage of struggle looms, with demands for free tertiary education and university labor rights atop the agenda. read more