To kick-off the academic year, KSU is organizing a reading group about the history of social movements. Would you like to have more background knowledge about the changing world around you and try and understand it better? Are the mainstream media and your studies no great help? Then this reading group is for you!
When faced with injustice, too often people say: “what can I do about it?”, or “that’s just the way things are.” But what happens when a group of people stand up and say “Enough is enough! We want justice!” What can we learn from the Paris Commune, the Zapatistas in Mexico or the Women’s Rights movement? What motivated these people to come into action; what where their goals and how did they try to achieve them? By studying the history of social movements we hope primarily to gain insight into how our world has been shaped by these struggles of ordinary people, and also to be inspired to follow in their footsteps.
We collectively decide which social movements to cover, and each new session will then be prepared by two participants. The reading groups will be in English, and consist of six sessions, held once every two weeks on Wednesday evening in the book store de Rooie Rat, Oudegracht 65, Utrecht.
When and where?
From September 19th to November 28th, once every two weeks on Wednesday evening in the book store de Rooie Rat, Oudegracht 65.
- Sep. 19: Dutch labour movement of Domela Nieuwenhuis
- Oct. 3: The Autonomist movement of Italy
- Oct. 17: Critical Theory and the Zapatistas
- Oct. 31: Religion & Birma
- Nov. 14: Dutch Labour movement in the 60s & 70s
- Nov. 28: Community & Indigenous social movements in Ecuador
- Dec. 12: to be decided
This reading group is self-organised and absolutely free.
Invite your friends via Facebook:
Purpose / Goals
- To study topics which don’t get the attention they deserve in regular education.
- To create a space for critical reflection and discussion.
- To organize our education in a participatory democratic fashion.