Direct Action

Where & When: Thursday nights 7pm-9pm @ 83 Elm Grove Apt. 201 (entrance is at 1267 queen west)

Week 1:

• open discussion to compile a definition of direct action as a direct intervention that directly changes the way things are done (for the better).

• other possible topics for general discussion: strategies and tactics, direct action as one tactic in a political grab bag, DIY – autonomy and allies, direct action and privilege, civil disobedience, the Nuremberg Principles, why use direct action as a tactic, how to determine if you are being effective, revising tactics, etc. DONE

Week 2. September 29. The violence/non-violence debate in the North American context.

• the Squamish Five

• Earth Liberation Front, Animal Liberation Front, PETA

• The Weather Underground

• The Black Panther Party

• Students for a Democratic Society

reading: Ward Churchill – PacifismAsPathology. Logistics: (1) discussion of how to organize film screenings. (2) discuss reading/viewing list.

Week 3. October 6. Armed Anti-colonial Anti-imperialist Groups in ‘the west’.

• the Black Panther Party (US)

• the Weather Underground (US)

• the Black Liberation Army (US)

• the FLQ (Quebec)

• the RAF (Germany)

possible readings: Huey Newton - Revolutionary Suicide, David Gilbert - No Surrender, Pierre Vallieres - White Niggers of America Bringing the War Home (on the RAF and the Weather Underground) viewings: The Weather Underground.

Week 4. October 13. The Urban Guerrilla: from Postering to Property Destruction.

• postering, graffiti, tagging, stencils, etc.

• guerrilla gardening

• guerrilla art installations

• Reclaim the Streets, Critical Mass

• property destruction (windows, etc)

• billboard redecoration

reading: http://olymedia.mahost.org/TheWallsareAlive.pdf "Walls Are Alive Zine" “Mendenhal art strike” article

Week 5. October 20. Anti-Imperialist Direct Action Resistance in the ‘Global South’

• the Palestinian Intifadah

• Algiers

• the Iraq insurrectionaries

• Maoists in Nepal

• the women’s anti-Shell direct actions in Nigeria

• Cochabamba water uprisings

readings: Palestine by Joe Sacco Frantz Fanon – The Wretched of the Earth viewings: The Battle of Algiers suggestions: ???

Week 6. October 27. Road Blockades and Indigenous struggles for self-determination.

• indigenous road blockades

• anti-logging blockades

• the American Indian Movement

reading: Ecodefence, suggestions ??? viewing: Kanesehtake: 365 years of Resistance

Week 7. November 3. Anti-patriarchy Direct Action Groups.

• The Living River

• Kimberley Rogers Brigade

• Rote Zora (Germany)

• Mujeres Creando (Bolivia)

• the Wimmin’s Fire Brigade (Vancouver)

reading: Direct Action by Ann Hansen two articles on Rote Zora and Mujeres Creando from Quiet Rumours

Week 8. November 10. Direct Action Protest – Diversity of Tactics: from Symbolic Protest to Riot. Also – revisit question of white privilege in direct action.

• Seattle 1999

• June 15th Riot in Queen’s Park

• the black bloc

• tactics within direct action protest

• OCAP direct action casework

• NoOne^? is Illegal

• direct action in prisons: prison strikes, prison riots

readings: ??? viewings: Breaking the Spell, June 15th (TVAC)

Week 9. November 17. Workplace Direct Actions: from Strike to Dynamite.

• strikes, wildcat strikes

• work slowdowns, wobbles and shutdowns

• flying squads

• interfering in ‘business as usual’

• workplace takeovers or occupations

movie: The Take excerpts from: Holding the Line by Barbara Kingsolver, Dynamite!

Week 10. November 24. Open/ End.