Class Notes - Social Movements - Spring 2003

Part ONE - for the second part of the notes click here.

March 5 - Review for Test, discussion of Hystories book., Video and discussion on Iraq War

Hystories   Test will cover chapters 1, 2, 8 to 14

• individual hysterias connect with modern social movements to product psychological epidemics
• hysterias are a "mimetic" disorder, they mimic culturally permissible expressions of distress.  Therefore, they vary with the historical period, e.g., witches in the 1690s, UFO abduction in the 1980s, sexual abuse in the 1990s,  women used to faint regularly, now almost never
• there seems to have been a peak in this phenomenon in the 1990s, perhaps due to the milennium
• people seek a sanction for their unconscious emotional needs and find it in collective paranoic fanaticism
• she argues that chronic fatigue syndrome, Gulf War Syndrome, satanic abuse, alien abduction, multiple personality disorder, and various conspiracy theories are all examples of a psychological pattern
• these are epidemics, analogous to epidemics of physical illnesses
• hysteria has been medically defined as behavior that produces the appearance of disease although the patient is unconscious of the psychological motives for being sick - anorexia and bulimia are particularly prevalent examples today,
• may now have other medical diagnoses, e.g., somatization disorder, conversion disorder, dissocative identity disorder
• "mass hysteria" includes events such as the Salem Witch Trials and tulipomania in Holland.  One could say that financial bubbles are similar, e.g., the Internet bubble in the 1990s.
• was the anti-communist movement in the 1950s an irrational witch-hunt, as Arthur Miller portrayed in his play The Crucible, or were there really communists out there?  Ongoing dispute, e.g., about the Alger Hiss case.
• historically, hysteria was viewed as a feminine disorder.  But men get hysteria too, and it is expressed in various ways.  A feminist critique should not deny the existence of the disorder, just its being attributed to feminine nature
• the Gulf War Syndrome is often viewed as hysterical, or psychosomatic, but this is vehemently denied by the victims.  It is always possible that a "true" physical cause will be found.  There are lots of WEB sites arguing these points.  Is it really "shell shock" or war neurosis?
• Different professionals are involved, e.g., law enforcement and theological experts in the Witchcraft trials, the same with Satanic Ritual Abuse, feminist therapists with recovered memory, sometimes with UFO abduction although that movement is less professionalized, more in the hand of hobbyists and popular writers, psychiatrists and psychologists with multiple personality disorder.   Gulf War syndrome raises medical issues, but has been denied by the medical establishment.  The anti-drug movement was promoted by law enforcement officials after prohibition ended.
• Best-selling books often play an important role, e.g. Sybil in MPD, Courage to Heal with repressed memory, various UFO stories.
• On the other hand, Showalter is also marketing a book.  She is a literary critic, not a physician or a psychologist.  She examines the narratives and finds common themes, but does that prove that the phenomena are not real?  A critical essay on her book from an expert on CFS.

 

February 26 -  February 26 Salem Witch Trials,   Historically, the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 are very well known.  Young girls were possessed by witches, remembered visits by women in their community, some of whom were hanged.   Today we use the phrase "witch trial" as a generic term for irrational persecution of a minority, such as the persecution of communists in the 1950s. An Interactive Version of the Salem Witch Trials from the National GeographicVery similar issues of memory are raised in a number of other social movements. Arthur Miller's play The Crucible was about the witch trials, but was taken as an analogy for the McCarthy hearings going on at the same time.  Today we do not believe in witches or in UFO's, but persecution takes other forms - belief in Satanic Kidnapping Cults.

The alien abduction movement raised important questions about the nature of human memory.  These people are not mentally ill, at least many of them are not.  But they experience delusions, usually during a period of sleep paralysis.  The UFO sighting movement continues, but has lost interest to the media and the general public because nothing ever comes of it - no new scientific or philosophical insight, no hard evidence.

Panic about abuse in Day Care Center led to some prominent cases, such as the McMartin Preschool Case in 1986 in California and the Kelly Michaels "Wee Care" abuse case in Maplewood, NJ.  CBS 20/20 Video.  These are much more dangerous than the alien abduction cases since they involve people being arrested.

The whole issue of recovered memories of child abuse is also very dangerous because it threatens families.  Much of this comes from a book called The Courage to Heal.  This has been picked up by many feminist therapists and directed against men, who have reacted angrily.  Stop Bad Therapy Review.  This is the issue Elizabeth Loftus addresses in the articles I asked you to read.  The False Memory Syndrome Foundation was started to debunk this issue, but proponents debunk the debunkers and the debate goes on.  Of course, child abuse is known to be a real phenomenon, unlike alien abduction and witchcraft, so one cannot assume that all cases are false. Each case has to be examined critically, but relying on memories recovered in therapy or through hypnosis should not be allowed.  Note that the Hystories book does not tackle this issue, probably because Showalter was unwilling to take on the feminists.  She believes the other movements she discusses are false, but is not prepared to say so with this one.
 

February 24 -  Continuation of UFO video.  The first part was about sightings, and the authors of the video were highly skeptical.  The remainder is about abudctions, which they seem to believe in.  This phenomenon no longer receives much publicity, it has lost its novely value.  But sightings continue or increase.  Saddam Hussein may have one that crashed in Iraq.  The shuttle Columbia may have been downed by one.  The annual convention continues to be well attended.  But it is getting harder to get interviews with the media when you sight one, you may need a PR service. Reports of sightings are treated as routine.  But abduction reports involve more trauma even if they are false memories.  Most stories today treat it as a psychological phenomenon .

Here is a campus social movement event you can attend for extra credit:

                        Teach-In Against the War
                              Thursday, March 6, free period (12.20-1.30)
                     Hosted by: Drs. Wayne Glasker, Chris Fitter and Rafey Habib.
                                 Rutgers University Camden Campus
                                       Armitage Building Room 121
             (this event is open to University and surrounding community: in other words, all are welcome!)

You can also get credit for attending at least one session at the Eastern Sociological Society meetings to be held in Philadelphia February 27 to March 2.  Complete program information is available on the ESS Web Site.  For free admission, email BOB WOOD and ask him to put you on the list, your admission will be paid.  For extra credit, post a report on the ESS discussion list. wood@camden.rutgers.edu

The idea of a False Memory Syndrome unites a number of things discussed in the Hystories book.  One of the leading researchers in this field is Elizabeth Loftus, who wrote the Who Abused Jane Doe article.  Interview with Loftus (with link to audio).

  Feb 17 - class was cancelled due to snow, the schedule was pushed back a day on the syllabus.
 

Feb 12 -

A visit from Jared Taber, a student who has been active on the philosophy society mlist has a comment about the Baraka controversy and the event tonight.

Jared said that Baraka had a Manichean view of the world, divided into good and evil, especially in his poetry.  People on the left agree with some of his views, e.g., anti-apartheid, but not necessarily with others, e.g., anti-Israeli.  He does not always distinguish carefully between criticizing Israel and criticizing Jews, but in Jared's opinion he is not anti-semitic in his views.  Jared is against the current pattern of globalization in which some countries are wealthy and others are poor.

The Gleaner welcomes commentary articles, 500 to 750 words.  They tend to be on the left.  The email address is gleaner0203@yahoo.com

Three events are planned on campus, relevant enough to Social Movements to merit extra credit if you post a report on our mlist:

Wednesday 2/12 at 7:00 in the Student Center Lounge
"The Aftermath" community forum Q and A regarding last week's visit from Poet Laureate Amiri
Baraka

Thursday 2/13 at 12:30 B1 Armitage Faculty Lounge (Basement of Armitage) Lunch Will Be Served!
Dr. Carol Singley of the English Dept. will give a talk on "Contemporary Views of the Women's
Movement"

Thursday 2/13 at 7:00 in the Student Center Lounge
"Love Jones Poetry Slam" open mic antiwar, prowar(?), political or any poetry performance

We will view the rest of Faces of the Enemy and talk about the psychology of enemy imagery and conspiracy theories (see notes and links under February 10).

Feb  10 - we will have two guest speakers to talk about the Ariri Baraka controversy, Stuart Charme and Joe Barbarese.  Both have written statements:  Stuart Charme, Baraka, 4000 Israelis, and Antisemitism. and J.T. Barbarese The Political Force of Poetry.   Joe Barbarese published his in The Philadelphia Inquirer, it is similar in length to the op-ed essays students in this class will be writing.

Material about Amiri Baraka is available on his WEB site, including a video clip of him reading "Jungle Jim Flunks His Screen Test."  This includes anti-white statements such as:  "you uglier than white people" and "you uglier than Churchill and Bush the father's hideous wife" and "You uglier than anybody except who made you ugly, look between yr legs."  The flavor of his talk here at Rutgers Camden is captured in the report of a similar talk he gave at the University of Virginia.  What would black people think of a white poet who made similar statements about blacks and was then appointed New Jersey's poet laureate?

The poem "Somebody Blew Up America" that has caused the current controversy is on Global Black News.  It is a statement about a very powerful conspiracy and evil, one that is responsible for a long list of terrible things.  He never actually says WHO is in the conspiracy, but it would seem to be "imperialists" or "the government" or Israelis.  He never actually states than it is Jews, but it could easily be taken as suggesting that.

There are a great many conspiracy theories and they all tend to explain everything that's wrong in the world by attributing it to an all-powerful evil force.  We will view a clip from Faces of the Enemy about conspiracy theories.  Here is a review of the book than accompanied the video.  The review is from a "revisionist" journal (a group than denies the reality of the Nazi holocaust.)  Nevertheless, it is a reasonable summary of the argument of the book.

My own article is the only psychometric study of The psychology of belief in conspiracy theories.
Floodlight.org has a systematic catalog and refutation of conspiracy theories.
The all-time classic of conspiracy theories is the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.  A recent web site on the Jewish Conspiracy.
Some current links about conspiracy theories:  Bob's Conspiracy Theories.
The Faked Moon Landing Conspiracy.  And a refutation.  There's a story in yesterday's NY Times Magazine about this.
The JFK Assasination Conspiracy.    Lincoln Assassination.
The UFO Cover-up Conspiracy.
A collection of "rants" by conspiracy theorists.
The "top ten" conspiracy theories of 2002.

Feb 5,

I have added a letter to the editor to the file with two op-ed essays on the Iraq war.  It seems a good summary.

 

POETRY READING/DISCUSSION. Free. Thursday, Feb. 6. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.; event begins at 7 p.m. Gordon Theater, Fine Arts Complex, located on Third Street, between Cooper Street and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. Author, poet, activist, and educator Amiri Baraka will read and discuss his poetry. For more information, call (856) 225-6161.

The Anti-Defamation League site on Baraka.      Baraka's Response.

Tom Paulin, Irish Poet, had has poetry reading at Harvard cancelled because of an anti-Israeli settler remark (reading now available in printer-friendly format).  What issues were raised by this?  Is it analogous to Amiri Baraka's appearance here?

A poetry reading by an Irish poet was turned into an "event" because of his political statement attacking settlers in Palestine, sayihng that they deserved to be killed.  This was free speech became the major issue.  It was an attempt to demonize an opponent of the Zionist settler movement.  Demonization of opponents is a common tactic in social movements, a way of enhancing the self esteem of one's own side at the expense of the other.  The focus becomes the other people as indifviduals rather than the issues.

Move on political correctness.  People are afraid to express non"politically correct" views.  The MeCha issue at Stanford, use of "circling" to intimidate members of the group who took a more moderate ideological line.  This sort of division into factions is endemic in social movements, often more energy goes into fighting opponents within the movement instead of attacking opponents.

Belief that one has the only true, correct, morally upright beliefs is a central characteristic of social movements.

Second incident related to the feminist movement.  Professor at Penn State campus objected to a painting on the wall in her classroom, a nude painting by Goya.  In terms of feminist theory, the painting was "meant for the male gaze."  It became a symbolic issue, she wanted the deans to take the picture down, she was not willing to just take it down on her own.  The classroom was "chilled" because women were made to feel limited by being viewed for their bodies.  Put up a picture of a male nude instead?  If someone is made to feel "uncomfortable" this can be taken as harassment.

Course at U. of Washington professed a radical feminest ideology, demonized men and women who did not have the approved feminist view.  There was a split between women and also between some men in the class and the leaders.  Male body builder considered threatening because of his physique.

Should a course be allowed to express anti-male bias?  Since men are the "dominant" gender, are they legitimate targets of attack?  Does attacking the "Patriarchy" justify attacking individual students?

February 3

Amiri Baraka is speaking on campus Thursday, 7 p.m., Gordon Theater.Extra credit for attending a social movement event and posting a report on WEBCT.

Quiz on chapters one and three.  Nature and Persuasive Function of Social Movements.

Use of library resources to gather information.  Setting up a proxy server to use the library's full resources from home.  See links and instructions in the Library Assignment.

Analysis of two op-ed articles on the Iraq war.  These authors are defending two different perceptions of reality.
Past:  How accurate are they in their descriptions of the past.  What analogies do they draw?  What facts do they mention and what facts do they leave out?  How do they differ?
Present:  How accurate are they?  What do they include and leave out?
Future:  How persuasive are they?  How well do they balance risks?

Future assignment:  write an op-ed essay suitable for publication in the NY Times.

January 29 -

Discussion of Chapter 3 in the Text:  The Persuasive Function of Social Movements.

Persuasion is the primary way social movements grow and accomplish their goals.  It involves several steps:

1.  Getting People to Share Your Perception of Reality:  past, present and future.  What is wrong?  Why is it wrong?   What caused it?  Who is responsible?  What can and should be done?
This generally involves perceptions of good and bad, e.g., is gay sex a sin or is intolerance of alternative lifestyles a sin or "heterosexualism."  Is Saddam Hussein evil or is George Bush evil?  Or Osama Bin Laden.

Views of the future usually involve a utopia and a dystopia.

2.  Building self-esteem.  We are good, we are deserving, we care more than others do about problems in the world.
      self-directed movements - defend my group
      other-directed movements - defend a group that is weak, victimized, deserving;defending the environment

3.  Legitimizing the Movement - We are powerful.  We represent a large segment of the population.  We are dedicated, fearless, willing to die for the cause. (terrorism).  God is on our side.  We have the best arguments.  We are the most moral.

4.  Prescribing courses of action.  What is to be done?  Who is to do it?  How can it be accomplished (reform, revolution).  Changing hearts and minds vs. disrupting society until it responds.  Strikes.

5.  Mobilizing for Action.  Persuade large numbers of people to join the struggle.

Sustaining the movement over time, keeping up enthusiasm, keeping it alive. What will happen if we don’t,

In our class discussions, we had strong differences of opinion.  There was a difference between those who argued from an:
Ethics of principleswhat is right, where do we get the rights from

Ethics of consequences - what will happen

Examples:  include the Palestinian Intifada, the Venezuelan general strike, the pot-banging movement in Argentina.
Osama Bin-Laden - Al Queda recruitment video.
The anti-war Movement vs. George Bush.
Discussion of Bush's State of the Union Address as Persuasive Rhetoric.  What are the arguments against it? Links: Bush Vows that He Will Disarm Iraq.  As Bush Prepares Nation for War He Covers His Domestic Flank.  http://www.moveon.org/technicaldifficulties/ Bush:  Eager for Combat

January 27 - Discussion of Chapter One in the text.

What is a social movement?Collective effort to change society."Don’t mourn, organize."Degrees of organization.Start with a diffuse sense of dissatiwfaction.Then inspirational speakers who mobilize discontent.Core/penumbra.Not formally structured, collective behavior phenomenon.

Social movement organizations.Several organizations in any one movement.Different organizations have different ideologies:

Revolutionary vs. reform.Tend to have a view of the world as polarized between good and evil.

Events – one point in time

Campaigns – limited action for a specific objective. – strange bedfellows 

Frequently there are strong conflicts between movement organizations over ideology.

Legitimacy – who is the legitimate representative of a constituency.

Democfratic societies tend to respond with half measures, tends to concede reforms.Movements produce a backlash, a counter-movement.

Persuasion, coercion.

  Video of conflict on a college campus.
Why past Revolutionary Movements have failed.
Rosa Luxemburg:  Reform and Revolution.
The John Poindexter Campaign.  The Harass Poindexter Campaign.
January 22 -
Visit from Prof. Robert Wood who discussed his participation in the anti-war demonstration in Washington on January 18.
Introduction to the course, assignments, use of WEBCT.  Writing of in-class essays on "what I would like to change about society, and why."  These are to be posted on WEBCT 

January 22

We will have a visit from Professor Robert Wood who has just returned from a Demonstration in Washignton against war in Iraq.  The march's sponsor's web site is: http://www.internationalanswer.org/. Crowd estimates.  Video coverage  (use the link at the bottom of the page to go to Saturday, January 18)..
Local contacts and WEB sites Bob Wood put on the board in class:
greatercamdencoalition@yahoo.com  Joy Wood  856-429-3875
www.unitedforpeace.org
www.moveon.org