AnthropologyLesson 5 of 5 in the course Authority, Decisions, and Power: Political Anthropology

Social Movements: Protest, Representation, and Cultural Defense

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

Politics includes more than government institutions. People also engage in politics when they organize outside government to criticize existing conditions and demand change. This lesson introduces social movements, distinguishes them from political parties, and examines how democratic institutions can fail to represent the public.

A social movement is a group organized around shared concerns that acts to express views and seek social or political change. Politics therefore takes place both inside government and outside it. When people gather to protest, speak publicly about injustice, or organize for change, they are participating in political life even if they do not hold formal office.

All flashcards

What is parrhesia?
Morally inspired, risky public speech through which people speak truth to power.
What distinguishes resistance, reform, and revolution?
Resistance objects to conditions, reform seeks specific changes, and revolution changes the political system's structure.
How do anthropologists study social movements?
They examine participants' perspectives, meanings, relationships, public actions, and institutional responses.
Why did people organize Occupy Wall Street?
To challenge rising inequality and corporate influence, and to advance economic goals such as better jobs and bank regulation.
What concerns did Indigenous movements connect in the Dakota Access Pipeline protest?
Protection of water, sacred places, and cultural interests was linked to Indigenous sovereignty.

Quiz questions

  1. How did Occupy Wall Street protesters organize forms of self-governance in Zuccotti Park?Answer: They used working groups and democratic consensus.
  2. How did peasant leaders and urban activists describe Cerro Quilish during protests against a proposed mine?Answer: They described it as a sacred place inhabited by spirits.
  3. After blood tests found elevated lead levels in children near a mine in Peru, what did the company propose?Answer: It offered to bus children to a distant kindergarten, leaving pollution at its source unaddressed.
  4. What did Standing Rock protesters argue the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline threatened?Answer: Native water supplies and sacred or culturally important places.
  5. Which approach best describes anthropological analysis of an environmental protest?Answer: Compare how participants and institutions interpret the conflict and its proposed solutions.

Based on Introduction to Anthropology by Jennifer Hasty, David G. Lewis, Marjorie M. Snipes (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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