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Learning from the Ground Up Learning from the Ground Up 99780230621039_01_prex.indd780230621039_01_prex.indd i 77/5/2010/5/2010 22:46:33:46:33 PPMM This page intentionally left blank Learning from the Ground Up Global Perspectives on Social Movements and Knowledge Production Edited by Aziz Choudry and Dip Kapoor 99780230621039_01_prex.indd780230621039_01_prex.indd iiiiii 77/5/2010/5/2010 22:46:33:46:33 PPMM LEARNING FROM THE GROUND UP Copyright © Aziz Choudry and Dip Kapoor, 2010. All rights reserved. First published in 2010 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN: 978–0–230–62103–9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Learning from the ground up : global perspectives on social movements and knowledge production / edited by Aziz Choudry and Dip Kapoor. p. cm. ISBN 978–0–230–62103–9 (alk. paper) 1. Social movements—Study and teaching. 2. Social action—Study and teaching. 3. Action research. 4. Experiential learning. I. Choudry, A. A. II. Kapoor, Dip. HM881.L427 2010 303.48Ј401—dc22 2010009106 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: September 2010 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America. 9780230621039_01_prex.indd iv 7/5/2010 2:46:33 PM I dedicate this book to all who mobilize, organize, educate, and agitate for self-determination, justice, and dignity, and I gratefully acknowledge the Indigenous Peoples of Aotearoa and Turtle Island for providing me with the spaces to think and write. —Aziz I dedicate this work to the Dalit victims of Kandhamal, and to Dalit struggles for dignity, equality, and political-economic justice in India. —Dip 99780230621039_01_prex.indd780230621039_01_prex.indd v 77/5/2010/5/2010 22:46:33:46:33 PPMM This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix 1 Learning from the Ground Up: Global Perspectives on Social Movements and Knowledge Production 1 Aziz Choudry and Dip Kapoor Part I Making Knowledge and Learning from the Politics of Knowledge Production and Representation: “Civil Society,” Academe, and Social Activism—Tensions, Challenges, and Dilemmas 2 Global Justice? Contesting NGOization: Knowledge Politics and Containment in Antiglobalization Networks 17 Aziz Choudry 3 Knowledge and Power in South Africa: Xenophobia and Survival in the Post-Apartheid State 35 Ashwin Desai and Shannon Walsh 4 On the Question of Expertise: A Critical Reflection on “Civil Society” Processes 53 Robyn Magalit Rodriguez 5 Whatever Happened to the Counter-Globalization Movement? Some Reflections on Antagonism, Vanguardism, and Professionalization 69 Kees Hudig and Emma Dowling 6 Collective Approaches to Activist Knowledge: Experiences of the New Anti-Apartheid Movement in Toronto 85 Rafeef Ziadah and Adam Hanieh 9780230621039_01_prex.indd vii 7/5/2010 2:46:33 PM viii ● Contents 7 The Subjectivation of Marriage Migrants in Taiwan: The Insider’s Perspectives 101 Hsiao-Chuan Hsia Part II Making Knowledge and Learning from Unions, Worker Alliances, and Left Party-Political Activism 8 Learning to Win: Exploring Knowledge and Strategy Development in Anti-Privatization Struggles in Colombia 121 Mario Novelli 9 Worker Education and Social Movement Knowledge Production: Practical Tensions and Lessons 139 David Bleakney and Michael Morrill 10 Conversations on the M60: Knowledge Production through Collective Ethnographies 157 Biju Mathew 11 Vanguards and Masses: Global Lessons from the Grenada Revolution 173 David Austin Part III Making Knowledge and Learning from Peasant and Indigenous Peoples’ Struggles 12 Learning and Knowledge Production in Dalit Social Movements in Rural India 193 Kumar Prasant and Dip Kapoor 13 Anjuman-e-Mazareen Punjab: Ownership or Death—The Struggle Continues 211 Azra Talat Sayeed and Wali Haider 14 How Do You Say Netuklimk in English? Using Documentary Video to Capture Bear River First Nation’s Learning through Action 227 Martha Stiegman and Sherry Pictou Notes on Contributors 243 Index 249 9780230621039_01_prex.indd viii 7/5/2010 2:46:33 PM Acknowledgments ominant academic norms tend to encourage the reproduction of an individualistic and competitive pursuit of research and knowledge Dorganized in the interests of what Dorothy Smith refers to as ruling relations. Yet this book embodies our firm conviction in and recognition of the conceptual resources and knowledge produced in people’s collective struggles against injustice, not to mention the social and academic signif- icance of collaborative efforts such as this; an effort that would not have transpired without the commitment and enthusiasm of all the contributors. Most contributors are located within, or work closely with, a range of anti- colonial and anti-imperialist social movements, communities, and popu- lar mobilizations in varied contexts in the Asia-Pacific, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and the Caribbean, as well as within regional and global move- ment networks. Our sincere and heartfelt thanks goes to all of them given the challenging task of balancing academic, activist, and other aspects of their lives while remaining engaged on the frontlines of struggles in diverse and difficult contexts, wherein writing book chapters may not be a priority. Yet all remained committed to this project from the beginning and through each successive phase. Given the level of this commitment, we sincerely hope that this book succeeds in making a contribution toward these political struggles, while adding to the scholarly literature on knowledge production and social movements. Our deep gratitude goes to Alison Crump for her editorial support and her professionalism, efficiency, and patience in helping us prepare this book. We are indebted to her for her unflagging attention to detail and hard work in relation to formatting and referencing, and in keeping the communica- tion going between all parties concerned. Thanks, Alison! For the striking cover art, we are indebted to U.S.-based activist and photojournalist Orin Langelle, codirector of Global Justice Ecology Project; more of Orin’s excel lent work c a n be vie wed at ht tp://g loba lju sticeecolog y.org. 99780230621039_01_prex.indd780230621039_01_prex.indd iixx 77/5/2010/5/2010 22:46:33:46:33 PPMM x ● Acknowledgments Many thanks are due to Julia Cohen and Samantha Hasey at Palgrave Macmillan for their enthusiastic support and assistance in seeing this book project through to fruition, and for their confidence in the idea and sub- ject matter of the collection. We are also highly appreciative of Rohini Krishnan at Newgen Imaging Systems in Chennai, India, for her role in the production process. Aziz is particularly grateful for the support of Gada Mahrouse, Eric Shragge, Steve Jordan, Chris Rahim, Radha D’Souza, Leigh Cookson, Cherryl Smith, and Sunera Thobani, as well as the many activists and community organizers with whom he has worked over many years, and for countless conversations, discussions, rants, arguments, emails, debates, inspiration, laughter, and hope. Those contributions—and the social strug- gles he has been part of—have extended his own understandings and polit- ical engagement and nourished this project. Dip thanks the Dalit and Adivasi communities of South Orissa, the mem- bers of the ADEA, VICALP, and the Center for Research and Development Solidarity (CRDS) for their trust and friendship over a decade of partnership and solidarity, and for the inspiration to continue to bring together knowl- edge contributions (as in this collection) that foreground people’s knowledge and learning through struggle and praxis to address injustice. These engage- ments in turn are made possible with the love and support of family, and their generosity of spirit and continued support will always be treasured. 9780230621039_01_prex.indd x 7/5/2010 2:46:33 PM CHAPTER 1 Learning from the Ground Up: Global Perspectives on Social Movements and Knowledge Production Aziz Choudry and Dip Kapoor he dynamics, politics, and richness of knowledge production within social movements and activist contexts are often overlooked in Tscholarly literature, and sometimes even in the movements them- selves. Given the academic emphasis on whether an action, campaign, or movement can be judged a “success,” the intellectual work that takes place in movements frequently goes unseen, as do the politics, processes, sites, and locations of knowledge production and learning in activist settings. Even social movement scholarship that draws upon or is embedded in movement actor perspectives has an expressed interest in “taking the measure of the new movements” (see Tom Mertes, 2004, p. xi, a collection of interviews with activists, originally published in New Left Review). The contributors to this collection, however, suggest that many powerful critiques and under- standings of dominant ideologies and power structures, visions of social change, and the politics of domination and resistance in general emerge from these spaces and subsequently
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