my annotated
Youth and changing society
In this article F. Landa Jocano does a case study of the youth in changing societies. He asks the question and investigates on why the youth have suddenly become outspoken. What are the factors that bring this youth to these radical attitudes? In his case study in the Philippines he examines 3 different youth groups in the Philippines, the street corner gangs, the “liberated women” and the university students. He goes on to find the common factors amongst society changing youth. One of the key factors is having a population that consists mainly of the youth.
Sherkat, Darren E., and T. Jean Blocker. "Explaining the Political and Personal Consequences of Protest." Social Forces 75.3 (1997): 1049-1070. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Apr. 2011.
In this article Sherkat and Blocker evaluate and compare the different lifestyles of activist and non-activist. The main topic of the article was to evaluate the different consequences of being either a non-activist or an activist. One interesting observation found was that the protesters were significantly more educated then the non-activist; however, the protesters had significantly lower incomes. This supports the fact the study shows that protesters changed employment much more often then non protesters. The study also showed that demonstrators had a significantly less religious participation than non-activist. Activist also showed a less frequent connection with their parents. So, throughout the article it activist are seen to lose a lot of the connection of their foundations.
Rothschild, Matthew. "Recipes for Hope." Progressive 69.4 (2005): 45-48. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Apr. 2011.
In this article Matthew Rothschild discusses the frequency throughout history of that large number of individuals that go around simply complaining about how terrible todays situation is. He explains that if everyone made one small act of activism, that is would ripple effect into a much larger activist movement. Rothschild also goes on to state that the reason activism is so low stream is because the culture of instant gratification. He says that if we got over the fact that we will not see the results immediately, there would be more people that would stand up and try for change.
Kidd, Richard. "Do you really care? Pathos of a revolutionary." Anarcho-Syndicalist Review 48/49 (2008): 31-33. Alternative Press Index. EBSCO. Web. 17 Apr. 2011.
This article explains the many views and thoughts of an anarchist group called the Anarcho-Syndicalist. It explains its ideal society, were there is no government and what happens is what the common interest is amongst the people. In one part of the article it states that the country is too complicated to simply switch to free government,
Martin, Deborah G., Susan Hanson, and Danielle Fontaine. "WHAT COUNTS AS ACTIVISM?: THE ROLE OF INDIVIDUALS IN CREATING CHANGE." Women's Studies Quarterly 35.3/4 (2007): 78-94. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Apr. 2011.
In this article Martin, Hanson and Fontaine investigate what is the actual definition of activism. They debate on a two different definitions one being the private negotiations of the household, the personal coalitions of the neighborhood, and the informal networks within the community, the other definition of activism is the form of human behavior that involves the negotiation, alteration, or entrenchment of social values and resources. This is why they open the category of activism to actions that would normally be considered insignificant to count as activism. They also go on to explain that when a person is in a certain position long enough then and only then do they truly recognize a problem, the solution, and how to do it.
Loeb, Paul Rogat. "Hope in a Time of Fear." Nation 279.8 (2004): 22-28. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 17 Apr. 2011.
In this article Paul Loeb talks about the struggles of standing out for what you believe. He points out that it is common knowledge that there are many problems in today’s society that everyone can obviously see and feel. And fear of standing up claiming those opinions may label one as a allay of the terrorists restricts us and democracy itself is slowly dissipated.
My Review of Lit
What is it that keeps individuals from rising up and stating their opinions against the society views as normal? And even when a large number of individuals all view the “normal ”as being wrong and oppressive, why is it so long before somebody takes a solid stand to oppose it and make a change. In a study by Deborah Martin, along with Susan Hanson and Danielle Fontaine discuss and evaluate the actual definition of activism. One definition is described as being the private negotiations of the household, the personal coalitions of the neighborhood, and the informal networks within the community. The other definition discussed is activism as the form of human behavior that involves the negotiation, alteration, or entrenchment of social values and resources. Martin opens up the range of what activism incases. Activism is considered any actions that would usually be considered insignificant to a given cause. This ties in with the study of Matthew Rothschild in which he explains that it only takes small acts to start a change of the status quo. Rothschild claims that all these small simple acts of activism cause a ripple effect that lead to the large mass movements. However Rothschild goes on to explain that this is the flaw of many social movements. The reason social movements, regardless how drastic or right they may be, are in most cases unsuccessful is because, there is no instant gratification. Rothschild states that if demonstrators could understand that movements take time to build and develop, and get over the idea of immediate product, then the movement would be strong. So now that simple acts are all that is needed from demonstrators, why are people not taking a stand for what they believe in? According to Paul Leob, it is fear. Paul Leob wandered why there was so much complaint of current policies and ways of society, yet little to no protests or demonstrations. In his study and survey it was common that individuals were afraid of being rejected by their peers and even family. Scholars Darren Sherkat and Jean Blocker conducted a study on the different personal and political consequences of demonstrators and non-demonstrators. . One interesting observation found was that the protesters were significantly more educated then the non-activist; however, the protesters had significantly lower incomes. This observation complimenting Deborah Martins study showing that when an individual is in a certain position long enough then and only then do they truly recognize a problem, the solution, and how to do it. Sherkat and Blocker go on to compare the relationship of demonstrators and non-demonstrators with their parents and religious participation. In both cases the demonstrators had less connection with their parents and religious affiliation. This shows that being an activist pulls demonstrators from their normal lives.
All of these studies combined support the case study of Landa Jocano. Landa Jocano did a case study of the social uprising in the Philippines, namely the youth. In this case study the large rest part of the society consisted of the youth. This made it simple for small acts of activism and protest to spread throughout the country. These small acts caused the ripple effects that Rothschild describes.
In my website I want to focus on this fear to become an activist to oppose something that maybe in fact wrong.
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