Social Change

Alicia Swords - Ithaca College

Other Titles in:
Social Change and Modernization

October 2024 | 352 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

Social Change: Movements, Politics, and Technology is a groundbreaking exploration of social transformation from a conflict theory perspective, offering a deep dive into the historical and sociological analysis of leaders within contemporary social movements. This text-reader is an essential guide for those seeking to understand the dynamics of social change and the role of social actors in shaping the future.

Chapter One: Primitive Accumulation: Enclosures, Colonial Conquest, and Enslavement

The Barbarism of Modern Western Civilization

Violent Evictions by the Rising Bourgeoisie in Europe

Witch Hunts Control Women’s Bodies and Knowledge

Incomplete Conquest and Genocide on Hispaniola

The Dispossessed Who Defied Control

Primitive Accumulation is the Template for Settler Colonialism

Chapter Two: Indigenous resistance on Turtle Island: Histories of resilience and self-defense

The True Origins of Thanksgiving

What You Think You Know About ‘Indians’ Is Probably Wrong

Ongoing Attempts to Control Turtle Island

Indigenous Resistance and Self-Defense After U.S. Independence

Surviving the Wars on Native Americans

Chapter Three: Slavery and Anti-Slavery

The Haitian Revolution and the Movement to End Slavery

‘King Cotton’ and the Planter Class

The Secret Marriage of the Slave Economy to Wall Street

Stages of the Movement to End Slavery in the United States

Four Lessons From the Movement to End Slavery

Chapter Four: Industrialization and the Rise of Unions

Bread and Water Wages and Clandestine Organizing Before Unions

The Rise of Monopoly Capitalism

Railroad Imperialism

The Royal Thieves of U.S. Empire

Workers’ Conditions and Industrial Struggles

Lessons From These Episodes of Industrial Struggles

Chapter Five: Boom and Bust and the New Deal

The Bonus Army’s Encampment and Eviction

Fordism

The Rise of Finance Capitalists

A Crisis of Overproduction Leads to a Crash

The Unequal Impacts of the Great Depression

The Poor Demand Rights to Basic Needs

The New Deal Strengthens Finance Capital

The Significance of the New Deal

Chapter Six: Imperialism, Cold War and National Liberation Struggles

First World Monopoly Capitalist Imperialism

The Cold War

Bretton Woods, the Marshall Plan and the Development Project

Communist Expansionism and Second World Strategies

Third World Strategies: National Liberation Movements

Possibilities for Third World Anti-Imperial Internationalism

Cold War Polarization and Contradictions

Chapter Seven: Empire and Cold War

‘You Are the Un-Americans’

Profits and Unequal Distribution in World War II and Beyond

The Red Scare and the Institutions of McCarthyism

Industrialization and Change in the South

Terror and Dissent Under Empire

Seeds of the Sixties

Chapter Eight: The Black-led freedom struggle

What We’re Not Taught About Rosa Parks

The Great Migration, Jim Crow and Owning-Class Conflicts

The Black-Led Freedom Movement

Sit-Ins and Freedom Rides

The Grassroots Organizing Tradition in Mississippi

Marching on Washington and Organizing Back Home

The Watts Uprising and the End of an Economic Era

From Civil Rights to Human Rights

Chapter Nine: 'An old world is dying': Struggles of the Long 1960s

Black Panthers Assassinated by the State

Persistent Inequalities in a Changing National Landscape

Theories of Organizing in the Long 1960s

Peace, Love, Democracy and Ecology

Liberation Struggles of Women, Gays, Lesbians and People With Disabilities

Black, Brown and Indigenous Liberation

The Poor People’s Campaign

Elite and State Responses to Struggles for Rights

Chapter Ten: Global Production and Survival Struggles under Neoliberalism

Xenophobia in Times of Globalization

From National to Global Production

Deindustrialization and Neoliberalism in the United States

Challenges to Globalization and Neoliberalism by the Dispossessed

Lessons From Organizing by the Dispossessed Under Neoliberal Globalization

Chapter Eleven: The digital revolution and emerging survival struggles

Limits of Just-in-Time Production and Global Supply Chains

Protracted Wars and the Rise of Digital Capital

Structural Racism, Poverty, and Emerging Survival Struggles

The ‘Middle Class’ is Not a Class

Fusion Politics in the Fight to Transform Society

Making Our Way in a Hot World Without Jobs

It is written in a clear, lucid style and grabs my attention immediately. Telling the truth about founding fathers and slavery from an Indigenous perspective, giving their rightful place to Black people as agents of history... well, it's about time!

Rose, Kate

Northern Arizona University

Draft Chapter Review

This text goes more in depth about the struggles of black people and provides more examples of institutional racism. This text also covers topics like the second Digital revolution and red baiting which my current textbook does not cover.

Omoregie, Jessica

University of Mississippi

Draft Chapter Review

I love how I don't need to situate a historical context for students when I read the text—it is very clear what was happening in the world at the time, so I can spend more time discussing the topics rather than setting the stage for my students.

Tesch, Brian

Mississippi State University

Draft Chapter Review

The strong critique of Western Civilization as a measure for progress/social change make the text as having a critical approach and that makes it really different from most texts I have used.

Ziwoya, Fletcher

University of Nebraska-Kearney

Draft Chapter Review

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Social Change
Movements, Politics, and Technology

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