AP/ANTH 4340 6.00 Advocacy and Social Movements
This is a course on contemporary forms of social advocacy and anthropological approaches to studying social movements. Advocacy and social movements play a central role in challenging and (re)producing cultural norms around the world and have much to teach us about the diverse ways that people engage in struggles over cultural meaning. In this course, we will cover: historical approaches to social movement research; engaged and activist anthropological research methodologies; anthropologists as advocates; social movements as sites of knowledge and cultural production; strategies of organizing and resisting, including identity politics, networks, and protest strategies; the hierarchies of compassion and suffering that social movements and advocates both challenge and employ; and exploring diverse social movements in their local and global contexts. In doing so, we will examine a number of specific areas of contemporary interest.
Course Director (Fall/Winter 24-25): K. Schmid – kschmid@yorku.ca