Summer 2025 - IS 305 D100
Challenging Power Around the Globe: Political Resistance and Protest (4)
Class Number: 2891
Delivery Method: In Person
Overview
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Course Times + Location:
May 12 – Jun 20, 2025: Mon, Wed, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
Vancouver
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Instructor:
Amyn Sajoo
asajoo@sfu.ca
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Prerequisites:
45 units.
Description
CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:
Examines various forms of resistance and protest, including everyday resistance and organized activism, with an emphasis on civil resistance. Investigates the conditions and outcomes of protest, focusing on a range of cases which may include Solidarity in Poland, the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, and the American Civil Rights Movement. Students who have taken POL 339 or IS 309 with this topic may not take this course for further credit.
COURSE DETAILS:
Civil resistance has shaped large-scale social and political transformation throughout history. Anticolonial movements remade the societies of Asia & Africa, and civil rights campaigns reshaped North America. No less significant are protests that failed to effect substantial change, or appear to fizzle out, like the 1968 Prague Spring, the 1987-93 Palestinian Intifada, and the 1989 Tiananmen Square events – even as the Solidarity movement in Poland brought down the Communist order. What explains the different outcomes? When does nonviolence succeed as a political strategy? How should we assess success and failure?
Protests and other forms of civil resistance have grown in scope and frequency — notably via social media. Building on the idea of “contentious politics,” we will focus on specific cases in responding to the above questions, including the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, the 2010-11 “Arab Spring” uprisings, and Indigenous decolonial action in the Americas. Multimedia resources will complement our texts throughout this course.
Grading
- Class Presentation 20%
- Participation 10%
- Review Paper 30%
- Final Exam 40%
NOTES:
Timely attendance and active participation is expected in all sessions. A group presentation to the class, as well as a review paper, and a final take-home exam are required. Late submissions are subject to a penalty of 15% per day.
Materials
REQUIRED READING:
Tilly, Charles & Tarrow, Sidney. Contentious Politics. Oxford, 2015.
ISBN: 9780190255053
Chenowith, Erica. Civil Resistance: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford, 2021. E-book @ SFU Library.
RECOMMENDED READING:
Bayat, Asef. Revolutionary Life: The Everyday of the Arab Spring. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2021.
Beinart, William & Marcelle Dawson, eds. Popular Politics and Resistance Movements in South Africa. Johannesburg, SA: Wits University Press, 2001.
Additional readings posted on Canvas.
REQUIRED READING NOTES:
Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.
Registrar Notes:
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS
At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.
To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit:
- SFU’s Academic Integrity Policy: S10-01 Policy
- SFU’s Academic Integrity website, which includes helpful videos and tips in plain language: Academic Integrity at SFU
RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION
Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.