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siriusist · 5 years ago

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Recommendations for Social Sciences Literature:

So as a recently graduated law student and lawyer (as well as being affected by many areas of intersectionality related below), I’ve been really into studying the social sciences and how society reflects how it treats the least of its citizens. My friend suggested that I draw up a list of recommendations for her, and share it with others as well.

While my interest in these books might begin in how to consider the perspectives of others and consolidate my own point of view when representing a client, I can safely reassure you all that these are (for the most part) layperson books that I read in my spare time; not ridiculous legal dirges that will put you to sleep. All these books were spectacularly engaging for me, and I’d recommend them highly.

I’d also like to preface this list with the fact that I educate myself on books that consider intersectionality and how the experiences of individual subsections of society affect society as a whole and an individual’s position in them. While as a result of the topics themselves these books often consider bigotry and sensitive issues/topics, they are academic considerations of societal constructs and demographics (as well as the history that grows from oppression of certain subsections of society), and attempt to be balanced academic/philosophical narratives. Therefore, while difficult topics might be broached (such as, for example, the discrimination transexual women face in being considered ‘women’), none that I have read would ever be intentionally insulting/ extremist in their views, and many are written by scholars and academics directly affected by these issues. Just research these books before purchasing them, is all I ask; for your own self-care. ♥

That being said, I have divided these recommendations into several areas of study. I will also mark when there is a decided crossover of intersectionality, for your benefit:

Feminist Theory: Mostly concerned with the limitation of womens emotions, the experience of women within Trump’s America, and the idealised liberation of women in 1960s, with a particular focus on the UK and ‘swinging’ London.

Disability Theory: Academic Ableism in post-educational facilities and within the immigration process.

Black Theory: This includes the relations between colonialism and the oppressed individual’s underneath its weight, the struggle through American’s history through ‘white rage’ towards the success of African-American success, and a sad history of racial ‘passing’ in America.

Immigration Theory: This mostly focuses on the experience of the disabled and Southern/Eastern Europeans/ Jewish people entering both Canada and the United States. It also provides this background to the immigration policies against a backdrop of social eugenics. I also included a book on the UK history of the workhouse in this category, as immigrants were often disproportionately affected by poverty once arriving in the UK/England, and often had to seek shelter in such ‘establishments.’

LGBT+ Social Theory/History: The history of transsexualism and the development of transexual rights throughout history.

Canadian Indigenous Theory/History: A history of the movements between the Indigenous peoples of North America and colonialists, as well as a two-part series on Canada’s Indian Act and Reconciliation (’Legalise’ aside in its consideration of the Indian Act, these are fantastic for the layperson to understand the effect such a document has had on the modern day issues and abuse of Indigenous people in Canada in particular, as well as how non-Indigenous people may work actively towards reconciliation in the future).

Toxic Masculinity: Angry White Men essentially tries to explain the unexplainable; namely, why there has been such a rise of the racist and sexist white American male, that eventually culminated in the election of Donald Trump (However, this really rings true for any ‘angry white men’ resulting from the rise of the far right across Europe and beyond). It is based on the idea of "aggrieved entitlement": a sense that those benefits that white men believed were their due have been snatched away from them by THE REST OF US~~~. While good, also just really expect to be mad (not in particular at the poor sociologist studying this and analysing this phenomenon, as he tries to be even-handed, but that such a thing exists at all).

1. Feminist Theory:

Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger:

As women, we’ve been urged for so long to bottle up our anger, letting it corrode our bodies and minds in ways we don’t even realize. Yet there are so, so many legitimate reasons for us to feel angry, ranging from blatant, horrifying acts of misogyny to the subtle drip, drip drip of daily sexism that reinforces the absurdly damaging gender norms of our society. In Rage Becomes Her, Soraya Chemaly argues that our anger is not only justified, it is also an active part of the solution. We are so often encouraged to resist our rage or punished for justifiably expressing it, yet how many remarkable achievements would never have gotten off the ground without the kernel of anger that fueled them? Approached with conscious intention, anger is a vital instrument, a radar for injustice and a catalyst for change. On the flip side, the societal and cultural belittlement of our anger is a cunning way of limiting and controlling our power—one we can no longer abide.

Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump's America:

Nasty Women includes inspiring essays from a diverse group of talented women writers who seek to provide a broad look at how we got here and what we need to do to move forward.Featuring essays by REBECCA SOLNIT on Trump and his “misogyny army,” CHERYL STRAYED on grappling with the aftermath of Hillary Clinton’s loss, SARAH HEPOLA on resisting the urge to drink after the election, NICOLE CHUNG on family and friends who support Trump, KATHA POLLITT on the state of reproductive rights and what we do next, JILL FILIPOVIC on Trump’s policies and the life of a young woman in West Africa, SAMANTHA IRBY on racism and living as a queer black woman in rural America, RANDA JARRAR on traveling across the country as a queer Muslim American, SARAH HOLLENBECK on Trump’s cruelty toward the disabled, MEREDITH TALUSAN on feminism and the transgender community, and SARAH JAFFE on the labor movement and active and effective resistance, among others.

(A heavy focus on intersectionality ♥)

The Feminine Revolution: 21 Ways to Ignite the Power of Your Femininity for a Brighter Life and a Better World:

Challenging old and outdated perceptions that feminine traits are weaknesses, The Feminine Revolution revisits those characteristics to show how they are powerful assets that should be embraced rather than maligned. It argues that feminine traits have been mischaracterized as weak, fragile, diminutive, and embittered for too long, and offers a call to arms to redeem them as the superpowers and gifts that they are.The authors, Amy Stanton and Catherine Connors, begin with a brief history of when-and-why these traits were defined as weaknesses, sharing opinions from iconic females including Marianne Williamson and Cindy Crawford. Then they offer a set of feminine principles that challenge current perceptions of feminine traits, while providing women new mindsets to reclaim those traits with confidence.

How Was It For You?: Women, Sex, Love and Power in the 1960s:

The sexual revolution liberated a generation. But men most of all.

We tend to think of the 60s as a decade sprinkled with stardust: a time of space travel and utopian dreams, but above all of sexual abandonment. When the pill was introduced on the NHS in 1961 it seemed, for the first time, that women - like men - could try without buying.

But this book - by 'one of the great social historians of our time' - describes a turbulent power struggle.

Here are the voices from the battleground. Meet dollybird Mavis, debutante Kristina, Beryl who sang with the Beatles, bunny girl Patsy, Christian student Anthea, industrial campaigner Mary and countercultural Caroline. From Carnaby Street to Merseyside, from mods to rockers, from white gloves to Black is Beautiful, their stories throw an unsparing spotlight on morals, four-letter words, faith, drugs, race, bomb culture and sex.

This is a moving, shocking book about tearing up the world and starting again. It's about peace, love, psychedelia and strange pleasures, but it is also about misogyny, violation and discrimination - half a century before feminism rebranded. For out of the swamp of gropers and groupies, a movement was emerging, and discovering a new cause: equality.

The 1960s: this was where it all began. Women would never be the same again.

2. Disability Theory:

Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education:

Academic Ableism brings together disability studies and institutional critique to recognize the ways that disability is composed in and by higher education, and rewrites the spaces, times, and economies of disability in higher education to place disability front and center. For too long, argues Jay Timothy Dolmage, disability has been constructed as the antithesis of higher education, often positioned as a distraction, a drain, a problem to be solved. The ethic of higher education encourages students and teachers alike to accentuate ability, valorize perfection, and stigmatize anything that hints at intellectual, mental, or physical weakness, even as we gesture toward the value of diversity and innovation. Examining everything from campus accommodation processes, to architecture, to popular films about college life, Dolmage argues that disability is central to higher education, and that building more inclusive schools allows better education for all.

(See immigration below for another book by this author on the intersection between immigration policy and disability).

3. Black Theory:

Black Skin, White Masks by Frantz Fanon:

A major influence on civil rights, anti-colonial, and black consciousness movements around the world, Black Skin, White Masks is the unsurpassed study of the black psyche in a white world. Hailed for its scientific analysis and poetic grace when it was first published in 1952, the book remains a vital force today from one of the most important theorists of revolutionary struggle, colonialism, and racial difference in history.

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism:

Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, the author examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.

White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide:

From the Civil War to our combustible present, and now with a new epilogue about the 2016 presidential election, acclaimed historian Carol Anderson reframes our continuing conversation about race. White Rage chronicles the powerful forces opposed to black progress in America. As Ferguson, Missouri, erupted in August 2014, and media commentators across the ideological spectrum referred to the angry response of African Americans as “black rage,” historian Carol Anderson wrote a remarkable op-ed in the Washington Post showing that this was, instead, “white rage at work. With so much attention on the flames,” she writes, “everyone had ignored the kindling.”Since 1865 and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, every time African Americans have made advances towards full participation in our democracy, white reaction has fueled a deliberate and relentless rollback of their gains. The end of the Civil War and Reconstruction was greeted with the Black Codes and Jim Crow; the Supreme Court's landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision was met with the shutting down of public schools throughout the South while taxpayer dollars financed segregated white private schools; the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 triggered a coded but powerful response, the so-called Southern Strategy and the War on Drugs that disenfranchised millions of African Americans while propelling presidents Nixon and Reagan into the White House.Carefully linking these and other historical flashpoints when social progress for African Americans was countered by deliberate and cleverly crafted opposition, Anderson pulls back the veil that has long covered actions made in the name of protecting democracy, fiscal responsibility, or protection against fraud, rendering visible the long lineage of white rage. Compelling and dramatic in the unimpeachable history it relates, White Rage will add an important new dimension to the national conversation about race in America.

A Chosen Exile: A History of Racial Passing in American Life:

Between the eighteenth and mid-twentieth centuries, countless African Americans passed as white, leaving behind families and friends, roots and community. It was, as Allyson Hobbs writes, a chosen exile, a separation from one racial identity and the leap into another. This revelatory history of passing explores the possibilities and challenges that racial indeterminacy presented to men and women living in a country obsessed with racial distinctions. It also tells a tale of loss.As racial relations in America have evolved so has the significance of passing. To pass as white in the antebellum South was to escape the shackles of slavery. After emancipation, many African Americans came to regard passing as a form of betrayal, a selling of one’s birthright. When the initially hopeful period of Reconstruction proved short-lived, passing became an opportunity to defy Jim Crow and strike out on one’s own.Although black Americans who adopted white identities reaped benefits of expanded opportunity and mobility, Hobbs helps us to recognize and understand the grief, loneliness, and isolation that accompanied―and often outweighed―these rewards. By the dawning of the civil rights era, more and more racially mixed Americans felt the loss of kin and community was too much to bear, that it was time to “pass out” and embrace a black identity. Although recent decades have witnessed an increasingly multiracial society and a growing acceptance of hybridity, the problem of race and identity remains at the center of public debate and emotionally fraught personal decisions.

4. Immigration Theory:

The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians, and Other European Immigrants Out of America:

A forgotten, dark chapter of American history with implications for the current day, The Guarded Gate tells the story of the scientists who argued that certain nationalities were inherently inferior, providing the intellectual justification for the harshest immigration law in American history. Brandished by the upper class Bostonians and New Yorkers—many of them progressives—who led the anti-immigration movement, the eugenic arguments helped keep hundreds of thousands of Jews, Italians, and other unwanted groups out of the US for more than 40 years.Over five years in the writing, The Guarded Gate tells the complete story from its beginning in 1895, when Henry Cabot Lodge and other Boston Brahmins launched their anti-immigrant campaign. In 1921, Vice President Calvin Coolidge declared that “biological laws” had proven the inferiority of southern and eastern Europeans; the restrictive law was enacted three years later.

Disabled Upon Arrival: Eugenics, Immigration, and the Construction of Race and Disability:

In North America, immigration has never been about immigration. That was true in the early twentieth century when anti-immigrant rhetoric led to draconian crackdowns on the movement of bodies, and it is true today as new measures seek to construct migrants as dangerous and undesirable. This premise forms the crux of Jay Timothy Dolmage’s new book Disabled Upon Arrival: Eugenics, Immigration, and the Construction of Race and Disability, a compelling examination of the spaces, technologies, and discourses of immigration restriction during the peak period of North American immigration in the early twentieth century.Through careful archival research and consideration of the larger ideologies of racialization and xenophobia, Disabled Upon Arrival links anti-immigration rhetoric to eugenics—the flawed “science” of controlling human population based on racist and ableist ideas about bodily values. Dolmage casts an enlightening perspective on immigration restriction, showing how eugenic ideas about the value of bodies have never really gone away and revealing how such ideas and attitudes continue to cast groups and individuals as disabled upon arrival.

The Workhouse: The People, The Places, The Life Behind Doors:

In this fully updated and revised edition of his best-selling book, Simon Fowler takes a fresh look at the workhouse and the people who sought help from it. He looks at how the system of the Poor Law - of which the workhouse was a key part - was organized and the men and women who ran the workhouses or were employed to care for the inmates. But above all this is the moving story of the tens of thousands of children, men, women and the elderly who were forced to endure grim conditions to survive in an unfeeling world.

5. LGBT+ Social Theory/History:

Transgender History: The Roots of Today's Revolution:

Covering American transgender history from the mid-twentieth century to today, Transgender History takes a chronological approach to the subject of transgender history, with each chapter covering major movements, writings, and events. Chapters cover the transsexual and transvestite communities in the years following World War II; trans radicalism and social change, which spanned from 1966 with the publication of The Transsexual Phenomenon, and lasted through the early 1970s; the mid-'70s to 1990-the era of identity politics and the changes witnessed in trans circles through these years; and the gender issues witnessed through the '90s and '00s.

Transgender History includes informative sidebars highlighting quotes from major texts and speeches in transgender history and brief biographies of key players, plus excerpts from transgender memoirs and discussion of treatments of transgenderism in popular culture.

6. Canadian Indigenous Theory/History:

The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America:

Rich with dark and light, pain and magic, The Inconvenient Indian distills the insights gleaned from Thomas King's critical and personal meditation on what it means to be "Indian" in North America, weaving the curiously circular tale of the relationship between non-Natives and Natives in the centuries since the two first encountered each other. In the process, King refashions old stories about historical events and figures, takes a sideways look at film and pop culture, relates his own complex experiences with activism, and articulates a deep and revolutionary understanding of the cumulative effects of ever-shifting laws and treaties on Native peoples and lands.

21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality:

Since its creation in 1876, the Indian Act has shaped, controlled, and constrained the lives and opportunities of Indigenous Peoples, and is at the root of many enduring stereotypes. Bob Joseph's book comes at a key time in the reconciliation process, when awareness from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities is at a crescendo. Joseph explains how Indigenous Peoples can step out from under the Indian Act and return to self-government, self-determination, and self-reliance - and why doing so would result in a better country for every Canadian. He dissects the complex issues around truth and reconciliation, and clearly demonstrates why learning about the Indian Act's cruel, enduring legacy is essential for the country to move toward true reconciliation.

Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips & Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality:

A timely sequel to the bestselling 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act - and an invaluable guide for anyone seeking to work more effectively with Indigenous Peoples.

We are all treaty people. But what are the everyday impacts of treaties, and how can we effectively work toward reconciliation if we're worried our words and actions will unintentionally cause harm?

Practical and inclusive, Indigenous Relations interprets the difference between hereditary and elected leadership, and why it matters; explains the intricacies of Aboriginal Rights and Title, and the treaty process; and demonstrates the lasting impact of the Indian Act, including the barriers that Indigenous communities face and the truth behind common myths and stereotypes perpetuated since Confederation.

Indigenous Relations equips you with the necessary knowledge to respectfully avoid missteps in your work and daily life, and offers an eight-part process to help business and government work more effectively with Indigenous Peoples - benefitting workplace culture as well as the bottom line. Indigenous Relations is an invaluable tool for anyone who wants to improve their cultural competency and undo the legacy of the Indian Act.

7. Toxic Masculinity:

Angry White Men: American Masculinity at the End of an Era:

One of the headlines of the 2012 Presidential campaign was the demise of the white American male voter as a dominant force in the political landscape. On election night four years later, when Donald Trump was announced the winner, it became clear that the white American male voter is alive and well and angry as hell. Sociologist Michael Kimmel, one of the leading writers on men and masculinity in the world today, has spent hundreds of hours in the company of America's angry white men – from white supremacists to men's rights activists to young students. In Angry White Men, he presents a comprehensive diagnosis of their fears, anxieties, and rage.Kimmel locates this increase in anger in the seismic economic, social and political shifts that have so transformed the American landscape. Downward mobility, increased racial and gender equality, and a tenacious clinging to an anachronistic ideology of masculinity has left many men feeling betrayed and bewildered. Raised to expect unparalleled social and economic privilege, white men are suffering today from what Kimmel calls "aggrieved entitlement": a sense that those benefits that white men believed were their due have been snatched away from them.

Happy reading, everyone. ♥

#ugh this took forever but you're welcome #it's actually good stuff take a look :3 #social sciences #sociology #history #literature #recommendations #feminism #disability studies #black studies #immigration theory #toxic masculinity #indigenous theory #lgbt theory #future reference #my recommendations #intersectionality

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tamboradventure · 5 years ago

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FLYTE Update: Here’s What Happened to the Students We Sent to Colombia

Posted: 8/26/2019 | August 26th, 2019

When I started my nonprofit Foundation for Learning and Youth Travel Education (FLYTE), my goal was to make international travel accessible to low-income youth across the country, who are incredibly passionate and smart but would never have the opportunity to travel abroad otherwise.

Earlier this year, we raised $15,000 to send a group of kids from Envision Academy to Colombia.

Located in Oakland California, Envision Academy uses an innovative project-based learning model to ensure that its students — the majority of whom live below the poverty line — are ready for post-secondary education and beyond. (Most are first-generation immigrants and will be the first in their family to go to college.)

Last month, they returned from their exciting trip to the country so I wanted to share some of what they did and learned, so you can see what your support accomplished. For most of the students, it was their first time in another country and, needless to say, it had a big impact on them.

Our group started in Bogotá, where they climbed to the top of Cerro de Monserrate and explored Plaza Bolívar, where Jeremy, the teacher leading the trip, gave a cross-curricular lecture about Simon Bolívar, Colombia’s history during the drug cartel years, and the architecture around them. They also went on a street art tour led by two local artists, on which they learned all about art techniques and the political climate that prompted many of the pieces that they saw.

The students immediately started seeing commonalities between Oakland and Colombia. Darrilyn, a fifteen year old sophomore, remarked that this trip, her first time out of the country, “changed my perceptions and preconceived notions of Colombia a lot, and I saw that it’s more like home than I previously thought.” She also “really enjoyed this walking tour because I like art and I like graffiti because it’s unconventional art and it tells the story of a person.”

Afterward, the group headed to Cartagena. They got a perfect intro to the city on a walking tour through our partner, Context Travel, during which they learned a lot about Cartagena’s history as a port for enslaved people. This resonated with the students, who stressed how important it was for more people to have this knowledge. Kai, whose new passport got its first stamp on this trip, had the realization that “when people think about Latin America, they often don’t think about people of African descent.”

Myani, who’s 17 and just graduated from Envision Academy, was equally moved: “It’s inspiring in a way because even though our ancestors were enslaved, they made the city what it is. You can see their value to the community. Even though there’s an oppressive connotation, because they were enslaved, flip it and make it a powerful lesson. Make it your own: My ancestors built this city.”

On top of all this, the students immersed themselves in Colombian cuisine by taking a street food tour with Cartagena Connections. They tried everything from ajiaco and arepas to bandeja paisa, mango biche, and a bubble gum soda.

One of the highlights of the trip was visiting Cartagena’s Barrio San Francisco with Alex Rocha from Experience Real Cartagena, whose tours are designed to make deeper connections with the marginalized communities of Colombia. (Alex’s company also operates as a social enterprise, and so the proceeds fund an after-school program for the local community.) Our students had an opportunity to connect with some of these youth through activities like drawing, dancing, and soccer, as well as through honest conversations about their shared experiences.

Aliza, a sophomore and president of the student council who had never left the US before, felt that this was the highlight of her trip because she was able to “see the kids and understand their environment and how they live every day.” Jany, who is seventeen and served as the de-facto translator for our Spanish-speaking parents, reflected on how the kids she met “make the best out of what they have. They’re grateful and humble and always try to find something positive.”

Tayvion, a 14-year-old who also was traveling abroad for the first time, had a deep conversation with one of the Colombian kids about police brutality. When Tayvion asked if they had guns, his new friend replied, “Yes, but they never shoot.” Having drawn parallels and distinctions with his own community, Tayvion shared his devastating realization: “It made me think about how, for officers in the U.S., their first instinct is just to shoot.” (To me, that’s a sad statement coming from a kid and just shows you up much police violence is an everyday fact for many people in this country.)

Throughout this entire journey, the group took part in daily reflections. They shared their experiences, learned from one another, and bonded over how they’d changed throughout the trip.

Joshua, a sophomore who had never even left California before this trip, said that the biggest lessons he’d learned were: “Do not take the things you have for granted. Do not be afraid to try new things. Finally, don’t be scared to learn about new people.”

For Wald, a soon to be junior, reflected that on how “we should be open-minded about other cultures and people ’cause we might find some similarities between us and them. We shouldn’t judge a people or culture based on their past alone.”

These new experiences not only shifted their mindset, but they also made the students think about their future and goals. Yasmeen told us, “I have a lot of dreams. There are so many benefits in the US, and I’m not going to waste my time. I should travel more and learn about different cultures.”

In addition to the knowledge that she gained, Veronica shared that her “goals are to help my community with any of the work that I do. I think this trip is going to help me achieve that because I’ve realized how similar my community is with the community of Cartagena. We can use other cities from different countries to help each other with the issues we are going through.”

Similarly, Ronald, a student who was excited to relay his experiences with his stepmom (who’s from Colombia), shared that “this trip made me open-minded to different cultures and makes me propose solidarity within communities in Oakland.”

And, in a quote I especially love, Darrilyn said of her time in Colombia: “My hopes and dreams are to be a political analyst and to travel the world. This trip showed me there is no fear to travel.”

This is why FLYTE exists: to create moments and lessons like this for students so they can see the world outside their borders and dream big.

The experiences these students had in Colombia left an indelible mark on them. Most of them had never been on a plane before their trip to Colombia. Not only did they learn about the culture and history of another country but they also discovered how a community can rise up in times of adversity.

On the last days of their trip, the students started planning how they’re going to take action back home. One of their ideas was to create a mural, much like the ones they saw in Colombia, to educate others about how Oakland continues to overcome its struggles.

Because of this trip, these youth now have a bigger understanding of the world and the power they each have to change it for the better.

***

And, so, our mission continues!

I want to thank you for helping make this happen! It takes an entire network of passionate individuals and businesses to run one of these trips, and we wanted to celebrate some of our partners who made this trip such an unforgettable experience for our students:

World Nomads, which donated all of our travel insurance. Knowing that they had us covered for any unforeseen circumstances, like lost luggage, gave us such peace of mind.

Selian Hostel in Cartegena for providing tours and breakfast for the students free of charge.

Javier from MYGHT travel, who made the daunting process of booking flights for a group of 20+ a seamless and stress-free experience.

Context Travel, which worked with us to craft unique, immersive experiences (at a discount!) for our students.

Alex Rocha from Experience Real Cartagena for opening up his community to us and providing us with a deep connection to the amazing people of Barrio San Francisco.

Bluffworks, one of our newest corporate partners, which covered the costs of three students to take this journey of a lifetime.

Allyson and the team from wikiHow, who highlighted us on their platform and sponsored one student on this trip.

The International TEFL Academy, for donating 50% of the proceeds from its Teach Abroad Film Festival to FLYTE.

Lo & Sons, for matching donations during our wildly successful #GivingTuesday campaign and sharing our story with their audience.

Lia from Practical Wanderlust, who paid her own way to join the trip and captured so many incredible photos and videos. She was also the mastermind behind FLYTE’s IG stories during the trip! We love how she was able to document the students’ experience in such an authentic, powerful, and unintrusive way.

Last, but certainly not least, many thanks to the thousands of you that donated to FLYTE. Your generosity over the years has sent 70 students on life-changing journeys abroad. The impact of these trips extends beyond just these youth. Because of you, the wave of positive change will ripple through their communities and the world at large. With them taking the lead, I know without a doubt that our future is bright. Thank you all for making such an immeasurable impact!

As the world builds walls, we’re helping tear them down and showing a new generation that there is more that brings us together than tears us apart.

If you want to learn more about FLYTE and how you can help send more students abroad, click here for more information.

Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks

Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner or Momondo. They are my two favorite search engines because they search websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is left unturned.

Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld as they have the largest inventory. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as they consistently return the cheapest rates for guesthouses and cheap hotels. I use them all the time.

Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. I’ve been using World Nomads for ten years. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are:

World Nomads (for everyone below 70)

Insure My Trip (for those over 70)

Looking for the best companies to save money with? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel! I list all the ones I use to save money when I travel – and that will save you time and money too!

Photo Credit: All photos belong to Lia from Practical Wanderlust who was there helping document the trip!

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cleopatrarps · 6 years ago

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Mao 101: Inside a Chinese Classroom Training the Communists of Tomorrow

BEIJING — Democracy. Is it effective or flawed? Would it work in China?

Debate.

Those were the teacher’s instructions on a recent Sunday morning when 17 college students met at Tsinghua University in Beijing for “Mao Zedong Thought and the Theoretical System of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics,” a mouthful of a course that is part of a government-mandated regimen of ideological education in China.

The students were sporting dragon tattoos and irreverent shirts — one had “Obsessive Compulsive Disorder” emblazoned on its back — and playing bloody shoot-’em-up video games on their phones before class.

But inside classroom 106-B, they echoed the party line.

“We’ve learned democracy just can’t last long here,” said Zhang Tingkai, a 19-year-old architecture major, describing the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution under Mao.

“It can easily turn into populism,” said Mao Quanwu, 20, a mechanical engineering student, “like what’s happening in Taiwan.”

The uniformity of opinion would likely have pleased Communist Party leaders, who often rail against the dangers of Western-style liberalism. But the challenges facing the party as it seeks to inspire a new generation of Communists are clear.

While students publicly praise ideological classes like this one, in private many say they find the courses dull and irrelevant, numbing propaganda — and only grudgingly participate.

At one lecture, students watched historical dramas and scanned social media sites on their laptops while a professor spoke about the importance of studying Mao’s ideology. At another session, they chatted with friends and worked on physics problems.

The courses, some of which have existed for decades, are more important than ever to President Xi Jinping and the party.

While the emphasis on Mao evokes turbulent periods of Chinese history, many in China still see Mao as a hero. Elements of his philosophy, like suspicion of foreign ideas and calls for centralized power, help lend legitimacy to Mr. Xi’s agenda.

So under pressure from Mr. Xi, China’s most powerful leader in decades, professors are working to make ideological classes more relevant to the lives of students, infusing lectures with humor and references to popular culture.

“We are making the theories interesting again,” Feng Wuzhong, the head teacher of the Mao Zedong Thought course, said one day after class.

While primary and secondary schools have had success with patriotic education, by the time students reach college, they are often more critical, worldly and defiant. The notion of a forced curriculum runs counter to ideals of academic freedom many students admire.

In the Beijing classroom, students could recite major points from lectures when put on the spot by Xi Liuchang, the graduate student overseeing the discussion section.

Some questions about the finer points of Mao’s theories were met with long silences. Some students openly acknowledged they hadn’t prepared.

Within the Communist Party, there are deep anxieties about the “ideological purity” of this generation of university students, who have only a faint connection, through parents and grandparents, to the Mao era and the ideals of revolution. The state-run media has described them as too cynical, independent and apathetic about politics.

Under Mr. Xi, officials have prescribed a heavier dose of ideological education across China’s more than 2,500 universities.

Students must now complete up to five courses to graduate — including a class on Marxism, one on morality, a modern Chinese history course, and “situation and policy education,” an exploration of modern-day issues like the territorial dispute in the South China Sea and policies concerning ethnic minorities.

Mr. Xi’s administration has chastised universities, including Tsinghua, his alma mater, as too lax, and the government has dispatched inspectors to discourage criticism of the Communist Party on campus.

At the same time, officials have urged professors to rethink how they teach ideology, warning that students are not willing to listen to “dead theories.” Some colleges are beginning to offer lessons on Mr. Xi’s own worldview, known as Xi Jinping Thought.

Professor Feng is helping lead the push for change. In 2015, he began offering classes on Maoism on edX, the online platform founded by Harvard and M.I.T., one of the first Chinese professors to embrace the internet to teach ideology courses.

Mr. Feng, an energetic orator who sometimes dresses in Mao suits, now teaches Mao Zedong Thought primarily through online lecture videos on topics like “The Necessity of the Sinicization of Marxism” and “The Living Soul of Mao Zedong Thought.”

He assigns readings not just by Mao but by Western authors like Alexis de Tocqueville and Samuel P. Huntington, the American political scientist.

During live lectures, he tries to bring the material to life by discussing topics like Mao’s favorite books and asking students to rate the policies of Chinese leaders, rewarding the most active participants with digital cash sent by WeChat, the messaging app.

Still, Mr. Feng’s lectures can have the feel of a different era. In describing Mao’s views on revolution, for example, he rails against imperialist forces and “bureaucratic capitalism” for “ruthlessly exploiting laboring people.”

Those sentiments are jarring in modern-day China, where capitalism is now openly embraced, fueling a sense that ideological courses are no longer pertinent.

But Mr. Feng said Mao’s words were more relevant than ever, even if China has changed.

For example, he said, students might see Mao’s call for “armed struggle” during the Communist Revolution of 1949 as a reminder of the importance of standing strong in the face of difficulties in daily life.

“Students should have the courage to confront the tough with toughness,” Mr. Feng said. “They should dare to crack the hard nut.”

At a recent lecture, he asked students, “If you were on a deserted island, what book would you bring?” The responses included Chinese classics like “Dream of the Red Chamber.” One person, perhaps angling for a better grade, suggested the course textbook for Mao Zedong Thought.

In the Beijing classroom, the discussion turned away from Mao’s theories and to questions about whether China’s authoritarian system offered enough channels for people to express their views.

“Our lives and democracy are disconnected,” said one student, Xiong Yining. “When decisions are made by the upper class, we feel that we are not engaged in the process.”

Mr. Zhang, the architecture student, agreed. “We still don’t know why the upper class makes certain decisions,” he said. “They could be very thoughtful decisions, but if we don’t understand why, we might be misled.”

A student asked whether China risked creating another personality cult, but the discussion quickly returned to the strengths of China’s system.

“Our top leader, Xi Jinping has a great deal of prestige,” said Mr. Mao, the mechanical engineering student. “As long as his decisions are sensible enough, it feels like the risks aren’t that big.”

Outside a classroom window, a large red propaganda banner hanging from the side of a building displayed one of Mr. Xi’s favorite phrases, a reminder of the party’s mission and omnipresence.

“Work hard to achieve the great success of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era,” it said.

Follow Javier C. Hernández on Twitter: @HernandezJavier

Iris Zhao contributed research.

The post Mao 101: Inside a Chinese Classroom Training the Communists of Tomorrow appeared first on World The News.

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