Postponed to Nov. 2 due to storm: AVA-Berlin will hold a themed Stammtisch—Strategies for Resistance and Change in the Trump Era— on November 2, 2017 at 8 pm, at Cafe Daddy, Kolonnenstrasse 50
The discussion, moderated by Carolyn Prescott, will draw from a number of readings (listed below with links, some may have a firewall) each of which will be very briefly summarized by an AVA member. This is a short list for a very broad subject, and it’s meant to help us think about these issues in what will surely be an ongoing movement. You do not need to have read the articles or books to participate in the discussion, and feel free to bring up other sources.
Questions for Discussion:
• In terms of countering the takeover of the administrative state and the undermining of civil society, rule of law, and democratic processes— What works? What doesn’t work?
• How can protest demonstrations be shaped to carry their message more effectively?
• How well are we using the media available to us for presentation, for persuasion, for organizing?
• How are we using language during this critical period? How can we avoid a sort of linguistic and strategic mirroring of Trumpism? How can we formulate a vision for change?
Selected Readings:
Kathryn Schulz, “What Calling Congress Achieves,” The New Yorker, March 6, 2017
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/06/what-calling-congress-achieves
Chris Hedges, “The Price of Resistance,” Common Dreams, April 18, 2017
https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/04/18/price-resistance
Nathan Robinson, “Thinking Strategically about Free Speech and Violence,” Current Affairs, August 20, 2017 [Comments and objections to this article can also be found on the Current Affairs website.]
https://www.currentaffairs.org/2017/08/thinking-strategically-about-free-speech-and-violence
Nathan Heller, “Is There Any Point to Protesting?” The New Yorker, August 21, 2017
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/08/21/is-there-any-point-to-protesting
Michael McBride, Traci Blackmon, Frank Reid, Barbara Williams Skinner, “Waiting for the Perfect Protest?” New York Times, September 1, 2017
Jan-Werner Müller, What is Populism? University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016
http://www.upenn.edu/pennpress/book/15615.html (review on the Pennsylvania Press website)
Naomi Klein, No Is Not Enough: Defeating the New Shock Politics, Penguin Random House UK, 2017
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jun/22/no-is-not-enough-naomi-klein-donald-trump (book review)
