1101GIR Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Arab Spring
4 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
L1. Introduction
Two Visions of Politics
• 'Gillard announces workplace relations changes':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEYFetLDJQI
• 'The Most Amazing Video on the Internet (Egypt, January 25)':
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThvBJMzmSZI
• The collective capacity of human beings not just to take their world as they kind it, but to
transform that world
• E.g. French Revolution (1789), Russian Revolution (1917), Arab Spring (2011)
• Politics is inescapable
• We have to live together one way or another
• Something that can happen anywhere and with anyone
• Capacity everyone has
• Finding ourselves in the world without any definite plan opens the world up to politics
• If there was a plan, there would be no space for politics
• More philosophical than factual
• No right answers
• Concepts
• Not just abstractions but real parts of our culture, history and lives
• Human creations that are immortal
Concepts to Change the World
• Change is fundamental to human thriving and wellbeing
• Happiness = possibility
• Politics = possibility for change
• We will be interested in, first, the ideas that operate in political situations to enable change:
• Freedom
• Equality
• Democracy
• Notice that none of these ideas describe how the world is, but they enable
• A critical perspective on the world
• Asking what is wrong with it
• You cannot change the world if you don't know what is wrong with it
• An idea of how the world could be changed for the better
The State We're In
• We'll be interested, secondly, in understanding where we're at politically
• What is the thing, called 'the state', that dominates our political life so exclusively?
• How is protest against the state possible and what forms can it legitimately take?
Ideology, Anyone?
How can we bring together an analysis of our situation with a comprehensive plan for
changing or conserving it?
• This is where ideologies come in
• Liberalism
• The Right
• The Left
• Feminism
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
"the most amazing video on the internet (egypt, january 25)": https://www. youtube. com/watch?v=thvbjmzmszi: the collective capacity of human beings not just to take their world as they kind it, but to transform that world, e. g. French revolution (1789), russian revolution (1917), arab spring (2011: politics is inescapable, we have to live together one way or another, capacity everyone has. Something that can happen anywhere and with anyone. Finding ourselves in the world without any definite plan opens the world up to politics. If there was a plan, there would be no space for politics: more philosophical than factual, no right answers, concepts, not just abstractions but real parts of our culture, history and lives, human creations that are immortal. Concepts to change the world: change is fundamental to human thriving and wellbeing, happiness = possibility, politics = possibility for change, we will be interested in, first, the ideas that operate in political situations to enable change:
