3. SUBMITTING TO THE STATE:
A VERY EXPENSIVE SOCIAL CONTRACT
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1651CE)Code of Hammurabi
4. SOME SOURCES OF STRESS:
• Climate Change, Natural Disasters
• Population Pressure
• Economic Disruption
• Inequality
• External Aggression
• Systemic Violence
• NEW IDEAS
5. CASE 1: THE FRENCH REVOLUTION (1789-1799) AND
THE HAITIAN REVOLUTION (1791-1804)
FRANCE
CROP FAILURES
ENLIGHTENMENT IDEAS
FISCAL CRISIS
CLASS CONFLICT
CONTINENTAL
RIVALRIES
6. HAITI
• SUGAR PLANTATION SLAVERY
• CLASS CONFLICT
• REVOLUTIONARY
IDEAS FROM FRANCE
Jean Jacques Dessalines
(1758-1806)
7. CASE 2: COLLAPSE OF ANGKOR (CA. 800-1500CE)
• MEDIEVALWARM PERIOD ENDS
(CLIMATE INSTABILITY, DROUGHTS, FLOODS)
• HYDRAULIC SYSTEM CAN’T COPE
• SIAMESE INVASION
• RELIGIOUS CHANGE
• ROYAL OVERREACH?
8. PART ONE CONCLUSIONS
• STATE CRISIS CAN LEAD TO REFORM, REVOLUTION,
COLLAPSE, NEW STATES…
• STATE-LEVEL CHANGE INVOLVES MULTIPLE
FACTORS REINFORCING EACH OTHER
• “STATES” COME AND GO, BUT THE STATE
STICKS AROUND…
9. PART 2: RESISTING STATE* POWER
* OR NON-STATE ACTORS LIKE CORPORATIONS
THAT MAY ALSO HAVE STATE CONNECTIONS
10. WEAPONS OF THE WEAK: EVERYDAY
FORMS OF PEASANT RESISTANCE
JAMES C. SCOTT (1985)
‘Most of the political life of subordinate groups is to be found
neither in the overt collective defiance [against] powerholders nor
in complete hegemonic* compliance, but in the vast territory
between these two polar opposites’
* Hegemony: from Greek ἡγεμονία hēgemonía, "leadership,
rule”. The established political, social, and military dominance
of one class or group over others. (Intra-state or Inter-state)
11. Public transcript: open public interaction between
superordinates and subordinates
Hidden transcript: critique of power that goes on offstage,
where the power-holders can’t see it
12. NON-VIOLENCE IS NOT “PASSIVE”
• Marches
• Sit-Ins
• Boycotts
• Protests
• Organizing
13. SOCIAL MEDIA AND 21ST CENTURY SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
SOME PROS: Platform for organizing; Harder for state
authority to disrupt.
SOME CONS: “Substitute or Substance?”, “Noise” …
14. WHAT DO YOU WANT,
HOW WILL YOU GET IT?
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP OTHERS?
