Comparing American Indian Movements: 19th Century vs Today - Prof. Pamela E. Oliver, Study notes of Introduction to Sociology

Download Comparing American Indian Movements: 19th Century vs Today - Prof. Pamela E. Oliver and more Study notes Introduction to Sociology in PDF only on Docsity! 1 Tactics: Short Overview & Application to American Indians (There is a longer “tactics” lecture with more details) A continuum of tactics • Education, persuasion (choice of rhetoric) • Legal politics: lobbying, lawsuits • Demonstrations: show numbers or intensity of concern (marches, rallies, petitions) • Economic pressure (Boycotts, selective buying) • Confrontation, disruption, civil disobedience (Sit-ins, occupations, illegal gatherings) • Property damage • Violence against persons Interactions • What the movement does is always in interaction with the target/opponent • Strategy = overall plan for how chance will occur – Persuade power-holders to act differently – Change public opinion – Disrupt normal business, force change – Seize power • Always complex, fluid, evolving – Movements always use a mix of tactics, generally have multiple leaders, groups, agendas • Outcomes always depends on characteristics of the power-holder as well as of the movement Tactics Use Power & Resources • Sheer numbers of people • Military capacity: weapons, armies • Wealth, control of land, means of production • Environmental constraints of your home territory • Control of means of communication • Symbolic authority: religious, cultural, political Social Organization Matters • Social & political organization within groups affects capacity for action – Geographic concentration/dispersion – Governmental organization – Cultural/religious similarity or difference. Language. • Relations to third parties who may favor one side or the other American Indian Dynamics 19th Century • War. Indians fighting back labeled bu Europeans as “savages,” justification for further war. • Legal tactics brought some concessions, but dominants easily changed their mind • AmInds has too few resources to win, EurAms had too much power no matter what they did