Writing theme: Conformity vs. Rebellion
WRITING TOPIC: For all of the writers in this cluster, what drives change? (And if possible, answer philosophically: What needs to change?)
4 essays attempting to make social change through the mobilization of public opinion. Each writer has different ideas about what form such mobilization might take and how opinion, once mobilized, expresses itself and works for change. Each of these essays has its own stance, its own attitude about what constitutes taking to the streets, and what defines success.
A Call to Arms: An Invitation to Demand Action on Climate Change
Discuss taking to the streets as a political tactic. How does it work?
What role do governments play in the crisis, according to McKibben? How might they avert it?
Solnit writes, “Many of the changes are so incremental that you adjust without realizing something has changed until suddenly one day you realize everything is different” (para 2). Write about something that has changed in the world around you your lifetime. Did you notice anything happening?
Grace Lee Boggs is quoted saying, “It took the splitting of the atom and the Montgomery bus boycott to introduce us to a whole new way of thinking about revoltion as tied to evolution” (para. 4). How did these events lead to this way of thinking?
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/10/04/small-change-malcolm-gladwell
Gladwell finds claims for the importance of the internet to contemporary social movements “puzzling” (para 8). How do you feel about it? Have you seen or participated in Internet-related activities that have had social or political effects? Write about your experience or observation, and reflect your feelings,
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2010-12-20/political-power-social-media
What does Shirkey mean by “instrumental”? Why is it a significant concept?
What is the public sphere and why does Shirky think it is so important?
