Robbins Part 3. Resistance and Rebellion

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Phyllis Barber
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1 Robbins Part 3 Resistance and Rebellion

2 Overview 1 Introduction One of the consequences of the expansion of the culture of capitalism is the redefinition of space. People are free to move around the globe more easily than ever. Free trade is touted as desirable and so many barriers to movement for the wealthy have been eliminated. Communication is creating a network that is global. Capital is particularly mobile. But not everyone can move and this causes problems and this causes 3 problems. 1. First, by dissolving spatial barriers and creating global citizens, the market removes ties and obligations to specific locations. The work of Albert J. Dunlap (Chainsaw Al) is one example of the consequences. He earned his nickname because of his practice of cutting large percentages of the workforce. At Scott Paper he fired 11,200 (20%) and at Sunbeam it was 6,000 (50%). Outsourcing is another and so is skimming (firing the more expensive worker and replacing with cheaper worker). 2. The second problem with the new globalized space is that it creates two types of citizens. Those who are mobile and those condemned to remain local. Zygmunt Bauman calls the mobile peoples either tourists or vagabonds. Tourists move at heart s desire. Vagabonds, such as migrant workers know they must move. This can be restated as two groups: Those who can participate as consumer/laborer/capitalist. Those who cannot participate.

3 Overview 2 Introduction (continued) Three problems (continued) 2. The second problem (continued) The division of the world between those who can participate and those who can t (tourist and vagabond) creates a problem for everyone. For the rich ( tourist ) the question becomes what to do with the superfluous people? One reaction is to use the jails. Gate your communities to keep them out or use immigration laws and/or identity cards. Only allow shantytowns/ghettos were the labor force is needed. For the poor ( vagabond ) the choices are harsher. Forced to acculturate to the culture of capitalism as other options are no longer available. The idea that they are primitive and need guidance remains a part of the culture of capitalism. 3. The third problem is the invasion of those free to move into the territory of those rooted in space. Example is gentrification. Or the building of a highway over an indigenous sacred site (Hwy 3 in Hawai i).

4 Overview 3 All three problems contribute to increased resistance by those rooted to one place. Peasants try to resist shift to wage economy when their land is taken. Others resist colonial domination. Laborers resist exploitation. Others resist destruction of the environment. Religious violence is another form of protest. Most protest is local, but the roots are global. There is no global mechanisms to deal with the resolution of disputes. The labeling of protest as terrorism creates new problems. Since 9/11 there has been an ease with which journalists and governments label protests as terrorism. This misuse of labels blurs the diversity of protest and merges under one construct.

5 A Primer on Terrorism 1 Mahmood Mamdani suggests that contemporary terrorism, generally, is a consequence of policy decisions made by the United States and other core countries. The core nations are creating proxy wars wherein extra-governmental groups are provided materials and intelligence in order to undermine the states viewed as hostile to the core countries. Robbins begins by reminding us that the United States supported anti-soviet intervention into Afghanistan. This included supplying money and weapons to the majahideen, who were labeled by Reagan as freedom fighters. Today they are labeled as terrorists. Other groups supported by the United States have been the contras in Nicaragua (antisocialist group), the Remano in Mozambique and Unita in Angola. Mamdani suggests that the creation of privatized, stateless resistance forces, with few ties, has been the result of such support by the core countries. That the same groups can be relabeled as terrorists raises several questions: 1. What is terrorism and how does it differ from other forms of collective violence? 2. What has changed? How do the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon differ, at all, form the thousands of other violent acts committed around the world by small groups against the state and civilian targets Is al Qaeda different? 3. What does it mean to conduct a war on terrorism? The term war on terrorism contains several assumptions: It is needed to understand what we have labeled as terrorism.

6 A Primer on Terrorism 2 That the same groups can be relabeled as terrorists raises several questions (continued) We need to be careful not to label all non-state political violence as terrorism. This obscures the roots and nature of terrorism: 1. As a technique (not an ideology or a state policy). 2. Terrorism has its own strategy: It is a form of asymmetrical warfare, with one side overwhelming in control of assets of war. As the weaker can t win, it uses violence for political gains, including the symbolism where terrorists demonstrate the weakness of the state. 3. There is no specific ideology common to the use of political violence. 4. Most political violence is local, directed at a specific nation-state. Political violence in the 21 st century has changed as it has gone global. Richard Falk calls this new form megaterrorism. Its magnitude, scope and ideology differ, as the goal is to transform the world order, not just challenge a single nation-state. In another sense al Qaeda and other terrorists groups resemble traditional resistance movements. The target is a specific nation-state, particularly the United States. One comparison is between the Mafia in Italy and al Qaeda (read on p ). Using the metaphor of war justifies the United States and its allies to use the instruments of war armed aggression against states, torture and interrogation, assassinations, bombings. All likely to spark the same in return

7 Primer on Terrorism 3 Political violence in the 21 st century has changed as it has gone global. Richard Falk calls this new form megaterrorism. Its magnitude, scope and ideology differ, as the goal is to transform the world order, not just challenge a single nation-state. In another sense al Qaeda and other terrorists groups resemble traditional resistance movements The target is a specific nation-state, particularly the United States. Al Qaeda also resembles a secret society which emerge in response to oppression and exploitation. Peter Schneider and Jane Schneider draw a comparison with the Mafia in Italy, the contras in Nicaragua and al Qaeda. For instance, the Mafia was used by the nation-state to squash peasant uprisings. The government then allowed the Mafia to penetrate the infrastructure, including the political arena. Only in the 1980s, as the mafiosi accelerated the violence did the government crack down. The crackdown did not deal with the underlying social inequalities. There remains the potential for a resurgence of the Mafia. The war on terrorism Using the metaphor of war justifies the United States and its allies to use the instruments of war armed aggression against states, torture and interrogation, assassinations, bombings. Also, there is no territory to take, no government to subdue. There is no way to gauge if the ware was successful.

Guided Reading Activity 32-1

Guided Reading Activity 32-1 DIRECTIONS: Recalling the Facts Use the information in your textbook to answer the questions below. Use another sheet of paper if necessary. 1. What conservative view did many