Research Quest for this week

1. Simple:Who is Viola Desmond? • Canada’s Rosa Parks?

2. Provocative/DiscussionWho are the SHAC 7? • Terrorists? The “Green Scare”?•Or Eco-warriors ...??

The young boys was when we were at Turquetil Hall/Sir Joseph Bernier Federal Day School in 1962. The pictures includes from the top: Peter I, the late Francois Nanorak, Nick Amautinuar, and Jose's older brother Mike Kusugak. Bottom: Jose Kusugak, Jack Anawak and the late Andreasi Siutinuar. That year the Roman Catholic Church had a 25-year anniversary meeting in Chesterfield Inlet. When Father Dedier, our Oblate priest in Naujaat-Repulse Bay saw us and asked: "Do you have uniforms?"

Introduction: Lecture 1 to Law, Politics and Government

Winter 2011Dr. C. J. Alexander

Study of Politics•Critics

• Spectators

•Participants

Why does politics generate such different sentiments and reactions?

The inevitable ‘messiness’ of democratic politics

Cynicism, mistrust, apathyEnthusiasm, trust, engagement

Conflicting SentimentsCynicism, mistrust, apathy

Enthusiasm, trust, engagement

Bowling Alone? Robert Putnam“Since 1979, information gathered on driver behaviour at

several intersections in suburban New York. From this info, Putname is able to determine that, whereas

37% of motorists came to a full stop in 1979 at the given intersections,

17 years later 97% made no stop at all—yet another example, according to Putnam,

of declining trust and reciprocity.”

David Cameron, “The Landscape of Civic Engagement in Ontario”, October 2002

What is politics?

• Politics arises from the fact of scarcity

• Definitions of politics in Box 1.1 of your text– These definitions differ in terms of the scope and

biases of politics• Public and private realms: Political conflict is

in large measure about where to draw the line.

“Who gets what, when, and how?” ~Harold Lasswell

What is a need?

Who decides?

With what effects?

Who are the winners? Who are the losers?

Power

• The ability to influence what happens• Not restricted to government• Coercion (force), influence (persuasion), and

authority (compliance because of internalized norms)

A - B

State and Government• What do political scientists and

constitutionalists mean when they talk about the state?– Definitions in Box 1.2 of your text

• On whose behalf does the state act? – Pluralist, Class Analysis, and Feminist answers

• So, what is meant by government? Why the distinction between state and government?

defined territory

relational capacity

exchange ambassadors

sign treatiesform alliances

join international organizations

permanent

population

politicaladmin.

legal

“ONE STATE MAY BE THE HOST OF

MANY NATIONS.”

Legitimacy and Consent• Related to the concept of authority• Civil Disobedience: – the case of Caledonia, Ontario; – 1991 Riot in Halifax (Dr. Bernard); – 1990 “Oka Crisis” (film we’ll watch today & our first discussion

book)• Cultural hegemony: Some argue that legitimacy and

consent are based on deception and false consciousness, created by the control that the powerful have over the creation and dissemination of ideas, information, and images.

How a man named Nobody became the battered face of G20 protests

Adam Nobody was face down, his arms held behind his back, and a police officer’s fist smashing into his face,

a now infamous video shows. He had left his house to see what the G20 protests were about.

Now he was under arrest. His case has become the collision point for those demanding a public inquiry into the policing of the G20 protests.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/how-a-man-named-nobody-became-the-battered-face-of-g20-protests/article1818432/

G20 Trials and the War on ActivismBy Naomi Klein - November 12th, 2010Watch the video:http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2010/11/g20-trials-and-war-activism

“In 1998 there was an RCMP inquiry called over the use of pepper spray on peaceful protestors outside an APEC summit. It was known as Peppergate. How quaint by G20 standards.

But the truth is we are not so hardened, we are not blasé about state violence.

There are hundreds if not thousands of people in this city who are still traumatized by what they suffered and witnessed that weekend at the end of June.

The G20 changed them, changed the way they feel about their country and their city.”

“In all, over 1,100 people were arrested -- the largest mass arrest in Canadian history.

Roughly 800 of them were jailed.

From them we have heard many reports of beatings (including beatings of people in handcuffs). Of racist, sexist, and homophobic slurs and threats, of people being screamed at for speaking in languages other than English. Of strip searches of women by male officers, of groping by police, sexual solicitation, rape threats.”

Naomi Klein cont’d

But the G20 assault on democratic rights did not end there.

This is personal. This is a crusade. We see it most clearly in the treatment of the 19

activists accused of "conspiracy" -- an extremely serious charge, with grave consequences if convicted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oka_stare_down.jpg

Who gets heard and why?• Issues of access to the political elite• How is the political conversation shaped?• Who are the opinion-leaders? • What is the role of money? – Is the latter decisive?

• Is democracy a process? –or a set of outcomes?

Political Identities

• The social construction of identities

• The politicization of identities

• Identities and interests in politics

• Regional identities and interests

• Class identity: Why has it been relatively unimportant in Canadian politics?

In contrast to the Eurocentric focus on individualism and materialism, Africentrism stresses the importance of the

collective identity. The essence of this principle is captured in the words, “I am, because we are; and since we are, therefore I am” (Mbiti, 1970, p. 141, quoted in

Graham, 1999, p. 114). Graham maintained that the emphasis is on human similarities or commonalities

rather than on individual differences. In turn, the emphasis on the collective nature of human beings

translates into collective responsibility for individuals (Turner, 1991; Schiele, 2000). This sentiment is captured by the expression, “whatever happens to the individual

happens to the collective” (quoted in Turner, 1991, p. 47).

http://www.uwindsor.ca/criticalsocialwork/spirituality-among-african-nova-scotians-a-key-to-survival-in-canadian-society

• Collective identity is also directly related to the principle of interconnectedness. It is important to note, however, that although Africentric scholars do not reject that individuals are indeed unique, they do assert that an individual cannot be understood separately from others in his or her social group (Akbar, 1984; Schiele, 2003).

• how the collective identity is manifested in daily African and African American life. – reverence towards African elders by others in the

community represents one of the strongest impressions of the collective identity.

Political Fault Lines: Old and New

• Donald Smiley’s enduring axes of Canadian politics: – French/English– Canada/United States – Center/Periphery (regionalism)

• These have been joined by newer political divisions– Gender; – Age (materialists v. post-materialists) – Canadian-born v. new immigrants– Class?

What is a need?

Who decides?

“Who gets what, when, and how?” ~Harold Lasswell

POWER POWER POWER

Who exercises power?

What values and purposes guide those who hold power?

Study of Politics

• Value free? • An art and a science:

• a branch of social conduct

• What’s your point of view?– Values– Habits of mind– Mental shortcuts

http://www.athropolis.com/map.htm

• Government is the process that makes and enforces rules and decisions for society.

• Politics is the activity of reconciling conflicts and gathering support that makes government possible.

BALANCING INTERESTS

Politics is Everything?

Politics occurs throughout society, even within the workplace or the family.

Distinctions

• Government is the formal mechanism or structure through which we collectively make and implement public choices.

• Public policies determine how wealth and power are distributed in the society– those policies in turn affect all of us• our income • our safety• our access to clean water, medicine, & education • even our life expectancy

Africville : “"We are sorry.“ 2010 Isolated from Halifax proper, Africville became

the preferred site for undesirable facilities such as:

• Rockhead Prison (1853)• "night-soil" disposal pits, • the Infectious Diseases Hospital (1870s) • and the Trachoma Hospital (1905).

As a further insult to the residents, although they paid taxes, their community was refused by the City of Halifax basic utilities such as sanitary water, sewage, fire protection and street lights.

Nevertheless, Africville remained – until forced to relocate in the late 1960s – a close-knit community, anchored by the Seaview African Baptist Church.

Mayor Peter Kelly:$3-million settlement between

the city and the former residents of Africville. Kelly asked for forgiveness and apologized to community elders, including those who did not live to see the settlement come to fruition, for the pain and loss of dignity they experienced when the community was taken apart in the 1960s.

Impacts of policies• What results of policy do people “see”?

Rules and regulationsPublic/private agenciesPeople and personalitiesProjects and programmesLack of policy

• How do policies affect their livelihoods?Assets and people’s access to themRange & viability of strategies open to peopleVulnerabilityOutcomes

Public policy tends to lag behind in a world of such rapid change!

...Communication TechnologiesGenetic Manipulation

International Security ThreatsGlobal Warming and Climate Change...

Studying politics involves studying change...

Do you think we are in a period of “felt transition”?

If so, how so?

Governments resisting change

• Sometimes, governments do not serve society’s needs, particularly in rapidly changing times.

• If a government fails to adjust to society’s changes, people will organize outside of it in an effort to force it to act (through social movements or through revolution).

Political actors

Governments are major political actors, but they aren’t the only ones.

Individualscommunities,

interest groups, political parties, news media,

business interests, professional associations,

international organizations, etc.

Political action• elections and campaigns• law making• lobbying• court rulings• letters to the editor• demonstrations outside of town hall• war• bombing a building• burning the Quran• drawing a political cartoon• composing spoken word

• Politics includes activities that are – legal and illegal– local and global– mundane and dramatic

Politics matters...whether we live

in a free democratic society, under the Taliban or the Nazis, whether we pay attention to politics

or not.

Definition...Politics is about the authoritative allocation of

scarce resources, the benefits and the burdens of society…Who wins? Who loses?

Themes for this Term

• Environment / Environmental Stewardship

• Human Rights

• Media

• Identity and Culture

• Indigenous Peoples

Done

For Today!