The black civil rights movement and the women's sufferage movement, a change of consciousness alone was enough to make a big difference. They just weren't using it. Unless the changes in conditions are overwhelm elmingly in your favor and glaringly obvious, raising consciousness and having an awareness of the conditions around you is key to making social change. You need to know these things in order to know who your potential allies are, who to trust, who to be skeptical of, and how to fight off opposition.
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Human beings have free will, but our actions are constrained by material realities. Understanding how material and practical conditions shape human behaviour can make all the difference between success and catastrophic failure when it comes to the whole spectrum of political action, from private sector negotiation, to crafting legislation, to making a revolution.
In this episode we look at:
The relationship between economic activity and the high status of women in traditional Haudenosaunee / Iroquois society
How World War I helped women win the right to vote in Europe and North America
How World War II catalyzed the Black civil rights movement in the United States.
The success, failure, and accidental success of the English Peasant’s Revolt of 1381
The implications of the Anarchist Revolution in Spain in 1936-1939 for the future of industrial civilization.
