[Discussion] Social Movement History Conference

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

Social Movement History Conference -- Thinking Through Action:=20
Twentieth-Century
Social Movements and Their Legacy Location: British Columbia, Canada


The History Department of Simon Fraser University is pleased to announce
?Thinking Through Action: Twentieth-Century Social Movements and their=20
Legacy,?
a conference to be held at SFU?s Harbour Centre campus in Vancouver, Brit=
ish
Columbia, June 10-12, 2005. Please join keynote speaker Bill Fletcher,=20
Jr. from
TransAfrica Forum, along with plenary participants Mable Elmore, Michael=20
Honey,
David McNally, Judy Rebick, Audra Simpson, and Nikhil Pal Singh at this
important and timely event.

The conference is bringing a diverse group of scholars and organizers fro=
m
across North America to discuss how the history of social movements in=20
Canada
and the United States can broaden our vision of the challenges facing=20
today?s
struggles, including the globalization of social justice issues, the ongo=
ing
retrogressive clawback of twentieth-century social movements? policy
achievements, and a hostile political climate. Our program includes=20
panels on
issues vital to organizing today, including ones on building a democratic
culture, the necessity and challenges of coalition building, the impact o=
f
movements on electoral politics, labour and social justice, organizing po=
or
people?s movements, and the struggles and balance between rights-based=20
reform
and social transformation, among many others.

We are organizing this conference in honor of Jack O?Dell, a social justi=
ce
activist now living in Vancouver. O?Dell worked closely with Martin=20
Luther King,
Jr. and Jesse Jackson, and has played an important organizing role at=20
different
periods in the labor, civil rights and peace and justice movements from t=
he
1940s to the present. Inspired by O?Dell?s organizing experience and=20
vision, the
conference is focusing on the three processes we have identified as=20
essential to
the often unprecedented successes of twentieth-century movements:=20
?organizing
change,? ?building internationalism,? and ?linking struggles.?

Please Note: The Thinking Through Action conference is being held in
collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Labor History Association (PNLHA=
)
Conference, and registrants will have access to both conferences.=20
Information
about the PNLHA conference can be found at www.pnlha.org.


Karen Ferguson
Associate Professor
Department of History
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6
Canada
Phone: 604-268-6681
Fax: 604-291-5837
Email: thinkact@sfu.ca
Visit the website at http://www.sfu.ca/~thinkact