Working with Theoretical Sources

Soviet Samizdat and Nonconformist Art Movement - Colin Potter

Johnston, Hank. “Talking the Walk: Speech Acts and Resistance in Authoritarian Regimes.” Repression and Mobilization, edited by Christian Davenport, Hank Johnston, and Carol McClurg Mueller, University of Minnesota Press, 2005, pp. 108-137.

The argument that is posited by this essay is that not all protests and forms of collective action adhere to the conventional structure and concept of protest usually used to describe protest movements. In particular, Hank argues that in authoritarian regimes where the punishment for conventional protest is very severe, simply engaging in oppositional speech and expression qualifies as a form of protest. Hank explores how the samizdat in the USSR provided a way to disseminate culture that was inherently oppositional and how safe spaces were created to promote this kind of speech. Hank states that "oppositional speech acts are a less demanding and less risky form of collective action" (117). This argument relates directly to how I need to analyze the Soviet nonconformist movement. Because the action people took during the movement weren't conventional forms of protests such as marches, sit-ins, petition signing, and letter-writing to name a few, it is important to establish first that this movement is still a form of protest. This source does that, and it contextualize the important features of this kind of protest, from why it occurs, to what it accomplishes beyond the superficial level that many historians focus on. It is something I will need to establish early on and does a good job at providing a framework from which to investigate this movement.






Cochlear Implant Protest - Daniel Tannen
Key Term: Audism

Eckert, Rowley. “Audism: A Theory and Practice of Audiocentric Privelege.” Humanity & Society, vol. 37, no. 2, 2013, pp. 101-130.

The protest against the Listening and Spoken Language Symposium that was sponsored by the Alexander Graham Bell Association was based on the idea of oppression and discrimination. However, many individuals (those unfamiliar with the deaf community) may not immediately associate the use of cochlear implant technology with oppression. The article by Eckert and Rowley establishes a framework for thinking about oppression of deaf individuals by exploring a key theory: audism. In 1977, Tom Humphries defined the term as “The notion that one is superior based on one’s ability to hear or behave in the manner of one who hears” (Eckert 105). The authors seek to use this word and associated theory to, “improve social scientific and public understanding of audism as a social problem in postmodern times” (Eckert 120).

In the protest performed by Audism Free America in Los Angeles in 2013, the audience must understand the emotional and logical opposition the deaf community holds against proponents of cochlear implant technology. Eckert and Rowley specifically take note of a type of audism called the auditory industrial complex (AIC) that aggressively targets Deaf children for medical treatment often through surgery techniques (Eckert 107). Deaf individuals do not perceive the inability to hear as a disability and have therefore become outraged about the push for the implementation of medical procedures that seek to “fix” them. The ideas presented in the article are essential to understand the societal background that gave rise to the protest movements for deaf civil rights.



KKK Homosexuality - Lance Reidenbach

This article is from a larger collection.
Gibson, James. "Homosexuals and the Ku Klux Klan: A Contextual Analysis of ..." Jstor. The Western Political Quarterly, Sept. 1987. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

I believe the focus is to show that anyone should be allowed to protest even the Ku Klux Klan. As a people, the KKK hate virtually anything not American or white. Their “hate” protests incite anger in everyone across the world. The article mentions an exact protest from 1984 in which the KKK protested homosexuality. They were being escorted around town but hundreds of officers. It shows how the city and law enforcement support knowing the KKK’s rights to do so. I chose this article because my subject is how the KKK had an effect on the civil rights movement. The KKK is relevant to my paper because it shows the ideas and thoughts in a KKK member’s head. There is history here and maybe a primary source.

For my paper the framework of it all will help bring in the reality of Civil rights to both sides. (KKK VS Others) Also find what counts as rights and not just anarchy.

“On Saturday, June 9, 1984, 55 members of the Ku Klux Klan marched down Wertheimer Street in the Montrose Area of Houston in protest of homosexuality. The Klansmen were escorted and protected by 800 members of the Houston Police Depart”(427). This also reveals yet another source to protest, being homosexuals not just hating on black. “Unpopular political minorities have often met intense resistance from the majority when they have sought to assert the rights of citizens of democratic policies”(427). Makes me think further pointing out inequality and the KKK making sure these smaller groups are put to rest before they get sense that they can work together. “…items, actual civil liberties disputes provide an illuminating context for studying applied political tolerance” (427).The protests on both sides start to blur the edges of legal or not legal.