Social Movements in Our Times

Key Points:

1. American Civil Rights Movement fought for the equal treatment of Afro-Americans. The yearlong boycott of buses by blacks in Montgomery led by Dr. Martin Luther King on 28^thAugust 1963, more than two lakh people marched to Washington demanding the passage of Civil Rights Act.

2. In countries like Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Poland movement took the form of demand for freedom from the control of the USSR. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the famous writer, and Anderi Sakharov, a nuclear scientist, were important leader of this movement.

3. In Vietnam conflict, lakhs of Vietnamese military and civilians were killed, apart from a large number of Cambodians and Laotians. The Vietnamese used guerilla warfare techniques to fight the might of USA. This eventually forced the US government to end the war and leave Vietnam in 1975.

3. A Treaty was signed in 1991 which is called START. It was the largest and the most complex arms control treaty in history. In late 2001, it resulted in the removal of about 80 percent of all strategic nuclear weapons from existence.

4. World wide economic and political changes since 1990s, which go by the name of Globalization have deeply impacted to lives of the underprivileged and poor.

5. During the last few decades tribal and marginal farmers are also being threatened by commercial farmers, mining corporations and dam-projects. The Narmada Bachavo Andolan (NBA) movement combines in itself many strands like the movement of indigenous people, movement against neo-liberal policies, struggle of farmers to hold on to their land as attempts are being made to take them over for dams, urbanization, industries, mines and forests.

6. The anti-arrack movement of Andhra Pradesh and the movement of Manipuri women against special powers of armed forces, which has been misused against people of the North Eastern states, are examples women’s power. Irom Sharmila has been on hunger strike for more than 10 years and is under house arrest.

Key Concepts:

1. Civil Rights: Rights guaranteed by law.

2. Civil Disobedience: The refusal to obey laws, pay taxes, non-violent opposition to law or government policy by refusing to comply with it.

3. Segregation: Practice of compelling different racial groups to live apart from each other.

4.Destabilise: Make unstable

5.Antiwar: Against the war

6.Draft Age: Send people somewhere for a special task

7. Weaponisation: Deploying of weapons 

8. Rehabitation: To help some to have a normal life again

9. Compensation: Pay something to lessen the bad affect

10. Anti-arrack Movement: A social movement built by women in AP against arrack.

11. Democratic: Rule by the people or government through elected representatives.

12. Participatory: Become involving in an activity.