History of social movements and globalization

Course objectives:
- To introduce students to the complexity of the phenomenon of social movements and globalisation and the development of global culture;
- To introduce students to the basic concepts of globalisation and social movements and their impact on society, economy and culture;
- to introduce students to the different scientific apparatuses and methodologies for the study of social movements;
- to teach students to think critically about globalisation, its development and its consequences through the paradigm of social movements and the plural range of theories and practices they leave behind, influencing the development of different cultural and political meanings both in society and in the everyday life of the individual;

Subject-specific competences:
Students will master the basic concepts of globalisation and social movements from different fields of sociology, cultural studies, history and learn in detail about their methodologies. This will provide students with a comprehensive and reliable insight into the processes of research and the development of theoretical contributions.

General competences:
Analytical thinking skills
Social-critical observation;
The ability to socio-culturally and historically contextualisation;
Ability to participate in debates and to think interdisciplinarily.

The successful integration in the study course is basic knowledge in the field of sociology, history and cultural studies.

This course examines the basic concepts, meaning and development of social movements and globalisation. The perspective of social movements provides a critical insight into globalisation and its consequences. The course will cover definitions of the basic concepts of social movements, globalisation, civil society, internationalism, the alter-globalisation movement, multitudes etc. We will focus on the methodology of studying and understanding social movements. The course will cover everything from learning about the history and development of social movements to the different currents of social movements and their theories and practices.

The course is structured around the following thematic objectives:

1. Understanding the definition and meaning of social movements and globalisation. The initial dividing lines of social movements: progressive: socialist (social democracy, communism, anarchism) and liberal, and conservative: nationalist. What globalisation is and how it is produced, and how it intersects with social movements. Understanding and defining the basic terms and concepts of social movements, globalisation, global culture, counter-culture, internationalism. Theoretical overviews of social movements (Della Porta, Tarrow, Tilly, Touraine, Graeber) and globalisation (Beck, Rizman, Bauman).

2. The history and development of social movements from the French Revolution to the beginning of the 20th century, when socialist ideas emerge, the development of different trends and strategies; workers' movements, the development of internalism, the Paris Commune, the anarchist and communist movements, trade unionism.

3. History and development of social movements in the first half of the 20th century October Revolution, Spanish Civil War, different communist, socialist, anarchist movements. Mention should also be made of the nationalist social movements at the time of the collapse of the empires. We learn about the local presence and relate them to the broader Austro-Hungarian context (Preporodovci, Mlada Bosna, etc.). Overview of networking and mobility within European social movements (border crossings, international networks and connections, travel).

4. History and development of social movements after the Second World War: peace and student social movements after 1968 and Situationism, urban guerrillas and their echoes, the autonomist movement, alternative art and social movements in the 80’s and the 90’s (punk, retro-avantgarde etc.), the alter-globalisation movement, the Zapatistas, the Occupy movement, movements for climate justice. The interlacement and interplay of different global contexts in local social movements and their development.

5. Alter-globalisation and the relevance of social movements today. An overview of active social movements and what they have left behind, what we can learn from social movements today and how we can study stateless structures and what they mean for the social, cultural and economic development of societies.

6. Theoretical insights into social movements, understanding and general insights into the sociology of social movements, cultural insights into the everyday life of rebellions and counter-culture, overview of theories of culture, counter-culture, sub-culture.

7. Methodological overview and basic methodological apparatuses in the study of anti-authoritarian social movements. Qualitative methodologies, overview and cognition. Methodology for studying and understanding the meaning of social movements and everyday practices of resistance and their theoretical underpinnings. Familiarisation with the methodological apparatus (qualitative methodology, militant research) (Della Porta, de Souzza, Zadnikar)

• understanding social movements;
• knowledge of the development and history of social movements from the 19th century to the present day and their cultural and social specificities;
• to teach students to think critically about globalisation from a 'bottom-up' perspective, its development and its consequences;
• the ability to critically assess the validity of a particular research method;
• to carry out research in the subject area of the course.

Written or oral exam (60 %)
Ongoing assignments (40 %)

Assist. Prof. Daša Tepina, PhD graduated in history and sociology of cuture at the University of Ljubljana. She defended her doctoral thesis entitled Revolutionary utopiy: anarchism in practices and theories. Latest research projects Models and Practices of Global Cultural Exchange and Non-aligned Movement: Research in the Spatio-Temporal Cultural Dynamics and Protests, art practices and culture of memory in the post-Yugoslav context. Currently she is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Nova Gorica,

Selected articles:

1. TEPINA, Daša. Revolucionarne utopije : anarhizem v praksah in teorijah. 1. izd. Maribor: Aristej, 2022.

2. TEPINA, Daša. Anarchism and the history of social movements in Slovenia. Journal of breath research. 2021, vol. 2, no. 20, str. 1-16.

3. GRAFENAUER, Petja, TEPINA, Daša. Art and rebellion : the struggle for freedom and autonomy at the Ljubljana 2020/2021 protests. Third text. 2022, vol. 36, iss. 5, str. 409-428.

4. TEPINA, Daša. Vrednost umetniškega ustvarjanja in avtonomni prostori na primeru AKC Metelkova mesto. Časopis za kritiko znanosti. 2021, letn. 49, št. 283, str. 103-121.

5. TEPINA, Daša, GRAFENAUER, Petja. Hegemonija kapitalizma in vizualni kod v neuvrščeni Sloveniji. V: et al. Vizualna pismenost : teoretsko raziskovanje, razumevanje, ustvarjanje in interpretacija sodobnosti. 1. izd. Ljubljana: Založba Univerze, 2024. Str. 44-60.

6. GRAFENAUER, Petja, TEPINA, Daša. Cuban representation at the Biennial of Graphic Arts and non-aligned cultural policy. The international journal of cultural policy. [Print ed.]. 2024, vol. 30, no. 2, str. 207-219.

7. TEPINA, Daša. Yugoslav–Egyptian cultural relations : a case study of art intersections in Ljubljana and Alexandria in the 1960s and 1970s. V: PREDAN, Barbara (ur.), TEPINA, Daša (ur.). The culture of the non-aligned : the clash of cultural and political narratives. Ljubljana: University of Ljubljana Press, 2023. Str. 199-221, 257-258, 266-267.

8. TEPINA, Daša. Umetniška stičišča : utopije - neuvrščenost. V: PREDAN, Barbara (ur.). Robovi, stičišča in utopije prijateljstva : spregledane kulturne izmenjave v senci politike. Ljubljana: Inštitut za novejšo zgodovino: Akademija za likovno umetnost in oblikovanje, 2022. Str. 77-90,

9. CRNKIĆ, Adin, TEPINA, Daša. Misliti anarhizem v slovenskem prostoru : kronologija in zgodovinski razvoj. Časopis za kritiko znanosti. 2014, letn. 42, št. 257, str. 13-29.

10. TEPINA, Daša. Anarhizem kot revolucionarna utopija. V: PAGON, Neda (ur.), PAGON, Saša (ur.), BORAK, Neven. Utopije - še vedno : zbornik o utopijah v 21. stoletju. Ljubljana: Studia humanitatis, 2015. Str. 257-281.