We are GEOGRAPHY 495, an innovative fourth-year seminar in the Department of Geography at UBC taught by Dr. Juanita Sundberg. The course explores the politics of North-South solidarity in theory and practice using Community Service Learning models that join theory with experience and thought with action. The curriculum addresses solidarity on a theoretical level by exploring how solidarity is conceptualized, accomplished, and practiced in and by movements and activists in the Americas. On a practical level, GEOG 495 invites community partners directly in the classroom to share in the elaboration of collaborative political analysis and action-oriented activities.
Solidarity is a principal mechanism through which Canadian citizens have supported social justice struggles in Latin America since at least the 1980s. Historically, solidarity in the North has been conceptualized in terms of defending the rights, interests, and identities of different and distant Others. However, scholars and grassroots activists have argued that this conceptualization of solidarity transforms Latin American people into “objects” or “beneficiaries” of Northern benevolence. The course explores how solidarity alliances might disrupt, rather than reproduce unequal power relations between states as well as differently situated social groups.
In 2012, GEOG 495 is working in collaboration with the Vancouver-based Mining Justice Alliance. Members of Mining Justice Alliance actively participate in our class, thereby transforming the classroom into a space of international engagement, reflection, and action. Our central focus is solidarity with communities in Latin America affected by Canadian-owned mining companies. Students are collaborating with Mining Justice Alliance on concrete and viable initiatives that support the group’s goals. In so doing, students have the opportunity to work in collaboration while learning about the politics of solidarity from multiple perspectives.
Check out our blog from GEOG 495 2011.