Discussion (1L): Rebuilding Civil Society from the Local to the National

Catalog description

Since America's founding, local political engagement (through participation, leadership, and organizing in local politics) has been a linchpin of our democratic order and adult education. That engagement is deeply challenged today by economic segregation, technological and media changes, the downsizing of local journalism, and the loss of institutions that forge local social networks (such as small businesses, churches, and neighborhood-based nonprofits). Yet meanwhile, poor and working class communities need local solutions and activism to face severe challenges such as environmental disasters, low wages, drug addiction, family dissolution, and disinvestment in basic services, schools, and infrastructure. This reading group will sit with stories and strategies of local democratic reengagement. Through a range of readings (from memoir to academic commentary) as well as films and podcasts, we'll discuss a deliberately diverse set of voices, from environmental activists to conservative thought leaders. We'll situate our discussions in a mix of urban and rural places, including California's agricultural interior, Oregon's timber counties, post-industrial Rust Belt cities, and urban and rural Mississippi. Our hope is that our group of students - like the authors and protagonists of our discussions -- will be racially, politically, economically, and geographically heterogeneous, allowing us to become better actors in the project of local political engagement for the public good. Elements used in grading: Full attendance, reading of assigned materials, and active participation. Class meets: 5:00 PM-7:00 PM on Sept. 16, Sept. 30, Oct. 14, Oct. 28.