Browse Cases

Showing 1-25 of 32 results

Nepalese Maoists strike for integration of Maoist Soldiers into Nepal's security forces, 2009

Country
Nepal
Time period
May, 2009 to May, 2010
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Molly Murphy 25/10/2015

The ten year civil war in Nepal that claimed over 13,000 lives ended in 2006 when Maoist insurgents gave up their armed revolt in order to integrate themselves socially and politically. At the end of the war, more than 19,000 former Maoist combatants remained sequestered in barracks controlled by the U.N. Part of the peace agreement called for their gradual integration into Nepal’s security forces, but army chief Rookmangud Katawal, who strongly opposed the integration of politically indoctrinated enemy soldiers, blocked this process.

Tibetan "Unchain the Truth" campaign for prisoner release, 2013-2014

Country
China
Japan
Brazil
Austria
United Kingdom
United States
Switzerland
Bulgaria
India
Costa Rica
Germany
Time period
October 25th, 2013 to June 5th, 2014
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Jasmine Rashid 04/17/15

In August of 2008, Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen was premiering his new documentary, “Leaving Fear Behind”, to a group of journalists in a Beijing hotel when Chinese police interrupted and forcibly shut down the screening.

Connecticut Residents Give Up National Borders for Lent 2012-2013

Country
United States
Time period
November, 2012 to May, 2013
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Mar Firke 02/03/2014

In 2008, the Federal Government of the United States launched a
program called “Secure Communities” that would allow Immigration and Customs
Enforcement to review records of suspects in the custody of local and state
police.  In cases where officials found
out that prisoners were in the country illegally, officials could issue
detainer orders for local police to keep the prisoner in custody and begin
deportation proceedings. The effect of this enforcement policy was that
undocumented immigrants arrested on minor traffic infractions—or even

Australian Aboriginal workers strike for fair wages and equality, 1946-1949

Country
Australia
Time period
1 May, 1946 to Spring, 1949
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Dylan Cohen, 18/10/2013

In 20th century Australia indigenous workers were treated completely differently from the Caucasian settlers on the continent. Until the 1920s, for example, Aboriginals employed at pastoral stations in Australia received rations of clothing and food instead of cash wages. 

Kurds in Turkey fast for language rights and the release of Abdullah Ocalan, 2012

Country
Turkey
Time period
2 September, 2012 to 18 November, 2012
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Aileen Eisenberg, 18/05/2013

On 2 September 2012, about sixty Kurds, an Iranic people native to Southwest Asia, that were in Turkish prisons began a hunger strike. These prisoners began this campaign out of a demand to free Mr. Abdullah Ocalan, one of the founding members of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a militant organization in Turkey. Mr. Ocalan was serving a life sentence and kept in solitary confinement in a prison on an island near Istanbul.

Palestinians boycott settlement goods, 2009-2011

Country
Palestine
Time period
December, 2009 to May, 2011
Classification
Change
Cluster
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Lydia Bailey, 07/04/2012

In December 2009, Palestinians began a boycott of goods coming out of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and other disputed territory. There was already a law established by the Palestinian Authority against buying these goods, effective in 2005, but most local salespeople and consumers did not observe the law because most complex non-food products sold in Palestine were produced in Israel or in the settlements. Likewise, the high-producing settlements depended on Palestinian consumers for economic survival.

Norwegian workers, women campaign for independence from Sweden, 1905

Country
Norway
Sweden
Time period
May, 1905 to October, 1905
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Fatimah Hameed, 25/02/2013

The kingdom of Denmark ruled Norway until May 1814, when Sweden defeated Denmark in the Napoleonic Wars. On 4 November 1814, Sweden took control of Norway, and the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway shared a Swedish monarch. Still, Norway retained its own separate governing body for local affairs.

Norway's Venstre Party and other liberal groups gained the support of the working class. In 1884, the Venstre Party formed the Norwegian Labor Association, bringing together industry workers and agricultural workers in one organization.

Turkish Cypriots campaign for European Union membership of Cyprus, 2002-2003

Country
Cyprus
Time period
January, 2002 to February, 2003
Classification
Change
Cluster
National/Ethnic Identity
Peace
Total points
3 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Christopher Capron, 10/10/2012

On 21 December 1963, the Greek-Turkish controlled island of Cyprus experienced extreme intercommunal violence between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots. The capital, Nicosia, was thereafter divided into two sectors by a “Green Line”, separating the two communities. 

Ukrainian students hunger strike and protest against government, 1990

Country
Ukraine
Time period
2 October, 1990 to 17 October, 1990
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Yein Pyo, 14/09/2012

Dissatisfied with lack of democracy and the Soviet Union’s influence on their country, Ukrainian university students in L'viv established the Student Brotherhood in March of 1989.  In December students in the capital city of Kiev formed the Ukrainian Students Union. 

Egyptians campaign for independence, 1919-1922

Country
Egypt
Time period
13 January, 1919 to February, 1922
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Elliana Bisgaard-Church, 23/10/2011

Egypt became a British protectorate on December 14, 1914.  During World War I agitation towards the British increased as all sects of the population united in their discontent. British rule caused Egypt’s involvement in the war to increase – 1.5 million Egyptians were conscripted in the Labour Corps and much of the country’s infrastructure was seized for the army – contributing to the dissatisfaction.

Indians campaign for independence (Salt Satyagraha), 1930-1931

Country
India
Time period
January, 1930 to 1931
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
4 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Aden Tedla and George Lakey, 01/09/2011

The Salt Satyagraha campaign that began in 1930 sought to continue previous efforts that had attempted to undermine British colonial rule in India and establish Purna Swaraj (complete self-rule).  The previous nationwide nonviolent campaign for independence (1919-22) had been called off by Gandhi because it broke into disarray and violence, even though it had been preceded by local campaigns: a campaign in Champaran (Indian peasants in Champaran campaign for rights, 1917) and a textile workers strike in Ahmedabad in 1918.

Estonians campaign for independence (The Singing Revolution), 1987-1991

Country
Estonia
Time period
23 August, 1987 to September, 1991
Classification
Change
Defense
Cluster
Democracy
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Aden Tedla, 14/07/2011

Estonians have long held a tradition of singing.  Beginning in 1869, Estonians have held a song festival every five years called the Laulupidu during which thousands of Estonians gather to sing together.

Lebanese campaign for democracy (Independence Intifada or Cedar Revolution), 2005

Country
Lebanon
Time period
14 February, 2005 to 7 April, 2005
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Markus Schlotterbeck 25/02/2009 and Max Rennebohm 15/08/2011

On February 14, 2005, a massive car-bomb explosion rocked Beirut, Lebanon, which killed twenty-two people, including former prime minister and leader of the opposition parties Rafiq Hariri. Suspicions were high that Syria, which had occupied Lebanon with troops and intelligence agents for three decades, was behind the attack. Parliamentary elections were approaching and the anti-Syria opposition was widely expected to win. Rafiq Hariri was a charismatic billionaire businessman who had become the most popular opposition politician in Lebanon.

Indian peasants in Champaran campaign for rights, 1917

Country
India
Time period
April, 1917 to October, 1917
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Jeewon Kim, 09/10/2010

During the time of British occupation of India, peasants of Champaran district of the Bihar state were highly exploited by the indigo cultivation. The lessees of Indigo and agricultural areas had been Indians until 1793, but as the British Empire began its rule in India, European planters began to take over and gained total control of the indigo and sugar cane cultivation.  

Syrian citizens general strike against France, 1936

Country
Syria
Time period
January 20, 1936 to March 2, 1936
Classification
Change
Defense
Cluster
Democracy
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Markus Schlotterbeck, 20/08/2009

French-occupied Syria was facing darkening hopes for more independence from France at the end of 1935. The major Syrian nationalist party, the National Bloc, was losing power, the Syrian Parliament was adjourned and the government in power was under the unpopular Shaikh Taj al-Din al-Hasani. France was also refusing to negotiate a new treaty with Syria. In a move to squash the National Bloc altogether, the French authorities closed the office of the National Bloc in Damascus on January 20, 1936, and arrested two leaders from the Bloc: Fakhri al-Barudi and Sayf al-Din al-Ma’min.

Kosovo Albanians resist Serbian rule, 1990-1998

Country
Kosovo
Serbia
Time period
January, 1990 to October, 1998
Classification
Change
Defense
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Adriana Popa, 09/10/2010

The province of Kosovo enjoyed significant political autonomy (which had been accorded under the 1974 Yugoslav Constitution) and cultural rights until the 1980s, when tension began to build up between the Serbian minority and the Albanians in Kosovo. This tension soon translated into difficult relations between the Serbian regime and the province.

Acehnese struggle for self-determination, 1998-2001

Country
Indonesia
Aceh
Time period
May, 1998 to July, 2001
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Economic Justice
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Samantha Bennett 20/02/2011 and Zein Nakhoda 14/05/2011

For a half-century prior to the Acehnese campaign, the Indonesian government had ruled Aceh, located at the northwestern end of the island of Sumatra. The Acehnese suffered a high level of human rights abuses at the hands of the Indonesian government. From the 1950s until 1998, an Acehnese group resisted using violence.  But in the late 1990’s, their resistance, led by student activists, took the form of nonviolence in a series of rallies, boycotts and strikes.

Zanzibar workers general strike in Zanzibar City, Tanzania, 1948

Country
Tanzania
Time period
August 20, 1948 to September 13, 1948
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Olivia Ensign, 28/03/2010

Zanzibar, a former colony of Great Britain, is an island off the coast of Tanzania, located in East Africa. Under British rule the population of Zanzibar was divided between small but influential groups of Arabs, Indians, and Europeans and the two larger, primary groups on the island: those Africans born on Zanzibar itself and those born on the mainland of Tanzania, who later immigrated.

Lithuanians campaign for national independence, 1988-1991

Country
Lithuania
Time period
June, 1988 to September, 1991
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Aurora Muñoz, 03/12/2009, and Max Rennebohm, 24/05/2011

Russia first occupied Lithuania and introduced a program of “Russification,” an attempt to eliminate Lithuanian language and culture in favor of Russian culture, in the mid-19th century. After 22 years of independence from Russia, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact in 1939 reintroduced the Soviet Union’s dominance over Lithuania—as well as the other Baltic states: Estonia and Latvia. The Soviet Union publicly stated that Lithuania had joined the USSR willingly, although secret protocols of the pact disputed this. Following World War II, the Soviet Union reoccupied Lithuania.

University of California Berkeley students win divestment against apartheid South Africa, 1985

Country
United States
Time period
10 April, 1985 to 23 May, 1985
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Arielle Bernhardt, 05/02/2010

In the spring of 1985, campaigns against apartheid in South Africa mobilized on campuses across the United States. Students at University of California Berkeley became aware of these campaigns and were moved to act. On April 10, two student groups—the UC Divestment Committee and the Campaign Against Apartheid—began organizing daily rallies at Sproul Plaza, a main gathering place on campus. Nancy Skinner led the Divestment Committee and William Nessen headed up the Campaign Against Apartheid, but the student coalition made decisions through the consensus of all members.

Armenians protest USSR’s refusal to honor Nagorno-Karabakh annexation referendum, 1988

Country
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Time period
February 11, 1988 to February 28, 1988
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Matthew Heck 05/12/2010

Nagorno-Karabakh was an autonomous region in Azerbaijan that USSR’s leader Joseph Stalin took from Armenia during the Sovietization of Transcaucasia in the early 1920s, in an attempt to placate Turkey.  The citizens of the region predominantly identified as Armenian (approximately 76%) and this also corresponded to a religious identification where Armenians are predominantly Christian while Azeris are predominantly Muslim.

East Timorese activists campaign for independence from Indonesia, 1987-2002

Country
East Timor
Indonesia
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Hannah Jones, 16/02/2011

East Timor, a portion of the Indonesian archipelago, was colonized by Portugal in the 16th century. It was not until 1975 that Portugal decolonized the area, at which point East Timor declared independence. Shortly after this, however, the Indonesian army, under the orders of Indonesian President Suharto, invaded and annexed East Timor. 60,000 East Timorese were killed or died of starvation during the invasion.

Mongolians win multi-party democracy, 1989-1990

Country
Mongolia
Time period
December 10, 1989 to May 10, 1990
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Jasper Goldberg and Max Rennebohm, 01/12/2009 and 23/05/2011

In 1921 the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party (MPRP) came to power and soon aligned the country with the USSR. Until this democracy campaign in 1989, the MPRP ruled Mongolia through a constitutionally-sanctioned single-party government. By the mid-1980’s, pro-reform sentiments and movements were spreading in Eastern Europe, especially at the universities. However, Mongolians remained isolated from all of this except for the few students who could afford to study abroad in Eastern Europe.

Paraguayan indigenous peoples resist the Stroessner regime, 1969-1989

Country
Paraguay
Time period
1969 to 1989
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Meghan Auker Becker, 11/04/2010

In 1954, a young military officer, Alfredo Stroessner, organized a military coup and overthrew Paraguayan President Federico Chávez. A devoted anti-communist, Stroessner declared a state of siege and suspended constitutional freedoms for the entirety of his 35-year rule. Throughout Stroessner’s last two decades in power, indigenous people organized widely to oppose the negative effects that his massive development projects were having on their communities.

Bangladeshi citizens struggle through noncooperation for political autonomy, 1971

Country
Bangladesh
Time period
March 1, 1971 to March 26, 1971
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
6.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
William Lawrence 03/12/2010

The Pakistan that gained independence from the British Empire in 1947 was a strange and ultimately ill-fated state.  The country included two geographically disparate regions, West and East Pakistan (modern-day Bangladesh), separated by nearly one thousand miles of Indian territory.  Throughout the military regimes of the 1950s and 60s, Bengali needs were neglected to benefit the “22 families,” all West Pakistani, who controlled the country’s economy.  A movement for East Pakistani autonomy emerged from this climate, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (known popularly as Mujib).&nb