Browse Cases

Showing 101-125 of 152 results

Sierra Leone citizens defend democracy, 1997-1998

Country
Sierra Leone
Time period
May 25, 1997 to February, 1998
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Democracy
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
George Lakey, 01/10/2008

Sierra Leone is a West African country of 6 million people.  Now a constitutional democracy, dictators and one-party governments ruled for decades and the people endured periods of civil war.  

In 1996 the country had its first multiparty elections and freely elected its first civilian government in 34 years.  Hope soared.  The following year, on May 25, a group of young military officers led a coup that overthrew the government. The new government called itself the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC).

University of Puerto Rico students strike to resist budget cuts, 2010

Country
Puerto Rico
Time period
April 21, 2010 to June 21, 2010
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Julio Alicea, 07/11/2011

Luis Fortuño was elected Governor of Puerto Rico and sworn in on January 2, 2009. Two months into his term, Fortuño announced his plan to repair Puerto Rico’s struggling economy. He called for severe budget cuts, which some speculated would result in the laying off of over 30,000 government employees. Fortuño’s economic plan would be met with much resistance from workers, teachers, and students. In May, workers organized a march to San Juan in protest against the plans. In October, workers organized a general strike to protest these same budget cuts.

Malian Muslims protest against family law revision, 2009

Country
Mali
Time period
August 22, 2009 to August 27, 2009
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Hanna King 12/12/2010

Mali, a nation whose citizens are 90% Muslim, maintains laws that adhere to the regulations laid out in the Qur’an. Current law requires women to obey their husband’s commands, sets the legal age for a girl to marry at 12, gives male children priority access to inheritance, and denies women property rights. Mali, like many other countries who limit women’s freedom, has come under criticism from the United Nations (UN) and other international organizations for their curtailment of human rights.

Jamaican workers protest sale of Air Jamaica to Caribbean Airlines, 2010

Country
Jamaica
Time period
February 3, 2010 to February 19, 2010
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
2 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Matthew Heck, 23/12/2010

In January 2010, it became clear that the Jamaican government sought to sell Air Jamaica to a foreign company.  The government and the owners of Air Jamaica saw the company as losing a lot of money and, due to heavy subsidizing, the government had a great deal of power over the future of the airline.  Some reports suggest that Air Jamaica was losing more than USD $90 million per year and was already USD $900 million in debt.  However, Air Jamaica employed over 1,600 Jamaicans.  Fearing for the loss of their jobs and the potential damage that could be done to the country

Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) transport workers strike, 2010

Country
Ivory Coast
Time period
April 12, 2010 to April 16, 2010
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Jeewon Kim, 06/12/2010

The Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, commonly known in English as Ivory Coast, is a Francophone West African county that plays a key role in transit trade for neighboring landlocked countries such as Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger.

Since the beginning of 2010, the Ivorian government increased diesel prices twice to 645 CFA francs ($1.34) per liter. This raise set Côte d’Ivoire as the highest fuel price in Francophone West Africa.

U'wa people block Occidental Petroleum (Colombia), 1995-2001

Country
Colombia
Time period
Late, 1995 to May, 2001
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Environment
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Zein Nakhoda, 14/05/2011

The U’wa people have practiced their traditional culture in the Northeast forests of the Colombian Andes since time immemorial. At the end of the 20th century, there were up to 5,000 people in U’wa communities. 

Maori resistance to British land seizure at Parihaka, New Zealand, 1879-81

Country
New Zealand
Time period
February, 1879 to 5 November, 1881
Classification
Defense
Cluster
National/Ethnic Identity
Economic Justice
Total points
3 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Zein Nakhoda 14/05/2011

The Taranaki region of present day New Zealand spreads from the central plateau of the North Island to the western coast. The Maori people, indigenous to the region, once inhabited it and the surrounding areas. By 1860, New Zealand had been a colony of Britain for nearly 20 years and land conflicts were common as growing European settlements encroached onto Maori land; British representatives were determined to assert their authority over the whole country.

Black miners strike in the Northern Rhodesian (Zambia) Copperbelt, 1935

Country
Zambia
Time period
20 May, 1935 to 29 May, 1935
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
2 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Zein Nakhoda 14/05/2011

By 1924, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) was administered and occupied by the British government as an official British protectorate. While the Colonial Office headed administration, a group of interconnected companies financed by Britain, South Africa, and the United States came to control what became the ‘Copperbelt’ in Northern Rhodesia. Copper was becoming more valuable due to increased demand for electrical components and motors and regional deposits were easy to extract and profitably attracted investors.

South Koreans protest government's lift of ban on US beef, 2008

Country
South Korea
Time period
May, 2008 to August, 2008
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Environment
Human Rights
Total points
5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Julio Alicea, 09/05/2011

In 2003, the government of South Korea announced a ban on beef imported from the United States. Prior to the ban, South Korea had been the third largest purchaser of U.S. beef product. The decision to ban the product came after an animal in Washington was discovered to suffer from mad-cow disease. All together, more than fifty countries decided to ban U.S. beef imports after the incident, and consequently, the value of U.S. beef exports declined by $2.4 billion dollars over a three-year period.

Nuxalk People obstruct logging of Itsa old-growth forest, 1995-1998

Country
Canada
Time period
September, 1995 to October, 1998
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Environment
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
4 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
William Lawrence, 08/05/2011

The Nuxalk people live mid-way up the British Columbian coast, in the region around the town Bella Coola. The Nuxalk have long refused to enter into any treaties with Canada or cede any of their ancestral territory to the national or provincial government. As such, they still claim sovereign rights to much land that the government claims belongs to it. One of those areas is King Island. On King Island is a valley called Itsa, which, according to the Nuxalk, is the sacred place of origin of their people.

Hondurans in Tacamiche resist eviction by Chiquita Banana company, 1994-1997

Country
Honduras
Time period
June, 1994 to November, 1997
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Alex Frye, 06/05/2011

In response to labor strikes on banana plantations throughout the country, which were a result of a large drop in wages for plantation workers, Chiquita Brands International closed its plantation in Tacamiche and three other farms in June of 1994 due to their heightened involvement in the strikes. The closure was not only devastating to the strike, which soon after conceded to a pay increase, which due to inflation was far below the amount from before the strike, but also for the people living on the plantations.

Chinese students protest the Treaty of Versailles (the May Fourth Incident), 1919

Country
China
Time period
May 4, 1919 to July 22, 1919
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Samia Abbass 14/11/2010

Post-WWI China was fraught with political turbulence and social unrest. The Qing Dynasty was overthrown in 1911 and the Republic of China was instated in its place, ending thousands of years of imperial rule in the country and generating a host of new streams of intellectual and political thought. However, warlords still ruled strong throughout many of the provinces, fueling a chaotic and backwards politics that an emerging intelligentsia sought to change.

Indigenous Peoples in Sakhalin, Russia, campaign against oil extraction, 2005-2007

Country
Russia
Time period
January, 2005 to January, 2007
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Environment
Human Rights
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Hannah Jones, 04/02/2011

Sakhalin, an island off the eastern Russian coast and home to many indigenous groups, has long been of extreme interest to oil and gas companies. Exxon, Shell, British Petroleum, and their subsidiaries (Sakhalin Energy being a main one) had been extracting oil on and around the island for 8 years. Shell started working on Sakhalin II, the world’s largest integrated oil and gas project, in 1999.

Tahitians campaign to stop French nuclear testing, 1995

Country
French Polynesia
Time period
June 29, 1995 to January, 1996
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Environment
Human Rights
Peace
Total points
4 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Hannah Jones, 22/03/2011

France has conducted nuclear tests in its colonies since before the Cold War began. It conducted atmospheric nuclear tests in Algeria up until 1962 when they won their independence. Consequently, France began testing in French Polynesia in 1966 instead, and by 1974, had moved to underground tests. From 1966 to 1992, France conducted 41 atmospheric tests and 138 underground nuclear tests in French Polynesia. 

Chilean women occupy empty mine to protest job losses, 2010

Country
Chile
Time period
November 16, 2010 to November 30, 2010
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
4 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Sachie Hopkins-Hayakawa, 24/04/2011

On February 27, 2010 a magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck Chile and was soon followed by a tsunami. In total, there were as many as 800 deaths and $30 billion in damage because of the earthquake. Following the earthquake, much of Chile was ravaged and thousands of people were left unemployed. In response the Chilean government began instituting employment programs in the Bio Bio, Maule, and O’Higgins regions, where unemployment rates were particularly high. The programs paid residents to help rebuild their communities and to clear rubble from the towns.

Japanese workers on U.S. military bases strike against salary cuts, 2007

Country
Japan
Time period
November, 2007 to December, 2007
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
4 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Sachie Hopkins-Hayakawa 08/04/2011

In October of 2007, the Japanese Ministry of Defense proposed a cut in the salaries of Japanese workers employed on United States Military installations. Japan was struggling under huge national debt and the Defense Ministry saw the abolition of a workers’ allowance as a way to save a significant amount of money. The Defense ministry would have been projected to save about 10 billion yen a year with the salary cuts. On the other side, the allowance made up about 10% of each worker’s salary.

Asian immigrant garment workers campaign for economic justice, San Francisco, USA, 1992-1996

Country
United States
Time period
September, 1992 to March, 1996
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Rebecca Contreras, 10/02/2011

When the San Francisco Bay based Lucky Sewing Co. filed for bankruptcy in May of 1992, they laid off twelve Chinese immigrant women whom they owed $15,000 in back wages. The company’s attorney claimed that they had few assets and there was no money to pay the seamstresses.  Lucky Sewing Co. and other garment contractors imposed terrible conditions on workers who were often paid less than the $4.25 minimum wage.

Congolese Trade Unions' Confederation strikes for trade union independence, 1990

Country
Republic of the Congo
Congo-Brazzaville
Time period
September 14, 1990 to October 17, 1990
Classification
Change
Defense
Cluster
Democracy
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Danny Hirschel-Burns, 10/04/2011

From September to October 1990, the Congolese Trade Unions’ Confederation (CSC) conducted several strikes aimed at ending privatization, increasing wages, achieving legal trade union independence, and stopping lay-offs.  The CSC almost exclusively used strikes to further its demands.

Mau opposition to New Zealand rule in Samoa, 1927-1933

Country
Samoa
Time period
March, 1927 to 1933
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Democracy
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Zein Nakhoda, 03/04/2010

The Samoan archipelago, located in the southwest of the Pacific Ocean, is comprised of six main islands and several smaller ones. Prior to World War I, Germany and the United States occupied most of the Samoan Islands. During WWI, New Zealand, upon a request by Britain, captured German Samoa and established the British Military Occupation of Samoa. An influenza pandemic in November 1918 killed about 22% of the Samoan population. The administration's lack of response to the disaster became the foundation for Samoans grievances against the New Zealand administration.

Salvadoran health professionals prevent privatization of health care, 2002-2003

Country
El Salvador
Time period
September 17, 2002 to April 12, 2003
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Elowyn Corby, 01/04/2011

In 2002, El Salvador was under intense pressure from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to privatize its healthcare system, which had up until that point been controlled by the government and available to all legally employed Salvadorans.  The system, while admittedly seriously lacking in the services that it provided to the typical Salvadoran, had shown marked improvements over the past few years.  A widely popular 1999 strike by the ISSS, the healthcare workers union, had prevented the country from privatizing healthcare and since that point services had graduall

Japanese protest security treaty with U.S. and unseat Prime Minister, 1959-1960

Country
Japan
Time period
March 28, 1959 to June 23, 1960
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Arielle Bernhardt, 26/03/2010

The political atmosphere in Japan in the 1950s was anything but calm. Still reeling from the Second World War, citizens were coming to terms with their newly democratic leaders—politicians who, before the war, had been ardently fascist. A growing nationalist movement was forming, as well as strong leftist political factions. These two movements opposed Japan’s strong ties with the United States, and disagreed with the American military presence in their country.

Campaign for the liberation of the "Suchitoto 13" prisoners in El Salvador, 2007-08

Country
El Salvador
Time period
July, 2007 to February, 2008
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Democracy
Human Rights
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Sachie Hopkins-Hayakawa 20/03/2011

In El Salvador in 1998, the Inter-American Development Bank, a branch of the World Bank, approved a loan for a reform program directed at the nation’s water sector. The loan focused on a program based on decentralization and privatization of El Salvador’s water systems. 36 million dollars of the loan was designated specifically for the promotion of private sector participation in the decentralization program.

Igbo women campaign for rights (The Women's War) in Nigeria, 1929

Country
Nigeria
Time period
November, 1929 to December, 1929
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Democracy
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Arielle Bernhardt, 10/04/2010

By November 1929, Igbo women in southeastern Nigeria had had enough. From the perspective of the British colonizers, the women became loud, angry, and disruptive. They marched through cities and towns and demanded political leaders to step down. The women took their British rulers completely by surprise. The British were ignorant of the discontent among women that had been building for years, and that had recently bubbled over the surface. They mistook the women’s organized action for spontaneous, ‘crazy’ outbursts.

Turkmen senior citizens campaign against pension cuts, 2006

Country
Turkmenistan
Time period
February, 2006 to April, 2006
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
1 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Jennifer Trinh, 19/03/2011

Turkmenistan is a country in Asia, located north of Iran and Afghanistan, with a population of approximately 6 million.  President Saparmurat Niyazov came to power after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, and remained in power until late 2006.  Under Niyazov’s rule, Turkmenistan’s economy declined, with frequent food shortages and mass unemployment.  Because of the repressive nature of the regime, protests against the authoritarian government were few and far in between.

Brazilian Rubber Tappers campaign to protest the deforestation of the Brazilian rainforest region, 1977-1988

Country
Brazil
Time period
1977 to 1988
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Environment
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Olivia Ensign, 2/28/10

For centuries, those who made a living by extracting and collecting rubber from rubber trees had been virtual slaves to the powerful rubber barons who controlled the Amazon region. Attempts were made in the 1960s to unionize these workers, called “rubber tappers;” however, these attempts failed. The 1970s marked a shift in the dynamics of the extraction of resources from the Amazon. Ranchers from Southern Brazil began to buy up huge tracts of land in order to clear them for cattle grazing land.