Browse Cases

Showing 101-125 of 807 results

US Students Campaign to Stop Dow Chemical Company From Manufacturing Napalm (1967-1969)

Country
United States
Time period
February, 1967 to June, 1969
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Peace
Total points
2 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Lewis Fitzgerald-Holland, 21/11/2015

The United States first used Napalm as an incendiary device in Japan
during WWII. It melted flesh and produced horrific wounds. Napalm once
again took on a functional role for the US in Vietnam, and the
government requested bids from chemical manufacturing companies to make
Napalm in 1965. Dow Chemical, based out of Midland, Michigan, won the
contract.

Chilean students protest for free public education, 2011-13

Country
Chile
Time period
March, 2011 to November, 2013
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Meghan Kelly, 20-09-2015

On 11 September 1973, Chilean dictator Augusto Pinoche came to power and during the 1970s, he privatized Chile’s education system. The central government gave money to some private schools, while the public schools remained grossly underfunded. This commercialization of education began a legacy of educational attainment disparity along socioeconomic class lines—the poor received poor quality education, received jobs that paid meager wages, and remained poor, while the wealthy received high quality education, went on to university, and obtained well-paying jobs that increased their wealth.

Greenpeace pushes for global ban on CFCs 1986 – 1995

Country
United States
Germany
Luxembourg
Finland
Canada
United States
Australia
Belgium
United Kingdom
Italy
Sweden
Israel
Classification
Change
Cluster
Environment
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Irina Bukharin, 20/09/2015

The ozone layer absorbs ultraviolet radiation that can be very harmful to all forms of life. In 1974, however, scientists discovered that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), a chemical used in aerosol sprays, refrigerants, and the creation of synthetic materials, break down when they enter the stratosphere, and produce a chlorine atom, which then contributes to breaking down the ozone layer. In 1985, British Antarctic Survey scientists discovered a massive hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica.

French citizens campaign to close five concentration camps for North Africans, 1959-60

Country
France
Time period
June, 1959 to May, 1960
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Caroline Dreyfuss, 20/09/2015

The May 1959 opening of French government internment camps for Algerians suspected of being subversive agents of the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) came towards the end of the Algerian War (11/1954-03/1962). The war, which ended with Algeria winning its independence from France, featured a wide variety of tactics, including torture by both sides. This torture led to the original conferences and protests of l’Action civique non-violente, a group dedicated to the right to resist oppression.

Mysore population wins democratic rule in newly independent India, 1947

Country
India
Time period
15 August, 1947 to 24 October, 1947
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Molly Murphy 19/9/2015

The British commissioner governed the state of Mysore in southern India from 1831 to 1881 when the administration reinstated the pre-existing Wodeyar (Wadiyar) Dynasty. Mysore became a princely state with the Wodeyar Dynasty ruling under the paramountcy of the British. The reigning Maharaja (king) during the Indian independence movement was Jayachamaraja Wodeyar. On 15 August 1947, India gained its independence from the British Raj.

Belgian Workers Strike for Minimum Wage, Paid Vacations, 40 Hour Work Week and Union Rights 1936

Country
Belgium
Time period
January, 1935 to June, 1936
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Celine Anderson 9/20/2015

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Transgender activists end policy of gender markers on Philadelphia public transit

Country
United States
Time period
30 March, 2010 to 1 July, 2013
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Nico Amador, 20/08/2015

In 2007, a 46-year-old African American transwoman, Charlene Arcila, was told that she could not use her SEPTA commuter pass to board the bus she regularly used to get to her job in Philadelphia.  

Feminists sit-in at Ladies Home Journal to protest the magazine’s depiction of women, 1970

Country
United States
Time period
18 March, 1970 to 18 March, 1970
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Total points
2.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
ShaKea Alston 24/05/2015

On 18 March 1970, a group of feminists staged a sit-in at the offices of the Ladies’ Home Journal (LHJ) to protest how the magazine’s mostly male editorial board depicted women. At the time, LHJ was the second largest women’s magazine in the United States. The sit-in involved women from groups such as Media Women, New York Radical Feminists, National Organization of Women (NOW), the Redstockings, and Barnard College students.

Students Win Gay-Straight Alliance Club at Flour Bluff, Texas, High School 2010-2011

Country
United States
Time period
January, 2011 to 8 March, 2011
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Beatriz Grace Baker 11/05/2015

In November 2010, Bianca “Nikki” Peet attempted to start a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) in Flour Bluff, Texas, part of the greater Corpus Christi area. She initially went through the normal channels within the local high school, but the school’s principal, James Crenshaw, denied her request to form a GSA. Crenshaw asked her to change the club’s name and mission and come back for reconsideration. After this initial denial, Peet revised the club’s mission statement. She resubmitted it in January of 2011 and was again denied.

Sex workers strike for rights in El Alto, Bolivia

Country
Bolivia
Time period
17 October, 2007 to 27 October, 2007
Classification
Change
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
3.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Erica Janko 28/04/2015

On 14 October 2007, citizens of El Alto, Bolivia demanded that all bars and brothels facilitating sex work be located at least 3,200 feet away from schools, because they believed that the establishments were facilitating crime in the area. They then began a three-day rampage of the bars and brothels in the impoverished red-lights district of El Alto. These El Alto citizens, primarily parents and students, burned or destroyed at least 50 brothels, burned sex workers’ belongings, and beat sex workers.

Chicago residents sit-in to prevent Dyett High School closure, United States, 2013-14

Country
United States
Time period
1 November, 2013 to 23 October, 2014
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Stephen O'Hanlon, 04/24/2015

In 2012, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) voted to “phase-out” Walter Dyett High School, the only open-enrollment high school in the African-American south side neighborhood of Bronzeville, due to poor academic performance. Opponents of the closing said that CPS and Mayor Emanuel had caused this poor performance by cutting Dyett’s funding. The decision to shut the school came amidst a series of closures throughout the CPS system that disproportionately affected poor, black neighborhoods.

Mexicans protest drug violence, 2011

Country
Mexico
Time period
28 March, 2011 to 30 June, 2011
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Peace
Total points
4 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Timothy Hirschel-Burns 04/19/2015

In 2011, Mexico faced huge costs from the drug trade and efforts to
counteract it.  Mexico constituted a key part of the global drug trade,
as cartels trafficked illegal drugs through Mexico to their main buyer,
the United States.  Cartels committed extensive violence as they tried
to ensure compliance from citizens and maximize profit.  The most
frequent victims of drug violence were poor Mexicans, and some cities,
such as the border town of Ciudad Juarez, were particularly dangerous. 

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.

Black Students in Texas Desegregate Del Mar College 1951-1952

Country
United States
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Beatriz Grace Baker 05/04/2015

From its founding in 1935 until the early 1950s, Del Mar College in Corpus Christi, Texas accepted only white students. In 1951, when NAACP chapter leader Henry Boyd Hall began work to desegregate the college, community college classes for African American students were held at the city’s Solomon M. Coles High School for Negroes. However, these classes were insufficient in several ways.

South Korean women labourers protest closing of YH wig manufacturing company 1979

Country
South Korea
Time period
9th August, 1979 to 11th August, 1979
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
1 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Dong Shin You, 05/04/2015

Workers engaged in conflict with their employers, the YH wig making
company, as early as 1975. Since the founding of the company in 1966,
the executives had hired employees at very low wages, siphoned funds to
America, and illegally fired workers. The workers in response formed the
YH labour union in May 1975. While the union won some concessions, the
company started struggling with business over-expansion and debt later
that year, which prompted mass layoffs. Finally in April 1979, the
company announced that it was closing down. It listed its debt, losses

Marikana miners strike for better wages, 2012

Country
South Africa
Time period
8th August, 2012 to 18th September, 2012
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
4.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Timothy Hirschel-Burns 4/4/2015

Marikana platinum mine, near Rustenburg, South Africa, employed thousands of workers, composed mostly of migrants working for low wages.  Lonmin, a British mining company, owned Marikana.  The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) represented most of the workers at Marikana.  NUM was one of the two largest unions in the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), an extremely powerful organization and a major player in South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC).

Kurdish Men Wear Women's Clothes for Gender Equality, 2013

Country
Iran
Time period
April 15th, 2013 to May 18th, 2013
Classification
Change
Cluster
Human Rights
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Jasmine Rashid 04/04/15

On 15 April 2013, policemen in Marivan, Iran executed a form of criminal
punishment that quickly garnered public criticism. A 25 year old man,
Tawfik Dabash, had been convicted of “disturbing public order,” and
police later paraded him around the city in handcuffs wearing
traditional Kurdish women’s clothes (similar to the bridal robe) in
order to humiliate him. Later that day, Kurdish women of Marivan, who
had been historically oppressed on the basis of both gender and ethnic
identity, quickly organized into a 400-person march through the city to

Starr County, Texas Farm Workers Strike for Higher Pay - 1966

Country
United States
Time period
1 June, 1966 to Late September, 1967
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Economic Justice
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
3 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Beatriz Grace Baker 29/03/2015

On 1 June 1966, growing disputes between farmworkers and the owners of
melon farms in the Rio Grande valley in South Texas culminated in a
strike. Four hundred farm workers had voted in favor of a strike against
their employers at La Casita melon farm. It was the height of melon
season. Eugene Nelson, who had worked as a farm worker and author as
well as an organizer with the National Farm Workers’ Association, led
these workers to strike and organized them into the Independent Workers’
Association. Their organization, based in Rio Grande City in Starr

Faith-based Philadelphians campaign to close gun shop, 2009.

Country
United States
Time period
2008-2009 to
Classification
Change
Cluster
Peace
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Clare Perez, 3/29/2015

Philadelphia gun violence had increased sharply from 2000-2010, which
caused many groups and organizations to take a stance for gun law
reform. James Colosimo, 77 year old owner of a highly successful gun
shop on Spring Garden Street called Colosimo’s, was criticized severely
after the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
(ATF) rated his store one of the five worst gun stores in the country,
based on sales of  guns that were eventually used in crimes.  According
to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, between 1989-1996,

NYU Graduate students unionize and win improved healthcare and wages, 2013-15

Country
United States
Time period
4 October, 2014 to 11 March, 2015
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Economic Justice
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Stephen O'Hanlon, 29/03/2015

After 8 years of negotiation and organizing, the New York University (NYU) Graduate Student Organizing Committee (GSOC) won voluntary recognition from NYU on 26 November 2013, partially in response to a letter signed by 1300 graduate student employees in support of unionization. The NYU administration withheld formal recognition until after 98.4 percent of graduate students voted in favor of the union on 11 December. This made NYU the first private university in the United States to recognize a graduate student union. 

Sarasotan Students' school boycott stops neighborhood schools from closing, Florida, United States, 1969

Country
United States
Time period
3 May, 1969 to 9 May, 1969
Classification
Change
Defense
Cluster
Democracy
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Erica Janko 29/03/2015

Before Booker Grammar School, Sarasota’s first Black public school, was established in 1925, Black students received their education at home or in churches. The establishment of three other schools for Black students -- Amaryllis Park for first through third graders, Booker Junior High, for seventh and eighth graders, and Booker High School, for ninth through twelfth graders -- followed. These schools, located centrally within Sarasota’s African-American community, Newtown, became deeply rooted institutions within the community.

South Korean Hyundai autoworkers gain higher wages and fewer working hours 2012

Country
South Korea
Time period
12th July, 2012 to 4th September, 2012
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Dong Shin You, 29/03/2015

On 10 May 2012, Hyundai Motor Company and its union in South Korea began negotiating the terms of a new labour contract. Among other demands, the union demanded higher wages, an end to overnight shifts, and transition of all temporary workers to permanent positions. Negotiations stalled in the following months and finally collapsed on  28 June. Hyundai Motor company union subsequently called for a vote on holding strikes, and confirmed these plans on the 4 July, with an approval of 82.1% of its voting members.

Zimbabwean Women organize Stand Up For Your Child campaign, 2008

Country
Zimbabwe
Time period
February 12th, 2008 to May 5th, 2008
Classification
Change
Cluster
Democracy
Peace
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Jasmine Rashid 03/26/15

In dire economic crisis under the leadership of President Robert Mugabe, many Zimbabwean citizens and human rights activists felt that Zimbabwe was a “dictatorship under another name.” Political violence was common, especially in the months leading up to the general election of March 2008, and the government used police to violently suppress any voices that opposed the current leadership. The organization Women of Zimbabwe Arise (“WOZA”, a Ndebele word meaning “come forward”) was formed in 2003 to give women a voice against injustice and violence.

Scots campaign for independence 2012-2014

Country
Scotland
Time period
25-MAY, 2012 to 18-SEP, 2014
Classification
Change
Cluster
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Jamie Irwin, 3/29/2015

In 2012, the United Kingdom included Scotland along with England, Wales,
and Northern Ireland. Scotland had been an independent country from
1320 until 1707 when it joined with England to create the Kingdom of
Great Britain. In 1999, the UK Parliament created the Scottish
Parliament to provide limited self-rule. The Scottish National Party,
which advocated Scottish independence, won control of the Scottish
government in 2007. They began a “National Conversation” about possible
paths to full independence or increased powers within the United

Writers Guild of America strikes to increase funding for writers from large studios, 2007-2008

Country
United States
Time period
May, 2007 to February, 2008
Classification
Change
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
4.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Erica Janko 24/03/2015

In the early 2000s, as technological advancements expanded media
sources, media writers faced challenges receiving compensation for their
work that producers redistributed online and through television reruns.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA), comprised of the Writers Guild of
America, West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE)
represented the interests of over 12,000 “writers in the motion picture,
broadcast, cable, and new media industries in both entertainment and
news.” On 18 May 2007, the WGA released a “Pattern of Demands” to the