Browse Cases

Showing 1-25 of 71 results

Vermont Migrant Farmworkers March and Picket for Return of Withheld Pay, 2014

Country
United States
Time period
15 May, 2014 to 16 May, 2014
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Matt Koucky 28/05/2019

The St. Albans Cooperative Creamery was a farmer/member-owned milk-processing plant in St. Albans, Vermont (VT) in the United States with a supplying base of 360 farms. Ray Brands owned one of these farms—called Deer Valley Farm—and on 15 May 2014, two immigrant workers at his farm quit due to poor living conditions and Brands’ withholding of paychecks. Earlier that May, another worker quit for the same reasons.

Black residents of Diamond win fight with Shell Chemical for relocation 1989-2002

Country
United States
Classification
Change
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Environment
Human Rights
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Shayla Smith 29/03/2017

In the early 1950s, Royal Dutch/Shell purchased land in the community of Diamond, Louisiana and built a chemical plant. Margie Richard, a Black resident of Diamond, founded Concerned Citizens of Norco (CCN) in 1989 after two large-scale accidents at the Shell/Motiva Chemical plant. A pipeline explosion in 1973 killed two Diamond residents, while another event in 1988 killed seven workers.

Indian muzaras refuse to pay landlords and demand restoration of property, 1930-1953

Country
India
Time period
May, 1930 to 15 April, 1953
Classification
Change
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
7.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Molly Murphy 28/11/2015

In the 1870s, the Maharaja (prince) of Patiala, a small princely state in the Punjab region of northern India, implemented the Biswedari (big landlord) system, which appointed biswedaris as local authorities of agrarian villages. The biswedaris, mostly government officials and close kin of the Maharaja, gradually took full possession of lands and reduced the original owners to the status of muzaras (tenants). Muzaras had to pay batai (share rent) to their landlords, consisting of half of their crop, though landlords often overestimated the crop yield to justify taking a larger share.

Nigerians Protest Removal of Fuel Subsidy, 2012

Country
Nigeria
Time period
1st January, 2012 to 16th January, 2012
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
5.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Timothy Hirschel-Burns 03/29/2015

On 1 January 2012, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan abruptly removed
the fuel subsidy provided to citizens by the government.  Finance
Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala championed the decision and the country’s
citizens received no prior warning.  The government argued that the
removal of the heavy subsidy would free up funds for other public
services, including health and infrastructure projects, and that the
liberalization of the fuel industry would benefit the economy.  They
also argued that the primary beneficiaries of the subsidy were the

Guatemalan workers at Lunafil win 410-day occupation despite violence. PBI accompanies. 1987-1988

Country
Guatemala
Time period
June 9, 1987 to October 3, 1988
Classification
Defense
Third-party nonviolent intervention
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
8.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Karen Ridd 11/06/2014

On 9 June 1987 workers of the Sindicato de Trabajadores de Lunafil (Lunafil Thread Factory Workers Union, or SITRALU) were given unwelcome news by management.  

The Lunafil factory was located on the main highway in Amatitlan, just 15 miles from Guatemala City (capital of Guatemala).  In that factory workers spun cotton grown on Guatemalan plantations into thread. The thread was then shipped to other factories for Guatemalan workers to use in sewing garments for export, the so-called maquiladoras. 

Indigenous Peoples in Bangladesh Protest to Stop Open Pit Coal Mine 2006-2014

Country
Bangladesh
Time period
26 August, 2006 to 6 February, 2014
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Environment
Human Rights
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Andrés Cordero and Ryan Leitner 02/04/2014

Phulbari is a region in the northwest region of Bangladesh. It is an important agricultural region that is also home to low quality coal deposit. Several companies have proposed to use the open pit technique for mining the coal, which would displace thousands of people, many of them indigenous people. The proposed mining projects would destroy farmland, homes, and divert water sources to be used in the mining process.

Chileans force roll-back of price increase for natural gas, 2011

Country
Chile
Time period
11 January, 2011 to 18 January, 2011
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Democracy
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Justin Collicutt, 12/11/2013

For Chileans living in the southern Patagonia region, natural
gas is crucial for heating their homes, most importantly during the frigid
winter months. The Chilean Government has been subsidizing natural gas up to
85% for all people in this region because it is the most remote and holds the
highest cost of living in the country. Without this government support, many of
its users would struggle or be unable to pay for it.

Colombians protest Free Trade Agreement with United States, 2006

Country
Colombia
Time period
15 May, 2006 to 22 November, 2006
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
3 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Dominic Castro-Wehr 27/10/2013

The United States proposed the enactment of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Colombia in 2004. The United States said that, by lowering the tariffs in a few markets and by making the majority of the other markets entirely duty-free, it could become more competitive. While the Colombian Government responded positively to such a contract, significant groups declared their opposition.  

Wukan villagers protest corrupt land sale, 2011

Country
China
Time period
September, 2011 to February, 2012
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Democracy
Economic Justice
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Zachary Arestad 23/09/2013

Wukan is a coastal Chinese fishing village with a population of approximately 13,000. Located in the southeastern province of Guangdong, Wukan rose to international prominence in 2011 when villagers began protesting against corruption at the city level and unfair compensation for land seizure. Villagers claim that, since 1998, more than 400 hectares of land had been seized without compensation and that corrupt Lufeng city officials have skimmed more than 110 million U.S. dollars from commercial land sale.

Colombian workers strike to fight austerity, increase wages, 1997

Country
Colombia
Time period
11 February, 1997 to 18 February, 1997
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Nick Palazzolo, 29/04/2013

In January 1997, the Colombian government under President Ernesto Samper declared a state of economic crisis. They planned to cut spending, increase taxes, and reduce wage increases in order to reduce the budget deficit, which had reached $4.4 billion in 1996. They developed additional plans to privatize industry, including selling state-owned mining and electrical companies. President Samper had previously supported social welfare programs and labor unions but said that the austerity measures were necessary because there was simply no money available. 

Brazilian laborers (ganhadores) strike against ID tag and tax legislation, 1857

Country
Brazil
Time period
1 June, 1857 to 9 June, 1857
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
8 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Sarah Gonzales, 27/04/2013

During the 1800s, the slaves of Brazil held
uprisings and rebellions that led to the governments’ careful construction of methods
of controlling black Brazilians. After one revolt in 1835 the Bahian Parliament
passed legislation to control the “ganhadores.” Ganhadores were freed and
enslaved African males who transported goods and people through the city of
Bahia, now known as Salvador. Part of this legislation required that the
ganhadores pay taxes for their services. 
Ganhadores refused to pay the required dues in every way possible,

Cameroon airline workers strike for compensation, 2005-2006

Country
Cameroon
Time period
January, 2005 to July, 2006
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
4 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Laura Rigell, 17/03/2013

Since its creation in 1971, the 96.4% state-owned Cameroon Airlines (CAMAIR) had faced periods of financial stress.  In 2004 the Cameroonian government replaced the head of Camair with Thomas Dakayi Kamga, but under new leadership Comair’s debt continued to grow.  

Bolivians strike and demonstrate against raised fuel prices, 2010

Country
Bolivia
Time period
26 December, 2010 to 31 December, 2010
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Jonathan White, 16/03/2013

On Sunday 26 December Bolivia’s government abruptly ended a six-year freeze on fuel prices, raising the price of gasoline by 73% and diesel by 83%.  Vice president Alvaro Garcia said this change in policy was necessary because the subsidy cost US$380 million a year- 2% of Bolivia’s gross domestic national product and US$150 million of the gasoline was smuggled into other countries and sold at higher prices.  The cost of the subsidies was projected to increase to over US$1 billion in 2011.

Cape Area Housing Action Committee campaigns against rent increases, South Africa, 1982

Country
South Africa
Time period
January, 1982 to April, 1982
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
4 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Jonathan White, 14/03/2013

In May 1980 the Town City and Divisional Council of the Greater Cape Flats and neighboring areas informed residents, largely blacks and Indians, that their rents would increase in June. Government-supported apartheid had previously forced people of color to move from Cape Town to suburbs in the Cape Flats. The announced rent increase in the Cape Flats was unaffordable to the residents of the area, who were already burdened by unemployment, low wages, and an economic recession. The increased costs would force people of color in Cape Flats even farther from their previous homes.

Cameroonian transport workers strike in protest of gas price, 2008

Country
Cameroon
Time period
25 February, 2008 to 26 February, 2008
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
John Pontillo, 03/03/2013

On 25 February 2008, Cameroonian workers in the Syndicate of Transportation and the Urban Transportation Union formally began a strike to reduce the cost of gasoline. On the morning of the 25th, taxi drivers, bus operators, and affiliated workers took to the streets to march in protest. Their strike also caused a standstill in transportation throughout the capital of Yaoundé. 

Kenyan Kamba tribe successfully resists colonial livestock control by the British, 1938

Country
Kenya
Time period
March, 1938 to December, 1938
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Laura Rigell, 17/02/2013

In the early 1900s livestock, often the currency of exchange, formed the foundation of the Kenyan Kamba tribe’s economy.  A family’s herd size determined its wealth.  As Britain colonized Kenya, this localized provisioning enabled the Kamba to remain relatively self-sufficient.  

Nigerian Ekpan women protest against oil company policies, 1986

Country
Nigeria
Time period
25 August, 1986 to 8 September, 1986
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
6 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Yein Pyo, 09/12/2012

At 5 a.m. on Monday, 25 August 1986, a group of 10,000 Ekpan women from the Uvwie clan within Ethiope Local Government Area surrounded the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Petrochemicals Plant, and the Pipelines and Products Marketing Pumpstation. The demonstrating women chanted war songs and displayed banners and posters on which they wrote their grievances, such as, “Give us Social Amenities,” “Review all forms of employment within the Petrochemical,” and “Our sons, daughters and husbands are qualified for key posts within the Petrochemical.”

Ogharefe women protest against Pan Ocean oil industry, 1984

Country
Nigeria
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Environment
Human Rights
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Yein Pyo, 02/12/2012

The Ogharefe people of Nigeria suffered from the effects of oil pollution and oil exploration. The Ogharefe community was afflicted with a number of health issues, ranging from skin rashes to stomach ailments, from the gas flares and release of "oil production water." Additional damage from oil production included heavy metals in the water, the eroding of iron roofs due to corrosive ash from gash flares, and the decline of productive fishing ponds and farming land.

Pare people in Tanzania defeat new tax system, 1945-46

Country
Tanzania
Time period
4 January, 1945 to July, 1946
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Yein Pyo, 11/11/2012

In the 1940s the British colonial government in Tanzania proposed the implementation of mbiru, which was a graduated local tax system. On 14 July 1944, delegates from nine chiefdoms in Tanzania met and drew up their objections on the mbiru ta system, noting that the tax was foreign and un-African. The delegates sent letters to the Chief Secretary in Dar es Salaam to voice their objections about the mbiru tax.  

The letters were ignored.

Sri Lankan fishermen stop building of seaplane platform in Negombo Lagoon, 2010-2011

Country
Sri Lanka
Time period
October, 2010 to January, 2011
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Environment
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Iris Fang, 27/10/2012

After his election to office in 2005, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa announced he would work to bring peace and economic prosperity to all communities of Sri Lanka with his Mahinda Chinthana development program. The program included his SeaPlane project, a plan to build a number of seaplane airports to encourage tourism to more secluded areas of Sri Lanka such as Negombo Lagoon. 

Bolivian president hunger strikes to preserve economic policies, 1956

Country
Bolivia
Time period
28 December, 1956 to 1 January, 1957
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Democracy
Economic Justice
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Samantha Shain, 30/09/2012

Hernán Siles Zuazo took office in 1956 during a politically and economically unstable time in Bolivia and throughout Central America. There had been a succession of violent revolutions in the region.  This was Siles’ first time as elected president, although he had previously had a brief stint as acting president while he was vice president.   

African fishermen and Greenpeace win better international fishing practices, 2011-2012

Country
Mauritania
Mozambique
Senegal
Time period
February, 2011 to September, 2012
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Environment
Total points
7 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Iris Fang, 30/09/2012

Having overfished their own fish stocks, European and other foreign countries have turned to African waters to sustain their fishing industries. At the time of this campaign, the EU had Fisheries Partnership Agreements (FPA) with seven West African countries including Mauritania and Mozambique and had an FBA with Senegal that the EU discontinued in 2006. The EU also had a Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) that managed the exploitation of living aquatic resources and ensured sustainable economic, environmental and social conditions.

Bolivians strike, protest, offer resignations against the President’s economic policy, 1956-1960

Country
Bolivia
Time period
December, 1956 to August, 1960
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Democracy
Economic Justice
Total points
6.5 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Soul Han, 30/09/2012

Since the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement Party (MNR) overthrew the military junta in April 1952, Bolivia underwent major reformations in its political and institutional structures and economic policies. Aside from establishing universal suffrage, the government nationalized the tin mine business. It also set up the Mining Corporation of Bolivia (COMIBOL), a semi-governmental company, to take control of the mines. Because the miners made up a large part in the revolution and the tin mine was the most lucrative business in Bolivia, miners were granted great political power.

South Africans successfully boycott buses in Johannesburg, 1957

Country
South Africa
Time period
7 January, 1957 to 1 April, 1957
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
National/Ethnic Identity
Total points
9 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Yein Pyo, 30/09/2012

In 1957, the Public Utility Transport Corporation (PUTCO) in South Africa raised the bus fare from 4d to 5d for commuters in Johannesburg. This was equivalent to 2 pennies or 1 shilling (15c) more that the South Africans would need to pay a week. 

However, 80 percent of Johannesburg Africans lived under the poverty line, and so the raise was far more than the Africans could afford. The black South Africans in Alexandra grew tired of the behavior and exploitation of the PUTCO and of their own meager wages. 

Sunagawa farmers prevent expansion of Tachikawa Air Force Base, 1956-57

Country
Japan
Time period
October, 1956 to July, 1957
Classification
Defense
Cluster
Economic Justice
Human Rights
Total points
10 out of 10 points
Name of researcher, and date dd/mm/yyyy
Iris Fang, 23/09/2012

The Tachikawa Air Force Base (AFB) was a US airfield in western Tokyo. The US military and the Japanese government planned to use this airfield for transporting nuclear weapons. In order to accommodate for the larger aircraft needed to transport these weapons, the Tachikawa AFB needed to expand and lengthen the runway for longer landing and takeoff distances. However, that meant that the government would need to use the surrounding farmland for the expansion. The US military announced the plans for expansion in 1955.