Paper #3 - Dissent

Due by 8 p.m. on December 2, emailed to me as a Microsoft Word document (.doc, .docx) to dhopper@marymount.edu. Students turning in papers containing plagiarism will fail the course.  Late papers will be reduced in grade.

 

Topic: Choose one current, ongoing example of political dissent from the list below. All of these movements are ongoing; the month shows when it started.  Explain what the goals of the dissenters are, how they coordinate with each other, and what tactics they use. Explain how their government is responding, and make a prediction about whether the dissenters are likely to succeed.

• Farmer protests (India, started September 2020)

• Pro-democracy protests (Eswatini, started June 2021)

• Reform protests (Iraq, started October 2019)

• October movement (Lebanon, started October 2019)

• Coup protests (Myanmar, started February 2021)

• Tamil discrimination protests (Sri Lanka, February 2021)

• Free Youth movement (Thailand, July 2020)
   

Length: Double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman or Arial font, standard margins of no more than 1 inch on each side. At least 2 pages long (not counting reference list).

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Sources: Your paper should refer to our course textbook, plus at least two or three articles from mainstream newspapers or magazines (Such as New York Times, The Washington Post, BBC, The Economist, Al Jazeera, Le Monde, CNN, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, or others) published after October 1, 2019. You should not use more extensive background material from journals, books, government documents, etc. Use any standard citation format you wish, as long as you apply it consistently.

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Cite any article/source you quote directly, and also cite any source that provided you with information or ideas that you incorporate into the paper. Write the paper yourself. Students caught turning in plagiarized work will fail the course and will be reported to the Academic Integrity process.

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This assignment asks you to apply concepts from the course to a particular, real-world situation in a country facing significant protests or uprisings. To answer the question, you need to focus on the general logic of social movements and dissent, and then apply that logic to this particular case. Grades will be based on:

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• Writing. The paper must have a clear thesis, stated early. The rest of the paper should contain facts and logic that support the thesis;

• Analysis of the logic of how dissent forms, operates, and is resolved;

• Application of these ideas to the country you choose.
   

There isn't a single right answer to these questions; you will be graded on the thoughtfulness of your analysis.