Resistance Circles: Narrative-based protest
Beginnings
Resistance Circles - first called “Socratic Circles” - began in late June at Western University’s encampments. They arose from a desire to learn and discuss ideas about liberation, race, power, human rights movements, and Palestine. The aim was to educate ourselves together and thereby enrich our personal and collective protest efforts.
The first Resistance Circle was on the Rome Statute. A group of ten people gathered to read portions of the Rome Statute together. The legal document was questioned, applauded, disagreed with. The group contemplated how it could be improved.
Everyone’s thoughts were interesting. It is not often that groups casually ponder rewriting international law together. It is not often that groups think deeply, alongside peers who may disagree, about how to sustainably bring world peace. The space was new, genuine, high-functioning, and effortlessly focused.
There was an appetite for more Resistance Circles. The group numbers rose and amassed into a group chat where literature on liberation and resistance was shared. The Circles read a paper on tatreez and discussed how tatreez uniquely positions Palestinian women as the leaders of resistance. The Circles read Palestinian poetry across time and discussed the villainization of anger, to hold dignity and honour amidst subjugation. The Circles read excerpts from “white tears/ brown scars” and unpacked personal experiences with racism and understandings of white privilege.
Emotions, beliefs, experiences, and insights flooded like a dam bursting. In a space of mutual respect, curiosity, and genuine questioning, they began to manifest as scholarly arguments.
After the encampments dismantled, the appetite for Resistance Circles remained. The Circles migrated to the patio of Western University’s grad club to meet a few evenings a week.
The evenings brought new faces and groups; the flow of the discussions stayed fresh, genuine, compassionate, organic. Discussions were charged, but there was also laughter; they were heavy, but there was companionship; they were challenging, but there was a tangible shared humanity.
2. Narrative-based protest
Now, the Circles’ scope is expanding to discussion on all global affairs and revolutionary theories from which individualized ideologies can be nurtured. The Circles strive to translate these ideologies to action - to become both educated and active, and to make resistance a part of daily life.
How do the Circles accomplish this? By engaging in “narrative-based resistance”.
Narrative-based resistance assumes that human rights movements are hindered by ignorance of the masses.
It posits that collective education wrought with critical questioning - as took place in the Resistance circles - will make histories of global injustice and resistance methods common knowledge. This combination will naturally nurture a culture that is sensitive to injustice and committed to resistance.
More concretely, narrative-based resistance has three aims:
To educate about global injustice and revolutionary theories by reading reputable texts and critically discussing them in Resistance Circles
To build personal understandings about global injustice and revolutionary theories through discussion in Resistance Circles
To apply these personal understandings to resistance actions
To recruit others to join Resistance Circles by reaching out to friends, colleagues, and others within personal networks
Aims 1) and 2) take place within the Resistance Circles.
Aim 3) takes place in personal life. The Resistance Circles build individualized understandings of global injustice and theory to bring constant, sustainable resistance work in everyday life.
In brief, narrative-based resistance seeks to build individual, sustainable resistance work within a supportive collective.
See our framework here.
3. Creating posts
Resistance Circle readings and a short summary of the discussions will be posted. These posts will be created at the end of each Circle, with its content guided by collective discussion of the following questions:
What are some key ideas to take away from today?
What resonated most from the discussions?
Ideas for future circles?
Beyond this collectively created post about the Circles, discussions within the Circles will not be recorded in any way and all attendees will be anonymized in the posts. This will ensure that the Circles are a safe space for free thinking and sharing. The posts will disseminate knowledge and contribute to aim 1). Reading these posts is educational and contributes to aim 2).
Personal reflections from Resistance Circle attendees about the acts of resistance they integrate into their daily lives will also be posted. These serve as examples of aim 3).
4. Join the narrative
All are welcome to join Resistance Circles. The Circles are committed to holding space for diverse perspectives, disagreements, ideals, and stories. This is a necessary premise for aim 4).
To join the Circles, be prepared to:
Listen to others by focusing on their arguments and being mindful of the personal context they may be speaking from;
Respect others viewpoints by acknowledging that we are all learning together openly and collaboratively; and
Share thoughts, or simply listen.
Propose future topics for Circles.
Some overarching themes for future Circle topics are:
A brief history of each country in the world to build awareness of the interconnections between countries in the context of injustice, power, and human rights movements
Texts on revolutionary theories to build awareness of different approaches to human rights movements
Texts on oppression (race, class, gender, disability) to build awareness of how systemic injustice influences our day to day lives
Articles on local human rights issues to build awareness of societal injustice in our communities
Subscribe below for updates on future Circles. ◌