Early Social Movements and 21st century activism:
How the Movements for the Survival of Ogoni People in Nigeria and the Civil Rights Movement in the US influence the tactics employed by many 21st century movements?
Nigeria’s oil crisis and the fight for racial equality in America are two major incidences that mirror the role and influence of social movement in creating awakening and effecting change. Here, a Nigerian ecologist and environmental justice scholar conveys the history of the Niger Delta region’s civil resistance to the extraction and pollution perpetrated by the multinational corporation, Shell, and the federal government of Nigeria. A first-timer to racial issues at the age of 21, the author connects her experience in Nigeria, her learning about the civil rights movement in the U.S. and contemporary environmental and civil rights action in a U.S.A. still riven with racial discrimination.
She argues that contemporary movements self consciously employ tactics that were foundational principles of the civil rights movement led by Martin Lither King, Jr. and the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) founded by Ken Saro-Wiwa. This case evaluates the influence of MOSOP and the civil rights movements on the tactics borrowed by recent social movement groups.
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