LPIRG is hosting 2 events this week on Direct Action. The first is a "SACPA on Campus" speaker session jointly presented by the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA), the ULSU and LPIRG.
SACPA on Campus - "Why Direct Action" with Mike Hudema
4:00 - 5:30 pm
Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2008
Galileo's Gallery, SU building
Free. Coffee and snacks provided
And the second event is a Direct Action Workshop, hosted by LPIRG.
Date: Wednesday, November 19th
Time: 7pm to 10pm
Location: Ballroom A, Students’ Union Building
Workshop Facilitator: Mike Hudema, climate and energy campaigner with
Greenpeace, Canada
To register for the Direct Action Workshop, please contact Sheila at
LPIRG. Space will be limited so register early. Registration deadline is
Monday, November 17th.
pirg@uleth.ca
403-332-5243
SU 242
Why Direct Action?
Direct action is a form of resistance that aims to derail offensive
practices to create more favorable ones using immediately available means.
Such actions include boycotts, strikes, sit-ins, letter-writing campaigns,
protests and sabotage. Direct action sometimes involves civil disobedience.
The uprising against the World Trade Organization in Seattle, Washington, in
November 1999 was the most visible and dramatic protest in the United States
since the Vietnam War.
It catapulted the concept of direct action and resistance into the North
American mainstream psyche, although direct actions and their participants
have been around since societies were developed. The historically innovative
tactics of environmentalists, abolitionists, suffragettes, and
nuclear-freeze advocates have resulted in a present-day thriving culture of
creative forms of resistance.
Mike Hudema, climate and energy campaigner with Greenpeace, Canada will
discuss the role of direct action in bringing about social change. He will
take us through decades of experience working in Alberta and make the case
that direct action is often necessary for progressive change.
Mike Hudema has been a longtime dedicated and creative activist in Edmonton,
Alberta. He has participated in countless direct actions, the most
high-profile of which have included actions in the streets of Quebec City
for the FTAA protests, sleeping on the steps of the Alberta legislature to
protest rising tuition rates, and occupying Deputy Prime Minister Anne
McLellan¹s office to defeat Canada¹s anti-terrorism legislation. Hudema
gained his bachelor of education, majoring in drama, and most recently his
law degree, specializing in labour and environmental law. He co-hosts CJSR¹s
alternative news program Rise Up: Radio Free Edmonton, and is the author of
³An Action a Day Keeps Global Capitalism Away² published by Between the
Lines Press.
Mike currently works for Greenpeace, Canada fighting to stop the Athabasca
tar sands. He is also a climb trainer with the Ruckus Society and has held
activist training camps which teach aspiring activists skills ranging from
climbing to blockades.
