
EAS 501.014 - Metrics of Materiality: Measuring forms of Resistance to Contemporary Catastrophe
How do we define materiality- what is the status quo and how are we actually changing it? This class is a learning laboratory in which classmates will collectively build a framework on political ecology and the practical analysis of change through review of case studies of resistance on Anishnaabe Aki, specifically Michigan. We will reflect on the learnings and lessons of contemporary climate justice campaigns which deploy strategies to resist global resource extraction before having the privilege of “proof” and instead learn by taking risks and doing. The class will then draw from complex analyses of relationality, enclosure and debt, gender justice, abolition, and inalienability to land as a litmus for change. The course moves from theories of power and deployment of community organizing strategies taught in 501.004, and digs deeper into an analysis and evaluation of social justice work.