Truth Collective

The myths that human rights activists tell you about child soldiering.

As a follow-up to zee’s previous post on Tank Man, consider reading this short essay by Philip J. Cunningham, author of the forthcoming book Tiananmen Moon, which will be published this week on May 28:

“With the approach of the twentieth anniversary of June 4, 1989, there have been a spate of news stories comparing young people in China today with the students who protested at Tiananmen, and the comparison is usually not a flattering one. Apathy has replaced activism. Propaganda has replaced knowledge. Today’s youth are characterized as the “stupid generation,” or at best, “hip but clueless.”

I think such comparisons are unfair.”

Excerpts from the book can be found on Cunningham’s blog at http://minzhuwansui.blogspot.com/

The Chronicle comments on why the NYU Protests, which ended in the suspension of 18 students and no demands met, were largely ineffective:

Unfortunately and unintentionally, the Take Back protest was a parody of the important American protests of the 1970s. Those demonstrations were actions of last resort toward unresponsive administrations, and they had broad bases of support.

Granted, the Take Back coalition had worked on its cause for two years, through fliers and letters to administrators, and had made little headway. But the NYU protest was neither a well-planned method of last resort, nor did it have broad student support. Without these key factors, the NYU takeover-however well-intentioned-was little more than an outdated spectacle.

In contrast to the 70s, there now exist many channels of communication between students and the administration. What’s more, the NYU protest suffered from a lack of foresight and coalition-forming and from poor execution. Our generation is often criticized for its complacency, and rightly so; but this is not the model of student activism that we should look up to.

Is hipster protest destroying the spirit of activism? Or is this simply another aspect of the overarching trends of our time, as technology and new themes of social interaction render traditional forms of protest less effective? The rest of the critique here.