There is a growing movement of indignation around the world that is calling out injustice and developing creative strategies to stand up to power and change the world. These are sparks that have flared up in the Arab spring, the occupy movement, idle no more, massive strikes in South Africa, environmental protests and many more. A growing body of literature suggests that movements such as these are not isolated instances but a growing global movement, despite what the mainstream media suggests (e.g. Brecher, Costello and Smith 2002; Hall, Clover, Crowther and Scandrett, 2012). This participatory action research tells the story of one grassroots environmental protest campaign. The protest campaign is ongoing and organized by non-native environmental kayaktivists in Coast Salish territory. It culminates each year in a five-day human powered flotilla of 100 people through the Salish Sea to connect communities and protest increased tanker traffic and a fossil fuel based economy. The research was both suggested and guided by the organizer activists. Their voices are openly represented in the research in order to reflect and appreciate their expertise and role in the research. The story this research tells demonstrates the role and value of protest campaigns in challenging root inequalities and presents practical strategies for building capacity for a global movement of social and environmental change that connects and addresses intersectional oppression globally. It also problematizes activist settler and First Nations relations. The research situates these campaigns as important sites of public learning and presents practical strategies for teaching and learning as if the world mattered. The organic and experiential approaches to learning revealed are applicable to informal, non-formal and formal learning practices. The research challenges the incestuous, white male, Eurocentric, hierarchical control of knowledge and knowledge making that has been used for centuries to justify and hide oppression and exploitation of imperialism, colonisation and war. This research emphasizes the need for creative solutions to the planetary crisis at hand, which require a reflection on the world and our position in it from diverse cultural perspectives. This means listening and learning from the wisdom of those who have been silenced. It requires a new type of learning that values wisdom over cleverness and places peaceful co existence at the centre of the curriculum. Learning in grassroots protest campaigns, such as the one represented in this case study, offer possible strategies for carrying out such learning. / Graduate / 0516, 0768, 0700 / capelton15@gmail.com

Worldwide, the collection, separation, and sales of recyclable materials is a survival strategy for many unemployed and impoverished families, especially in urban landscapes. They are called recyclers, and their work is often associated with social exclusion objectively manifested through discrimination by the public, which negatively impacts recyclers’ perceptions of their own self–worth. Discrimination places the recyclers within a marginalized social space and perpetuates poverty and social inequity. Such discrimination is best evidenced by the lack of open dialogue between recyclers and the public. The present research was designed to open spaces for these dialogues to occur, with the ultimate goal of decreasing discrimination suffered by the recyclers from the greater metropolitan region of São Paulo, Brazil. Working collaboratively with recyclers that are affiliated with the Brazilian National Recycling Social Movement (MNCR), and using arts–based research interwoven with theories of social movement, environmental adult education and transformation, I explore the learning that goes along when we use visual arts to bridge the gab between the recyclers and public. During seven months (March–September, 2012), 50 recyclers participated in three different arts–based workshops (abstract painting, impressionism painting, and mosaic) and seven art exhibits in different cities in Brazil. These art workshops and exhibits were video and audio recorded and represent the primary data source in this research project. Discourse analysis combined with a cognitive developmental approach to understand peoples’ free conversation was used as an analytical tool to explore the recorded materials. The artworks produced in this research illustrate recyclers’ stories of poverty, social exclusion, and their victories toward a better future for themselves. The process of creating and exhibiting their paintings mediated the construction of their visual thought, and in this way, they were able to (re)imagine a different reality for themselves. This empowered recyclers because it added value to their work as environmental agents, increasing their sense of self–worth. Additionally, through the art-making process, it was possible to identify moments of realization in one’s life (i.e., epiphanies). By mapping out epiphanies throughout the lifespan of an individual, we can explore their moments of transformation, which is critical in environmental adult education processes. Finally, my findings suggest that community art exhibits are dialogical spaces, where knowledge is co–constructed and mobilized. These exhibits are also alternative sources for income generation for the recyclers and are in fact, environmental adult education practices. / Graduate

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Magister Educationis - MEd / This research was motivated by my interest in the sport and the systems of provision of the education on Robben Island. The problem that gave rise to the study was to determine how political prisoners were able to organise prisoner education (political education and non-formal education) and participate in prison-sponsored education (formal education) and to find answers to the question of what impact education had on the sport that they agitated for.

Quelle a été l’évolution ces dernières décennies du rapport des mouvements sociaux (MS) québecois aux catégories de l’action politique que sont la question nationale, la forme parti et les rapports entre mouvements? La plupart de ces dimensions de l’action politique mouvementiste ont suscité une importante attention de la part des sciences sociales, lorsqu’il s’est agi d’étudier les décennies 1960 et 1970. L’intérêt pour l’étude de ces catégories de l’action des MS des décennies suivantes s’est quelque peu tari, à la faveur d’un récit de la déploration regrettant l’époque glorieuse de la Révolution tranquille et les tumultueuses années 1970. Notre thèse propose de se réapproprier la trame historique d’un demi-siècle d’action politique des MS, en cherchant à repérer les modalités du cheminement de trois mouvements (syndical, féministe, communautaire) sur ce terrain, au travers de l’étude minutieuse des mutations de leur culture politique. Cette dernière a subi d’importantes interpellations et remises en question, sous l’influence de divers facteurs, au cours des dernières décennies. Un de nos arguments centraux est qu’il y a eu au sein des MS québécois un cheminement dans la façon d’aborder la sphère politique et la transformation sociale, cette évolution traduisant chez eux un processus d’apprentissage, à savoir une forme de développement du rapport à l’action politique. Celle-ci se voit conférer le statut de compétence développée dans le quotidien des mouvements, sur le tas, donc par essais et erreurs. Notre enquête sur le terrain a permis de dégager des résultats traités de façon à la fois chronologique et taxonomique, relatifs à nos trois dimensions de l’action politique. Successivement, chacune d’elles fait l’objet d’un chapitre : les rapports entre MS, la question nationale, la forme parti (incluant les élections). Dans chaque cas, l’examen de l’évolution se donne pour tâche de dégager les éléments de bilan faits par les militants et militantes, puis d’exhumer les acquis, souvent tacites, en termes de connaissances politiques. Cette recherche permet de dégager précisément en quoi il y a eu développement du rapport des MS à l’action politique, en outre à l’initiative du mouvement des femmes, dont l’influence a été déterminante.

Using a Marxist perspective, this thesis examines Venezuela’s Socialist Production Units (SPU). SPUs have emerged as a clear alternative to the neoliberal model that characterized Venezuela and most of Latin America for the past 30 years. However, SPUs exist within capitalism and their political economy remains contradictory, a reality that manifests in the concrete experiences of their workers. Although facing contradictory experiences, SPU workers are acquiring important learning that challenges dominant market relations and builds the preconditions for a new, more just society. This learning is being acquired informally, in particular, through workers’ democratic participation in their SPU. For these reasons, SPUs should be considered important sites where revolutionary praxis is taking place. Therefore, I conclude, SPUs are making a significant contribution to the building of ‘socialism in the 21st century’, but further struggles, in particular, against the state bureaucracy and large local landowners are needed to advance their goals.

Using a Marxist perspective, this thesis examines Venezuela’s Socialist Production Units (SPU). SPUs have emerged as a clear alternative to the neoliberal model that characterized Venezuela and most of Latin America for the past 30 years. However, SPUs exist within capitalism and their political economy remains contradictory, a reality that manifests in the concrete experiences of their workers. Although facing contradictory experiences, SPU workers are acquiring important learning that challenges dominant market relations and builds the preconditions for a new, more just society. This learning is being acquired informally, in particular, through workers’ democratic participation in their SPU. For these reasons, SPUs should be considered important sites where revolutionary praxis is taking place. Therefore, I conclude, SPUs are making a significant contribution to the building of ‘socialism in the 21st century’, but further struggles, in particular, against the state bureaucracy and large local landowners are needed to advance their goals.