The Campus Movement for Peace and Justice: One US response to September 11th
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development. Copyright © 2002 Society for International Development. SAGE Publications (London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi), 1011-6370 (200206) 45:2; 105–108; 024400. NB When citing this article please use both volume and issue numbers.
Local/Global Encounters
The Campus Movement for Peace and Justice: One US response to September 11th1 MICHAL OSTERWEIL A N D R A S H M I VA R M A
ABSTRACT Michal Osterweil and Rashmi Varma, two leaders of the campus movement for Peace and Justice at the University of Chapel Hill in North Carolina, committed to the broader global justice movement, share their thoughts and concerns with regards to the course and future of these movements. KEYWORDS activism; anti-globalization movements; violence; University of North Carolina; US foreign policy
Introduction The University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill was the first university in the United States to have a progressive teach-in to address the significance of September 11th. On 18 September 2001, over 800 students crowded into a campus auditorium to listen as a panel of faculty and activists spoke about how we might understand and respond to September 11th. In contrast to the mainstream talk of revenge and accusation, the panel attempted to contextualize the event in order to show that responding to the atrocious acts of September 11th by more war and violence would be simply ineffective. Since that teach-in many professors and students at UNC and throughout the country have been accused of being traitors and presenting a terrorist threat themselves. At the same time hundreds of students, faculty and community members have worked to organize a movement against the war and the politics that guide it. The weeks and months following September 11th have been some of the most difficult for activists and academics throughout the USA as political solidarities that seemed clear have fractured in the face of such a frightening and complex historical moment. For the most part those organizing for peace and justice continue to struggle to stop the violence without alienating a nation that grieves. They have organized teach-ins, rallies and developed outreach and educational strategies that work to bring the message to a wider public as well as connect it to more local efforts.
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development 45(2): Local/Global Encounters Comments on the Peace and Justice Movement from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Michal Osterweil When I first heard the news of the attacks on the World Trade Centre my stomach fell and my thoughts raced. I was standing in the middle of the main student store on campus, and the news had just started to arrive in bits of disjointed ‘reports’ from students that had seen the television or heard the radio. At first I didn’t believe any of it, it seemed too incredible. It is strange to think about it now, or perhaps not so strange considering I belong to an academic field that is meant to analyse and understand all facets of hu
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