The Critical Research and Action Caucus invites you to an informal discussion of Naomi Klein’s latest book “The Shock Doctrine: the Rise of Disaster Capitalism” in anticipation of her visit to campus on October 29th.

Students, faculty, staff and community members are encouraged to attend. You do not need to have read the book to participate in the discussion. Free copies of the introduction and first chapter will be available at the GEO office (2nd floor, University YMCA) as of Noon, Friday, October 17th.

******************************************************
“The Shock Doctrine” Discussion
Thursday, October 23rd
7-8pm
GEO Office, 2nd Floor
University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright St. Champaign
snacks provided
*******************************************************

Following the discussion, join us for a button and poster making party for the upcoming rally in support of fair wages, lower tuition, and free speech.

The NJ4 fundraiser/film screening has been rescheduled to:

October 27th, 6:30pm, University YMCA Wahl Room.

Please forward….

We will be meeting on Monday, September 22 to welcome new participants, discuss fall organizing and create flyers concerning local and state I.C.E. raids.

Date: 9/22
Time: 7pm
Location: GEO office, YMCA, 2nd floor (S. Wright and Chalmers)

Immigration & State Violence

This year the Critical Action Committee of the Alliance of Graduate Employee Locals (AGEL) will focus its attention on issues of immigration and state violence as they pertain to the communities in and around college campuses. Since 9/11 state violence against migrant populations has proceeded at pace under the rubric of “strengthening our borders” in the context of a broader “War on Terror”. The state agency responsible for much of this violence is the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (I.C.E) agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security. In our communities, I.C.E. is responsible for the Student Exchange Visitor information System (SEVIS) – a national computer surveillance database that was established in 2003 to track the activities of international students. Interconnected with this project, I.C.E. also works alongside local law enforcement to investigate sites of employment and residence for the presence of undocumented workers who, like international students, are considered to pose a threat to national security. Such investigations often culminate in raids, detentions, and deportations. Somewhere close to 33,000 people are currently being held in I.C.E. detention centers across the country.

The state violence perpetuated by I.C.E. and the Department of Homeland Security demands that we look beyond narrow “campus/community” binaries and forge solidarity with workers and people of color around a common agenda. Depending upon the context, Critical Action Committee members might consider:

1. Collaborating with existing grassroots, community-based organizations doing work on immigrant’s rights.

2. Organizing around nearby I.C.E. detention centers.

3. Making information about what to do if you are subject to an I.C.E. raid available to local communities.

4. Organizing around the Fall 2008 SEVIS fee increase to raise awareness about the database and the need to abolish it.

Meeting Info:

Thursday, 7/17 at the Lean Shebeen (Channing-Murray Foundation (Red Herring)) from 7-8pm. Bring $7 to sample the vegetarian food offered by the Lean Shebeen.

At the meeting we will be discussing Zizek’s analysis of the anti-war movement and important issues to be addressed on and off the bargaining table next year.

For hard copies of the Zizek article, visit the GEO office (2nd floor, YMCA).

Hard copies of the readings are located at the GEO office. PDFs available here.

Andrea Smith
Paual X. Rojas

Andrea Smith gave this awesome talk during a panel on gendered violence at the “Rupture Repression and Uprising,” conference at UIUC this past April. She focuses on the importance of centering gender in our struggles and on developing a nuanced and complex understanding sexual violence.

“There’s a tendency in our decolonization movements, in our racial justice struggles to see gendered justice as kind of an add on. like once we get liberated we’ll deal with this issue. and we fail to see that it is precisely through a logic of sexual violence that colonialism and white supremacy work.”

Share ideas by visiting the reading and action pages.

Join us for the inaugural CRAAC! Meeting:

Thursday, June 12th

6:30-7:30pm

Caffe Paradiso (801 S. Lincoln Ave. Urbana)

At the first meeting we will be discussing the following readings. PDFs will be posted soon. For hard copies stop by the GEO office (2nd floor University YMCA, 1001 S. Wright St, Champaign)

1. Andrea Smith “Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy: Rethinking Women of Color Organizing.” Color of Violence: the Incite! Anthology. (Cambridge: South End Press, 2005)

2. Paula X Rojas “Are the Cops in Our Heads and Hearts?” The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex. (Cambridge: South End Press, 2007)