News

Review - Street Politics

Published on
November 8, 2018

On Tuesday the 25th of September Fremke Kaulingfreks gave an inspiring lecture about Street Politics and the relation to non-violent resistance in the public library (BBLTHK). She made us aware that politics are not only present in the 'Tweede Kamer' (House of Representatives), but also in our society and day-to-day life.

We looked into the history of non-violent and violence resistance and street politics with examples such as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. The question was raised whether resistance can actually be effective without violence or the latent threat of violence. And what ís violence? Is violence only physical violence or are there also psychological forms or verbal forms of violence?

We watched a video fragment of non-violent activist Naomi Wadler, who takes a stand for black girls. We talked about marginalised groups in the Netherlands that resist discrimination and other forms of oppression by using different forms of media (vlogs, youtube) and methods (occupation, demonstration). The evening ended with discussing the rise of Alt-Right and right-wing populist politics such as the PVV and the FvD in The Netherlands. Are their viewpoints violent?

In the end, we did not find set-in-stone answers to questions but we rather gained perspectives into the complexity of violent and non-violent resistance. After the lecture of Femke Kaulingfreks, many attendees stayed to discuss the subject with a drink, having animated conversations.

The evening was a kick-off of our capita selecta course on Non-Violent Resistance. It laid the foundations for the students attending the course and it was open for other students and people related to the Wageningen University.