Calls for Reform and Responses After 1900
Teacher Resources
Driving Question: How have global movements for equality changed social and political structures over time?
Where we are does not necessarily define who we are. How we identify ourselves has evolved considerably as the world has become more interconnected. Modern societies are woven together with long-distance relationships, frequent migrations, and shifting ethnic, national, and religious affiliations. Since 1200, a lot has changed about who we think we are and where we think we should be. But a lot has stayed the same. In this section, you’ll examine some of the identity-driven conflicts in our modern world, exploring what happens when new identities collide with old traditions.
Learning Objectives
- Explain how social categories, roles, and practices have been maintained and challenged over time.
- Use close reading skills to investigate the role international organizations play in our globalized world and how people have responded to increasing globalization.
Vocab Terms:
- civil disobedience
- climate change
- inequality
- multinational
- non-governmental organization
- regulation
What are rights and where do they come from? These questions will help you reflect on people’s rights in our global community.
Does everyone benefit equally from globalization? Those who support globalization argue that it creates freedom and prosperity. But all around the world, many workers have had to shoulder the burdens of a world economy.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- Who are the Zapatistas, and how did they react to globalization?
- What was the Zapatistas’ main complaint about NAFTA?
- What is direct action? What example does the article provide of direct action?
- What is austerity, and how is it an example of the downsides of globalization?
After you read
Respond to the following question: What would it take for you to engage in “direct action” and protest injustice in the streets?
A good classroom move here is to have students brainstorm how ideas travel and the mechanisms by which they are changed: speeches, protests, legal cases, churches and religious messaging, student groups, media, social media, education, and international organizations. Keep a full-class list and ask students to think about what messaging has changed the way they think. This is a good way to emphasize the role of networks in changing international norms.
Although great strides have been made to achieve social justice and racial equality, there is still a long road ahead.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- How did the experiences of the Second World War contribute to the fight against racial discrimination and segregation in the United States?
- What was the impact of civil disobedience campaigns in the 1950s and 1960s in the United States?
- What were some elements of the US Civil Rights movement that made their way to Latin America?
- How were Black movements in Latin America connected to Indigenous rights movements?
- How does the author connect struggles for racial liberation with struggles for gender equality?
After you read
Respond to the following question: How would you narrate the history in this article through the networks frame? What were the connections across regions and across groups in this article? How do you think these connections impacted struggles for equality in different regions?
Globalization has often threatened cultural heritage and sovereignty. These materials explore how Indigenous and formerly colonized communities have pushed back by reclaiming the past and protecting the future.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Preview the questions below, and then review the transcript.
While you watch
Look for answers to these questions:
- What made the Walls of Benin such a remarkable feat of engineering?
- How did the walls function beyond just defense?
- What role did trade and firearms play in Benin’s growth into an empire?
- What did the Benin Bronzes record or communicate?
- What events led the British to launch their 1897 “punitive expedition” against Benin?
- Why does the history of Benin remain unfamiliar to many today despite how long and how recently it existed?
After you watch
Respond to this question: Where do you think the Benin Bronzes belong today? Explain your answer.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Preview the questions below, and then review the transcript.
While you watch
Look for answers to these questions:
- According to Theresa Pasqual, why is it a mistake to refer to Pueblo historical sites and ancestral objects as “ruins” and “artifacts”?
- What challenges do Pueblo people face when trying to access places that are important to their history and culture today?
- Why does Brian Vallo say that “there’s no need to excavate” archaeological sites?
- What’s one problem that Dr. Swentzell mentions with returning human remains and cultural objects to the places from which they were removed?
- What are some examples of successful repatriation of remains and cultural items that Brian Vallo mentions?
After you watch
Respond to the following question: How does this video make you think differently about some of the other archaeological and historical evidence you’ve learned about?
Discussions about feminism and equal rights aren’t new, but they have changed over time. Investigate how feminist thought has evolved from antiquity to the present.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- How did the Enlightenment and industrialization influence the rise of feminism?
- What tactics did women use in the first wave of feminism and what were their goals?
- How were the goals of second-wave feminism different from the first wave? What was the catalyst for second-wave feminism?
- How did feminist movements in non-Western parts of the world differ from those in the West?
- What is the focus of the third wave of feminism?
- How has feminism changed in the digital age?
After you read
Respond to these questions:
- How do you think feminism will change in the future?
- To what extent does this article help explain how social interactions and organization have been challenged over time?
Did you know? The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child became the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history. This is a good fact to help students understand that human rights language continued to expand to new areas as it was debated long after the 1945 UDHR.
As globalization has spread in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the concept of human rights has spread along with it. In theory, that’s a good thing. But, as with globalization, the practice of protecting human rights has often been more “lumpy” than universal.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and why was it written?
- What were some ways that oppressed people used the Universal Declaration of Human Rights immediately after it was signed?
- What is the fundamental problem facing people who want to make human rights universal?
- What do cultural relativists argue?
- Are human rights an invention of Western imperialists?
- What are some ways that globalization has helped spread human rights? What are some ways that it has endangered human rights?
After you read
Respond to the following question: Do you think that the concept of human rights is enough to protect people in the age of globalization?
This activity is AP-teacher approved! “This is a great resource for illustrating the relevance of course content. Students investigate six UN Sustainable Development Goals, select one that resonates with them, and develop a realistic action plan, building research skills while fostering a sense of global responsibility and civic engagement.”
The United Nation (UN) created a list of goals intended to make the world a healthier place to live in terms of climate, social justice, and overall economic and social equality. Choose one of these goals and explore what would need to be done to support it.
Does national identity bring people together? Or can it be a divisive force? This article focuses on nationalism and transnationalism in our contemporary world, and how it impacts communities around the globe.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you read
Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.
While you read
Look for answers to these questions:
- How does national belonging and the world of nation-states complicate international sports competitions? Consider examples like Taiwan and Kosovo.
- Why did international and transnational ideas surge in the second half of the twentieth century?
- How has nationalism helped with postwar reconciliation in Rwanda?
- In the age of the nation-state, how has racially defined nationalism re-emerged?
- How do definitions of national identity exclude some people from cultural and political communities and resources?
After you read
Respond to the following questions:
- How do national identities shape your daily world, and the people and things you interact with?
- Are there transnational identities that shape the way you think about yourself and your daily interactions?
- What do you think the future of nationalism is? Will it continue to surge in the face of global challenges like climate change and pandemics, or will international and transnational solutions to these problems prevail?
This is the last claim-testing activity in the course. Be sure to provide feedback to your students using this form.
“Overall, globalization is good.” That’s quite the claim! Test it, and other claims, as you bring together all that you’ve learned about globalization.
Indigenous Americans have played an important role in globalization since the beginning of the Columbian Exchange. Cultural and economic influences flowed both ways across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This video addresses some misconceptions about globalization and explores how the processes of globalization affected indigenous communities.
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Guiding Questions
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Before you watch
Preview the questions below, and then review the transcript.
While you watch
Look for answers to these questions:
- What are the two misconceptions about globalization that this video addresses?
- What are some examples of Indigenous Americans’ contributions to globalization?
- Who was Paul Cuffee Jr., and was globalization good for him?
- What sort of things do neoliberal policies promote?
- What is the Dakota Access Pipeline, and what does it tell us about the impacts of globalization on indigenous communities?
After you watch
Respond to the following question: What do historical examples of people resisting the changes connected to globalization share in common with the Dakota Access Pipeline protests?