Resisting Reagan: The U.S. Central America Peace MovementA comprehensive analysis of the U.S. Central America peace movement, Resisting Reagan explains why more than one hundred thousand U.S. citizens marched in the streets, illegally housed refugees, traveled to Central American war zones, committed civil disobedience, and hounded their political representatives to contest the Reagan administration's policy of sponsoring wars in Nicaragua and El Salvador. Focusing on the movement's three most important national campaigns—Witness for Peace, Sanctuary, and the Pledge of Resistance—this book demonstrates the centrality of morality as a political motivator, highlights the importance of political opportunities in movement outcomes, and examines the social structuring of insurgent consciousness. Based on extensive surveys, interviews, and research, Resisting Reagan makes significant contributions to our understanding of the formation of individual activist identities, of national movement dynamics, and of religious resources for political activism. |
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Page iv
... Congress Cataloging - in - Publication Data Smith , Christian ( Christian Stephen ) , 1960- Resisting Reagan : the U.S. Central America peace movement / Christian Smith , p . cm . Includes bibliographical references ( p . ) and index 1 ...
... Congress Cataloging - in - Publication Data Smith , Christian ( Christian Stephen ) , 1960- Resisting Reagan : the U.S. Central America peace movement / Christian Smith , p . cm . Includes bibliographical references ( p . ) and index 1 ...
Page 26
... Congress react- ed negatively . " Almost immediately the president and his secretary of state faced a roar of domestic opposition which caught them utterly off balance . Congress was flooded with letters , visits , and phone calls ...
... Congress react- ed negatively . " Almost immediately the president and his secretary of state faced a roar of domestic opposition which caught them utterly off balance . Congress was flooded with letters , visits , and phone calls ...
Page 27
... Congress had unwar- ranted fears of confronting communism , they could be persuaded , pla- cated , or kept in the dark . But ultimately , the administration felt , those fears — which themselves were largely responsible for the Central ...
... Congress had unwar- ranted fears of confronting communism , they could be persuaded , pla- cated , or kept in the dark . But ultimately , the administration felt , those fears — which themselves were largely responsible for the Central ...
Page 29
... Congress and public opinion . We had to agree to negotiate or appear unreasonable . " 13 U.S. participation in ... Congress . As it worked in Congress for military aid for friendly Central American regimes , the White House assumed a ...
... Congress and public opinion . We had to agree to negotiate or appear unreasonable . " 13 U.S. participation in ... Congress . As it worked in Congress for military aid for friendly Central American regimes , the White House assumed a ...
Page 30
... Congress , they contended , only encouraged obstructionism . " As long as a group in Congress keeps crippling the President's military assistance program , " complained Fred Iklé ( quoted in Destler 1984 : 330 ) , " we will have a ...
... Congress , they contended , only encouraged obstructionism . " As long as a group in Congress keeps crippling the President's military assistance program , " complained Fred Iklé ( quoted in Destler 1984 : 330 ) , " we will have a ...
Contents
part two The Movement Emerges | 57 |
Illustrations follow page 208 | 209 |
part three Maintaining the Struggle | 209 |
part four Assessing the Movement | 363 |
The Distribution and Activities of Central America Peace Movement Organizations | 387 |
Notes | 393 |
Bibliography | 419 |
Index | 453 |
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Common terms and phrases
According action administration's America peace activists America peace movement anti-movement arrested began Butigan campaign Casey Catholic Central Amer Central America organizations Central America peace Central American policy church CISPES civil disobedience commitment Congress congressional Contras Corbett covert delegates Dennis Marker economic El Salvador example FMLN forces foreign policy frame Gelbspan grassroots groups Guatemala guerrillas Honduras human rights insurgent consciousness involved Iran-Contra issue Jim Wallis Kornbluh Latin leaders liberation theology major March ment Mike Clark military aid mobilized moral Nicaragua North American Oliver North organizational participation percent Pledge of Resistance political opportunities President Reagan's Press protest Reagan administration refugees regional religious Report repression Salvador Salvadoran Sanctuary activists Sanctuary movement Sandinistas social movements stories strategy struggle tactics thousand tion tral America Tucson U.S. Central U.S. citizens U.S. government U.S. invasion U.S. military U.S. policy Varelli Vietnam Washington White House Witness for Peace York