Study Guides

Study guides are collections of articles and PDF files available free for download on many topics. Study guides will be added periodically.

Gender, Race and Class: A Study Guide

In “A Theory of Oppositional Consciousness,” Chela Sandoval wrote, “It is important to remember that the form of U.S. third world feminism it represents and enacts has been influenced not only by struggles against gender domination, but by the struggles against race, class, and cultural hierarchies which mark the twentieth century in the United States. It is a mapping of consciousness in opposition to the dominant social order which charts the white and hegemonic feminist histories of consciousness…while also making visible the different ground from which a specific U.S. third world feminism rises. It is important to understand that this typology is not necessarily ”feminist’ in nature, but is rather a history of oppositional consciousness.” In that spirit, the following study guide explores intersections in gender, race and class.

Anti-Colonialism Classic Writings: A Study Guide

Third World national liberation movements, from Vietnam to China to Cuba and Ghana, profoundly influenced development of political organizing and theory of and by people of color in the ‘First World’ and worldwide. Many of these movements demonstrated that revolution led by oppressed people against imperialism was possible and could win. Theory in this area prompted many people to reconsider or discard old ideas in favor of new visions.

This study guide offers selections from a few of the important figures in current of these revolutionary movements.

Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin: A Study Guide

Former Black Panther Party member, political prisoner and anarcho-communist community organizer Lorenzo Kom’boa Ervin has written extensively about the need for radicals of color to be engaged in popular struggles. A few of his writings are presented in this collection as an initial effort to present some of his theoretical and practical projects.

The Black Panther Party Reexamined: A Study Guide

Many books, collections and images have presented the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, Huey Newton, Fred Hampton, Assata Shakur, Eldridge Cleaver and any of the people associated with the party over its history. As the best known Black revolutionary formation, the Black Panthers still capture the imaginations of many people. The following downloadable PDF files present writings on the Black Panthers that give a different look at the organization and may educate readers to look at the Panthers in fresh ways.

Maobadi (Nepal) and Zapatistas (Mexico): A Comparative Study Guide

Mexico’s Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, also known as the Zapatista Army of National Liberation or Zapatistas, and Nepal’s Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), also known as the Maobadi, have cultivated a powerful mix of theory and practice to lead struggles that have drawn international attention in Latin America and South Asia respectively. Both movements also demonstrate in divergent ways how revolutionary struggle in teh Third World continues to inspire people of color globally. These documents are presented with several open questions in mind, including how economic and social conditions shaped the approach by the Zapatistas and the Maobadi, and how both have evolved in the years since their respective struggles began.