The revolutionary movements for radical democracy that began in the Middle East have spread like wildfire: the domino in Tunisia constituted a break with the antiquated social psychology that permitted the oppression and repression of the global demos. The Arab Spring has become a living breathing movement that has spread across the world – in the West, it manifests itself as the Occupy Movement. The ground for planting the seeds of social change is fertile – there is a pervasive global impression that the “system” has failed and that a revolution in democratic politics is both necessary and possible. The truest democracy assistance is to fight for a REAL democracy side by side as protestors in solidarity against oppression.

Joseph Stiglitz of Al Jazeera explains the revolutionary momentum of the Arab Spring that has culminated in global movement[1].

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Thus Christian and I advocate the tactic of Occupying the Debate Space as a continuation of the democratic politics generated by the Arab Spring.

CEWe still have not decided how we want to start the aff (poem, music clip, etc) and experimented with several ways at UF, so that aspect will likely change before our next tournament:

[Badass poem here]

The Arab Spring that began in January was grounded in the fundamental recognition that across the world, systems of social organization have failed to provide for the vast majority of the global population. This sentiment like wildfire: the domino in Tunisia constituted a break with the established order that permitted the oppression and repression of the global demos. There is a common sentiment in the movements that have spawned from Tahir Square to Spain to America: we are the 99%.

Stiglitz in 2011.

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/11/20111151200703378.html

The movements in the Middle East and North Africa are part of the same revolutionary drive that spawned the global Occupy Wall Street movement. Occupy Wall Street is nothing short of the American Extension of the Arab Spring.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/10/201110257859154472.html

Our response to these global movements is the only real form of democracy assistance: global solidarity and occupation of public space. Activist members of the Arab Spring movement have both endorsed the Occupy Movement as a continuation of the Arab Spring, and called out for solidarity because they are under attack by the 1%! The response to this has been a call for international solidarity with a worldwide Occupy movement.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/03/egypt-day-action

Thus Christian and I advocate the tactic of Occupying the Debate Space as democracy assistance to continue the democratic politics generated by the Arab Spring.

A revolution never happens overnight. Your ballot here is a part of the colletion of moments that join to constitute a rupture in the sociopolitical imaginary that is necessary before a new political imaginary is possible. When you contribute to that imagination with your ballot, you take an active step in reclaiming public space for the global good.

Al Jazeera in 2011 argues:

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/10/201110257859154472.html

The current system has lost its automatic legitimacy and the world is asking for a real alternative – a failure to take advantage of this fact guarantees a slide into authoritarianism.

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/talktojazeera/2011/10/2011102813360731764.html

Engaging in this new political imaginary and confronting the constitutive violence of the current political community is the utmost ethical imperative for four reasons.

Daly in 2004. [Glyn , PhD @ Northampton and Professor @ Essex and Manchester] “Risking the Impossible: Politics and Radical Incorrectness”. Conversations with Zizek.

This transformation of the ethico-political imaginary is the only way to have a political ethics – breaking from the standardized expectations of the current imaginary is key.

Daly in 2004. [Glyn , PhD @ Northampton and Professor @ Essex and Manchester] “Risking the Impossible: Politics and Radical Incorrectness”. Conversations with Zizek

Independently, the status quo’s form of politics is violent in four ways.

Butler 2012.

This assertion of our public value prevents the penetration of the market law of value into every segment of social life – the impact is extinction and genocide.

http://www.reocities.com/wageslavex/capandgen.html

The ballot is a micropolitical act in favor of these global democratic protests Voting aff contributes in two ways: first, your choice to Occupy Debate contributes to the underlying social psychology of the Occupy and protest movements that create their revolutionary potential in the first place. Second, your ballot is meaningful because it contributes to the actual numbers of the people participating in the protest. This forum is key because academic spaces like our debate space constitute a confrontation with authority that has the ability to spark authentic social change.

Apps in 2011. [Peter]
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/11/uk-global-politics-protest-idUSLNE79A03Z20111011

Debate is a key forum of contestation because it provides a unique opportunity to circumvent traditional and corrupt gateways of knowledge – your political participation is key.

Nagel in 11.
http://rt.com/usa/news/wall-street-arab-spring-899/

Attempts to segregate public space by separating the protestors from the public sphere is a strategy of apartheid, which designates political dissidents as second class citizens who must be restrained and contained outside of the mainstream political stage.

Elmer and Opel 8 (Greg- Director of the Infoscape research lab and Bell Globemedia Research Chair @ Ryerson University, and Andy, associate professor Dept. of Communication @ Florida State University, Preempting Dissent: The Politics of an Inevitable Future.

The United States federal government should substantially increase its Democracy Assistance to Tunisia by funding non-governmental organizations which promote critical pragmatism aimed at promoting gender equality through constitutional and election reforms.

Cultural norms are the dominant articulations of culture used to maintain power relations and promote gender inequality. We must challenge these constructions or they become codified in law.
Nymau 00’

1. 
   

2. Tunisian women fear their rights being repealed as violence against them increases, despite Ennahda’s assurances to the West and liberals

Naili 11/17/11

3. Tunisian law lands sexually harassed women in prison

Den D 11

4. A lack of Gender-Egalitarian within cultural attitudes perpetuates rape

Kilmartin 00

1. 
   

2. USAID’s Democracy Assistance ignores the gender issues.

Handrahan 02

6. Women’s political participation will result from the women’s movement and explode patriarchy

Sabbagh 5

1. 
   

   1. Political process support and dedicated funding for increasing women’s participation in electoral politics challenges the institutional masculinity of traditional state structures.

Karam 05

1. Historically, women’s rights have reversed after democratic revolutions; women organizations in Tunisia are floundering after losing state support

Goulding 11

2. Tunisian women want and need support for their political participation

Verveer 11/2/11

1. 
   

2. Tunisian women have to organize right now to undermine patriarchy across the region

Al-Saied 1/25/12

1. 
   

2. Critical Pragmatism provides a framework to challenge gender inequalities without abolishing culture. It challenges the constitutional framework that shields customary and religious laws from questioning.

Nymau 00’

1. 
   

2. In plural contexts, gender hierarchy is constructed through dominant articulations of culture and codified in constitutional law. Challenging these constructions through critical pragmatism solves for gender hierarchies.

Nymau 00’

6. USAID Legal Assistance programs do not copy US models of law. Especially policies like the affirmative.

DeLisle 99’

7. We need to make rape visible to transform culture from within.

Womensphere 08

8. USAID advisors are reactive in their assistance.

DeLisle 99’

1. 
   

2. NGO support in the context of democracy is the ONLY possible solution to patriarchy

Lara 04

US engagement in the democracy apparatus is key – alternatives promote oppressive forms of autocracy.

Larbi SADIKI Politics @ Exeter ‘11

Understanding the implications of our current gendered lens opens space for a feminized lens that helps deconstruct other forms of patriarchal oppression

Peterson and Runyan 99 

Cultural norms are the dominant articulations of culture used to maintain power relations and promote gender inequality. We must challenge these constructions or they become codified in law.
 Nymau 00’ [Celestine I. Nyamu: S.J.D. Candidate, Harvard Law School; LL.M., Harvard Law School, 1995; LL.B. Univ. of Nairobi, 1993; Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. Harvard International Law Journal, Spring, 2000, 41 Harv. Int'l L.J. 381, ARTICLE: How Should Human Rights and Development Respond to Cultural Legitimization of Gender Hierarchy in Developing Countries? l/n]
 2. Implicit Endorsement of Dominant Articulations of Culture
 When gender-biased social arrangements ……. conceptions of custom in official forums. ⁿ¹¹⁴

In Egypt, culture is used to perpetuate rape. Around 550 Egyptian women will be raped today

Womensphere 08

“Egypt: Are Attitudes to Rape Beginning to Change?” http://womensphere.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/egypt-are-attitudes-to-rape-beginning-to-change/ 2/20/08 accessed 1/6/12 AM

Hend is one of 20,000 ……. for Egypt dated March 2006.

A lack of Gender-Egalitarian within cultural attitudes perpetuates rape

Kilmartin 00

Kilmartin, Christopher (2000). Chapter 12: Boys will be boys: Men and violence.  In The masculine self (author, 2nd edition).  Boston: McGrawHill. p. 407-408 Dr. Christopher Kilmartin is a UMW professor, author, stand-up comedian, actor, playwright, consultant and professional psychologist. He holds a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Virginia Commonwealth University and is a licensed clinical psychologist.  In 2007, Dr. Kilmartin was the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Gender Studies at the University of Klagenfurt, Austria, one of only 39 such honors awarded annually worldwide. He was elected to Fellow Status in the American Psychological Association in 2008 and is a Past President of Division 51 of that organization, the Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity, which awarded him its Researcher of the Year award in 2010. Dr. Kilmartin is an internationally-recognized expert on gender and violence prevention.

The findings from this study ……. mainstream U.S. culture in this category.

Women’s political participation will result from the women’s movement and explode patriarchy

Sabbagh 5

Amal Sabbagh is a former Secretary General of the Jordanian National Commission for Women (JNCW), “The Arab States: Enhancing Women’s Political Participation” Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers, International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, http://static0.idea.int/publications/wip2/upload/Arab_World.pdf

‘The women’s movement…is the ……. harbingers of a better future.

Support for increasing women’s participation in electoral politics challenges the institutional masculinity of traditional state structures.

Karam 05

Azza Karam is Senior Policy Research Advisor in the Arab Human Development Report Unit of the United Nations Development Programme, “Conclusions”, Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers, http://www.idea.int/publications/wip2/upload/WiP_inlay.pdf)

It is relatively easy to enumerate ……. and their efforts are assessed.

Egyptian women want support for their political participation

Verveer 11/2/11

http://www.state.gov/s/gwi/rls/rem/2011/176643.htm Melanne Verveer Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues  Statement Before the Subcommittees on International Operations and Organizations, Human Rights, Democracy, and Global Women's Issues and Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

While visiting Egypt and Tunisia, …….. political participation and leadership abilities.

In plural contexts, gender hierarchy is constructed through dominant articulations of culture and codified in constitutional law. Challenging these constructions through critical pragmatism solves for gender hierarchies.

Nymau 00’ [Celestine I. Nyamu: S.J.D. Candidate, Harvard Law School; LL.M., Harvard Law School, 1995; LL.B. Univ. of Nairobi, 1993; Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. Harvard International Law Journal, Spring, 2000, 41 Harv. Int'l L.J. 381, ARTICLE: How Should Human Rights and Development Respond to Cultural Legitimization of Gender Hierarchy in Developing Countries? l/n]
 
In plural contexts, responses to cultural ……. gender hierarchies in diverse contexts.

Ann and I express our solidarity, which is a form of democracy assistance, with gender equality efforts in Egypt.

Contention II – Patriarchy in debate –

My work and preparation with Ann has been very beneficial for it has allowed me to see the ways in which patriarchal assumptions, mindsets, and values underpin common conceptions of debate argumentation and rhetoric. Our work with John Brushke of CSU Fullerton has provided me the opportunity to engage in scholarship critical of the way that not only myself, but others act in the debate. I learned of the severe gender biases embedded within participation of debate. I learned of the ways my masculinity has shaped my view and others.

We need to make rape visible to transform culture from within.

Womensphere 08

“Egypt: Are Attitudes to Rape Beginning to Change?” http://womensphere.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/egypt-are-attitudes-to-rape-beginning-to-change/ 2/20/08 accessed 1/6/12 AM

Egypt was scandalised last summer …….. You have to change them bit by bit.”

Debate is super patriarchal

Greenstreet 96

Robert Greenstreet (EdD, Oklahoma State U, 1996) is assistant professor, Communication Department, East Central University, Ada, OK 74820-6899 “Women in Intercollegiate Forensics: Experiencing Otherness” http://www.nationalforensics.org/journal/vol15no1-4.pdf accessed 1/22/12 P60-1

The picture provided by the negative matrix …….. should be easy to understand.

Unconscious sexism prevents women from advancing in debate

Skarb and Bruschke 03

Everyone should be able to play: A quantitative analysis of female participation in intercollegiate debate Skarb, Justin; Bruschke, Jon. California State University, Fullerton, 2003 http://search.proquest.com/docview/250242443 accessed 1/23/12  p44-5

In much the same way that overt ……. upper-echelons of any of them.

There can’t be change until we question our biases

Stepp 97

Can We Make Intercollegiate Debate More Diverse? Journal article by Pamela Stepp; Argumentation and Advocacy, Vol. 33, 1997 quoted excerpt at 

People can learn to respect diversity, ……. eliminating sexist and racist behaviors.

We need to interrogate our own behavior

Stepp 01

Pamela L., "Sexual harassment in communication extra-curricular activities: Intercollegiate debate and individual events" Communication Education Volume 50 Issue 1 P46

Research should explore the sexualized …… organizational climates and environments for these behaviors.

Discussion is the first step to eliminating bias

Skarb and Bruschke 03

Everyone should be able to play: A quantitative analysis of female participation in intercollegiate debate Skarb, Justin; Bruschke, Jon. California State University, Fullerton, 2003 http://search.proquest.com/docview/250242443 accessed 1/23/12  p46-7

Though the data reviewed …… discrimination from the community.

We need to take our narratives into proscribed spaces-it’s the only way to start a social movement

Couto 93

Narrative, Free Space, and Political Leadership in Social Movements Richard A. Couto The Journal of Politics , Vol. 55, No. 1 (Feb., 1993), pp. 57-79 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Southern Political Science Association Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2132228 Interviews with leaders of civil rights efforts in four rural communities in the South accessed 1/30/12 AM

As political phenomena, narratives offer ……. to claim spaces like the bus seats in Montgomery as free.