Rethinking Social Movements: Structure, Meaning and Emotion
About: This article is published in British Journal of Sociology.The article was published on 2005-12-01. It has received 12 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: New social movements & Meaning (existential).
Citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, a volume of work by prominent scholars on right-wing extremist movements in various places across the globe is presented, which suggests that emotionality, culture, suspicion of outsiders, and the choices of members are key to understanding how the far right recruits members and garners support from the general population.
Abstract: Despite the gains of far-right and racist movements in many parts of the world, they have been the subject of relatively little ethnographic research. This volume assembles work by prominent scholars on right-wing extremist movements in various places across the globe. Despite significant differences in the agendas and contexts of these groups, close-up examination of their dynamics and the motivations of their activists suggests that emotionality, culture, suspicion of outsiders, and the choices of members are key to understanding how the far right recruits members and garners support from the general population.
128 citations
Cites background from "Rethinking Social Movements: Struct..."
...Indeed, the predominance of scholarship on politically progressive movements stems partly from personal networks of access since many studies are written by scholar-participants or those with friends or family in the movements they study (e.g., Gitlin 1980; Gould 2004; Whittier 1995)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, a hegemonic account of mobilization, which incorporates tools from theories of everyday life and identity-formation, as well as from state-centered approaches, is offered as a way to grasp the complexity of Islamism.
Abstract: The Islamist movement in Turkey bases its mobilization strategy on transforming everyday practices. Public challenges against the state do not form a central part of its repertoire. New Social Movement theory provides some tools for analyzing such an unconventional strategic choice. However, as Islamist mobilization also seeks to reshape the state in the long run, New Social Movement theory (with its focus on culture and society and its relative neglect of the state) needs to be complemented by more institutional analyses. A hegemonic account of mobilization, which incorporates tools from theories of everyday life and identity-formation, as well as from state-centered approaches, is offered as a way to grasp the complexity of Islamism.
99 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the influence of movements in contentious politics around investment projects has been analyzed based on participant observation and comparison across the Brazilian Landless Movement (MST) groups in areas of paper industry expansion.
Abstract: The recent scholarship on social movement outcomes has called for explanations about how movements influence economic outcomes. This article demonstrates in practice how a dynamic and relational approach, coupled with a Bourdieuian analysis of social, symbolic, and territorial space, can be utilized in explaining the influence of movements in contentious politics around investment projects. Based on participant observation and comparison across the Brazilian Landless Movement (MST) groups in areas of paper industry expansion, I assess the different movement strategies and their influence on pulp project outcomes. I reinterpret the ideal ‘MST model’ as constructed by specific strategies promoting contentious agency: organizing and politicizing, campaigning by heterodox framing, protesting, networking, and embedded autonomy vis-a-vis the state. A Qualitative Comparative Analysis comparing the expansion of 13 pulp holdings between 2004–2008 shows how these strategies influence investment pace. When both cont...
43 citations
Cites methods from "Rethinking Social Movements: Struct..."
...Within this dynamic and relational approach, I develop the consideration of specific strategies and techniques of mobilization whose assessment, Hobson (2003) and Goodwin and Jasper (2004) argue, has been absent....
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Book Chapter•
01 Jan 2010
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that states are not built through institutions alone, and that organized citizens also play a critical role, through articulating their concerns, mobilizing pressure for change and monit oring government performance.
Abstract: How can ordinary citizens – and the organizations and movements with which they engage – make changes in national policies which affect their lives, and the lives of others around them? Under what conditions does citizen action contribute to more responsive states, pro-poor policies and greater social justice? What is needed to overcome setbacks, and to consolidate smaller victories into ‘successful’ change? These are the questions taken up by this book. Understanding the answers is important for a number of contemporary debates that cut across policy, activist and academic circles. In international development debates, the challenge of building responsive and accountable states which in turn will work to alleviate poverty, protect rights and tackle social inequalities has been a focus of attention in recent years. Much of the debate centres on im proving the institutions of government – state bureaucracies, parliaments and justice systems. Yet, as this book demonstrates, states are not built through institutions alone. Organized citizens also play a crit ical role, through articulating their concerns, mobilizing pressure for change and monit oring government performance. For those concerned with citizen advocacy, in recent years there has been a great deal of attention on building global or transnational citizen action, as witnessed in significant citizen mobilizations such as the Make Poverty History campaign on aid, trade and debt in 2005, as well as the continuing Global Call to Action Against Poverty, the UN Millennium Campaign, and now campaigns on climate justice. Yet increasingly, activists in these campaigns are also turning their attention to the importance of national policy change, with the realization that unless there are changes at this level, international policies will have little traction. Similarly, an explosion of work over the last decade has focused on citizen participation and citizen mobilization to strengthen the ‘voice’ of civil society actors in governance and development programmes. Much of this has been on the local level, or on forms of public ‘consultation’, brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk
34 citations
Cites background from "Rethinking Social Movements: Struct..."
...12 As in the larger social movement literature, the concept of political opportunity structure has generated a great deal of debate and critique, in part for placing too much emphasis on structure and not enough on agency and mobilization strategy (Goodwin and Jasper 2004)....
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13 Jul 2015
TL;DR: In this paper, a longitudinal study of the movimiento de los Indignados in Barcelona is presented, focusing on the socio-ecologia politica of the movement.
Abstract: Esta tesis es un estudio longitudinal en profundidad del movimiento de los Indignados en Barcelona, desde el inicio de los campamentos en Plaza Catalunya hasta las numerosas asambleas de barrio, comisiones, y la emergencia de proyectos teritoriales. Durante tres anos fueron conducidas 74 entrevistas en profundidad y 6 grupos focales con los participantes del movimiento, mientras se emprendieron aproximadamente 600 horas de observacion participante. La tesis investiga la ecologia politica del movimiento de los Indignados, concretamente pretende comprender las maneras en las que el movimiento ha entendido la crisis ecologica-economica, y las nuevas ideas y procesos socio-politicos y transformaciones socio-ecologicas que puso en marcha. La ecologia politica en esta tesis se entiende en su mas sentido amplio, como las nuevas relaciones y realidades socio-naturales que el movimiento ha generado, tanto cognitivamente como materialmente, mientras imaginaba y ejecutaba un orden socio-ecologico alternativo. Si una transformacion socio-ecologica va a tener lugar, esta sera el resultado de procesos politicos democraticos en la que los movimientos sociales juegan un papel fundamental. Los movimientos sociales son un actor importante del cambio social, ya que contribuyen a la innovacion cultural y empiezan la transformacion institucional. Asi pues, esta tesis considera la posibilidad de una transformacion socio-ecologica a traves de la perspectiva del movimiento de los Indignados. En particular aborda la teoria del decrecimiento que se puede describir como la vision de la reduccion democratica y redistributiva de la produccion y consumo en los paises industrializados. Esta investigacion avanza la teoria del decrecimiento conectandola con las teorias politicas sobre democracia, y aprendiendo de un caso de estudio empirico, el movimiento de los Indignados, centrado en la demanda de una ‘democracia real'. El primer capitulo presenta un marco teorico multidisciplinar que incluye las teorias de decrecimiento, democracia, ecologia politica y estudios de movimientos sociales, y expone la metodologia y las preguntas de investigacion. El segundo capitulo se concentra en una revision critica de la teoria democratica dentro de la literatura sobre el decrecimiento, aclarando conceptos como democracia, autonomia, revolucion y transicion a traves de la filosofia de Cornelius Castoriadis, que el movimiento del decrecimiento considera uno de los referentes teoricos. La segunda parte de la tesis utiliza la imaginacion radical del movimiento de los Indignados para explorar y comprender como la democracia puede ser concebida y practicada sin crecimiento, y como una transformacion socio-ecologica hacia el decrecimiento se puede imaginar. El tercer capitulo emplea la herramienta del analisis de marcos para comprender como el movimiento plantea la concepcion de democracia y de crisis, y como concibe el cambio. Aclara tambien el papel de las ideologias dentro del movimiento y su diferenciacion de los marcos y el papel de la dimension ecologica del movimiento, abordando la tesis del post-materialismo de la teoria de los Nuevos Movimientos Sociales. El cuarto capitulo investiga las micro-alternativas emergidas desde el movimiento despues de la descentralizacion a los barrios, enfocandose en cuatro casos de estudio nacidos despues de la plaza, poniendolos en relacion dialogica con el caso de estudio de la plaza misma. El capitulo utiliza la teoria de la politica prefigurativa para analizar como la construccion de alternativas puede explicarse y como y porque esta conectada con la produccion de espacio, profundizando en la cuestion sobre que se prefigura en las practicas espaciales indignadas. El ultimo capitulo discute los resultados de la tesis y concluye con su trascendencia y contribucion para unas conceptualizaciones de democracia y de cambio socio-ecologico apropiadas para la teoria del decrecimiento y senala unas direcciones de investigacion futura.
33 citations
Cites background from "Rethinking Social Movements: Struct..."
...The structure of political opportunities and the cycle of protest have instead been said to over rely on a structuralist perspective (Goodwin et al., 2000; Goodwin and Jasper, 2004)....
[...]
References
More filters
TL;DR: In this paper, a volume of work by prominent scholars on right-wing extremist movements in various places across the globe is presented, which suggests that emotionality, culture, suspicion of outsiders, and the choices of members are key to understanding how the far right recruits members and garners support from the general population.
Abstract: Despite the gains of far-right and racist movements in many parts of the world, they have been the subject of relatively little ethnographic research. This volume assembles work by prominent scholars on right-wing extremist movements in various places across the globe. Despite significant differences in the agendas and contexts of these groups, close-up examination of their dynamics and the motivations of their activists suggests that emotionality, culture, suspicion of outsiders, and the choices of members are key to understanding how the far right recruits members and garners support from the general population.
128 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a hegemonic account of mobilization, which incorporates tools from theories of everyday life and identity-formation, as well as from state-centered approaches, is offered as a way to grasp the complexity of Islamism.
Abstract: The Islamist movement in Turkey bases its mobilization strategy on transforming everyday practices. Public challenges against the state do not form a central part of its repertoire. New Social Movement theory provides some tools for analyzing such an unconventional strategic choice. However, as Islamist mobilization also seeks to reshape the state in the long run, New Social Movement theory (with its focus on culture and society and its relative neglect of the state) needs to be complemented by more institutional analyses. A hegemonic account of mobilization, which incorporates tools from theories of everyday life and identity-formation, as well as from state-centered approaches, is offered as a way to grasp the complexity of Islamism.
99 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the influence of movements in contentious politics around investment projects has been analyzed based on participant observation and comparison across the Brazilian Landless Movement (MST) groups in areas of paper industry expansion.
Abstract: The recent scholarship on social movement outcomes has called for explanations about how movements influence economic outcomes. This article demonstrates in practice how a dynamic and relational approach, coupled with a Bourdieuian analysis of social, symbolic, and territorial space, can be utilized in explaining the influence of movements in contentious politics around investment projects. Based on participant observation and comparison across the Brazilian Landless Movement (MST) groups in areas of paper industry expansion, I assess the different movement strategies and their influence on pulp project outcomes. I reinterpret the ideal ‘MST model’ as constructed by specific strategies promoting contentious agency: organizing and politicizing, campaigning by heterodox framing, protesting, networking, and embedded autonomy vis-a-vis the state. A Qualitative Comparative Analysis comparing the expansion of 13 pulp holdings between 2004–2008 shows how these strategies influence investment pace. When both cont...
43 citations
Book Chapter•
01 Jan 2010
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that states are not built through institutions alone, and that organized citizens also play a critical role, through articulating their concerns, mobilizing pressure for change and monit oring government performance.
Abstract: How can ordinary citizens – and the organizations and movements with which they engage – make changes in national policies which affect their lives, and the lives of others around them? Under what conditions does citizen action contribute to more responsive states, pro-poor policies and greater social justice? What is needed to overcome setbacks, and to consolidate smaller victories into ‘successful’ change? These are the questions taken up by this book. Understanding the answers is important for a number of contemporary debates that cut across policy, activist and academic circles. In international development debates, the challenge of building responsive and accountable states which in turn will work to alleviate poverty, protect rights and tackle social inequalities has been a focus of attention in recent years. Much of the debate centres on im proving the institutions of government – state bureaucracies, parliaments and justice systems. Yet, as this book demonstrates, states are not built through institutions alone. Organized citizens also play a crit ical role, through articulating their concerns, mobilizing pressure for change and monit oring government performance. For those concerned with citizen advocacy, in recent years there has been a great deal of attention on building global or transnational citizen action, as witnessed in significant citizen mobilizations such as the Make Poverty History campaign on aid, trade and debt in 2005, as well as the continuing Global Call to Action Against Poverty, the UN Millennium Campaign, and now campaigns on climate justice. Yet increasingly, activists in these campaigns are also turning their attention to the importance of national policy change, with the realization that unless there are changes at this level, international policies will have little traction. Similarly, an explosion of work over the last decade has focused on citizen participation and citizen mobilization to strengthen the ‘voice’ of civil society actors in governance and development programmes. Much of this has been on the local level, or on forms of public ‘consultation’, brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk
34 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider how contemporary subjects navigate, withstand and even contest the particular governmental assemblages that define regimes of power, and address this question by considering "reflection".
Abstract: How do contemporary subjects navigate, withstand and even contest the particular governmental assemblages that define regimes of power today? The article addresses this question by considering ‘ref...
28 citations