Research on Social Movements and Political Violence

2008 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donatella della Porta
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Political Violence

Transnational Social Movements and Peaceful Change

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Milcíades Peña
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Global Civil Society ◽  
Dynamic Processes ◽  
Transnational Social Movements ◽  
Relational Perspective ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Interactive Dynamic ◽  
Dominant Treatment

The chapter discusses the relationship between social movements and peaceful change. First, it reviews the way this relationship has been elaborated in IR constructivist and critical analyses, as part of transnational activist networks, global civil society, and transnational social movements, while considering the blind sides left by the dominant treatment of these entities as positive moral actors. Second, the chapter reviews insights from the revolution and political violence literature, a literature usually sidelined in IR debates about civil society, in order to cast a wider relational perspective on how social movements participate in, and are affected by, interactive dynamic processes that may escalate into violent outcomes at both local and international levels.

Radical Pessimism

2019 ◽  
pp. 109-136
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
State Violence ◽  
Extractive Industries ◽  
Political Agency ◽  
Personal Interest ◽  
Political Imaginary ◽  
Extreme State

This chapter describes radical pessimism as a neoliberal democratic political affect that combines of radical worldviews with a belief that change is impossible. It begins with the question of how past and present forms of political violence have shaped Mayan conceptions about the limits of democracy and of their own political agency, leading many to “sell out” for personal interest. It documents how Sampedranos retain elements of radical political imaginary that predominated in the region in the 1970s, prior to the extreme state violence of the 1980s, but that routine acts of state violence targeted at social movements that informs engagements with hostile sovereign forces, including authoritarian political parties. The chapter also describes how these political imaginaries are being reconfigured through more recent forms of politics in defense of territory against extractive industries. The conclusion reflects on the possibility of a radical organization of pessimism.

scholarly journals Genocide as Contentious Politics

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aliza Luft
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Contentious Politics ◽  
Social Movement Theory ◽  
Final Version ◽  
Movement Theory ◽  
History Of ◽  
Convergence And Divergence

Preprint, final version in Sociology Compass available at: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/soc4.12304/fullDespite a recent turn towards the study of political violence within the field of contentious politics, scholars have yet to focus their lens on genocide. This is puzzling, as the field of collective action and social movements was originally developed in reaction to fascism (Nazism in particular), while research on collective action and research on genocide has long shown parallel findings and shared insights. This paper reviews the history of this scholarly convergence and divergence, and suggests that recent findings of research on genocide can be improved by the consideration of concepts from social movements and collective action. It then details three theories of the micro-mechanisms that mobilize individuals for contention – framing, diffusion, and networks – and specifies how they refine existing explanations of civilian participation in genocide. In the conclusion, I suggest that a contentious politics approach to genocide would consider it one form of collective action among others, analyzable within the existing framework of collective action and social movement theory.

Political violence and insurgencies in the Middle East: Social movements, diffusion of armed conflicts, and proxy wars

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-272
Author(s):  
Mehmet Orhan
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Historical Dynamics ◽  
Regional Factors ◽  
Analytical Frameworks

Political violence is a key theme in understanding the historical and contemporary Middle East characterized by different religious, social, and political revolts. It is thus salient to analyze why political violence emerges, how it is diffused, and why it takes different configurations during insurgencies. In order to study these questions, this article establishes three analytical frameworks: interdependency among violence and social movements, diffusion of violence, and proxy warfare. First, I argue that political violence and mobilization are interdependent processes which are shaped by personal, local, and historical dynamics. Secondly, violence is more likely to spread among the societies displaying similar political, religious, or ethnic characteristics, in particular, if there are individuals and militant organizations who take it as a model in order to affect the conflict. Finally, this violence, which depends on local and regional factors, often intersects with global politics and its path is altered as a result.

scholarly journals The Impact of Religious Beliefs, Practices, and Social Networks on Rwandan Rescue Efforts During Genocide

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-114
Author(s):  
Nicole Fox ◽  
Hollie Nyseth Brehm ◽  
John Gasasira
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
High Risk ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Safety Nets ◽  
The Social ◽  
Mass Killings ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Depth Interviews

In April 1994, in one of the most Christian nations in Africa, genocidal violence erupted culminating in the deaths of upwards of one million people. While thousands participated in mass killings, others choose not to, and rescued persecuted individuals instead. Relying on 45 in-depth interviews with individuals who rescued others in Rwanda, we demonstrate that religion is tied to rescue efforts in at least three ways: 1) through the creation of cognitive safety nets that enabled high-risk actions; 2) through religious practices that isolated individuals from the social networks of those committing the violence; and 3) through religious social networks where individuals encountered opportunities and accessed resources to rescue. The case of rescue in Rwanda illustrates how religiosity can support high-risk collective action, buffer individuals from recruitment to violent social movements, and can connect individuals in ways that enable them to save lives during extreme political violence.

scholarly journals The Study of the Consequences of Armed Groups: Lessons from the Social Movement Literature

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Bosi ◽  
Marco Giugni
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Armed Groups ◽  
The Social ◽  
Internal And External Factors ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Cross Fertilization

Despite the development of the political violence and terrorism literature, which has moved strongly forward in the past decade, scientific works on the consequences of armed groups are still rare. This article encourages cross-fertilization between the sparse studies of the consequences of political violence and the growing body of research on how social movements matter. First, we show the variety of potential outcomes of armed groups' violent repertoires. We then review works on the consequences of social movements and highlight lessons for the study of armed groups. Specifically, we urge scholars to look for the interplay of internal and external factors in studying the impact of armed groups. We call for a comparative focus that dwells less on conditions and more on the processes and mechanisms affecting the impact of political violence. At the same time, we acknowledge that the literature on political violence and terrorism can inform social movement scholarship. In particular, students of social movements should pay more attention to the potential economic consequences of protest activities, the international factors constraining their impact, and the life-course patterns of movements' targets.

scholarly journals The Relational Context of Radicalization: The Case of Jewish Settler Contention before and after the Gaza Pullout

2015 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 910-929 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eitan Y Alimi
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Supportive Evidence ◽  
Relational Context ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Depth Interviews

Why is it that social movements engaged in contention sometimes experience radicalization of member factions? This article argues that relational practices of contacts, ties, exchange of information and bargaining among the contending parties mediate the influence of violence-prone ideologies as well as impulses, incentives and motives for aggression on actual engagement in political violence. A mechanism-based comparison of two similar yet different-in-outcome episodes of Jewish settler contention demonstrates the mediating role of relational mechanisms, the combined influence of which is conceptualized and operationalized as an Infrastructure of Coordination (IOC). Despite ample environmental stimuli and widespread violence-prone ideologies present in both episodes, in the Gaza Pullout radicalization was impeded through high levels of coordination established between and within the contending parties. Conversely, in the dismantling of the Amona outpost the disintegration of the IOC propelled radicalization. Supportive evidence is provided from a multi-method research design, including in-depth interviews, content analysis and contention—repression data over a series of critical events.

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