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.

scholarly journals Civil Society and Pro-Democracy Social Movements: Troubled Relations Within Authoritarian Regimes?

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murad Nasibov
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Collective Actions ◽  
Organic Solidarity ◽  
Mechanical Solidarity ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Conceptual Relationship

This article tries to conceptually lay down the troubled relations between civil society and social movements within authoritarian regimes. This is done by, first, bringing clarity to the conceptual relationship between civil society and social movement and, then, applying it to the authoritarian context, still theoretically. Following the “hints” of the Eastern European intellectuals of the late 1970s and the 1980s and building on the appropriation of Durkheim’s differentiation between mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity, the article distinguishes two types of solidarity: associative solidarity and action and collective solidarity and action. Civil society is proposed to emerge on associative solidarities (and their actions), while social movements build on collective solidarities (and their actions). Furthermore, associative and collective actions are identified to be progressive and transgressive, respectively. Consequently, the proposed theoretical account is applied theoretically to the authoritarian context and several hypotheses are proposed on the relationship between civil society and pro-democracy movement within authoritarian regimes.

Social Movements, Brexit and Social Policy

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armine Ishkanian
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Unmet Needs ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Fertile Ground ◽  
Governance Institutions ◽  
The 2008 Financial Crisis ◽  
Economic Developments ◽  
The Relationship

In this article, I examine the relationship between social movements, Brexit and social policy and consider how political and socio-economic developments since the 2008 financial crisis helped create a fertile ground for Brexit. I query the assumption that Brexit was simply a result of those left behind by globalisation and instead explore why and how actors from across the ideological spectrum supported Brexit and examine the sources of discontent which created the conditions from which Brexit emerged. To understand the relationship, role and impact of social movements and, more widely, civil society on social policy, I argue that it is important to critically examine how diverse actors within civil society are campaigning for the recognition of unmet needs and challenging systems of redistribution and the ways in which they interact and engage with governance institutions and policy processes.

Transnational Social Movements in Latin America

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisa von Bülow
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Global Governance ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Transnational Social Movements ◽  
Collective Action Problems ◽  
Diffusion Paths

Latin American transnational social movements (TSMs) are key actors in debates about the future of global governance. Since the 1990s, they have played an important role in creating new organizational fora to bring together civil society actors from around the globe. In spite of this relevance, the literature on social movements from the region focuses primarily—and often exclusively—on the domestic arena. Nevertheless, there is an increasingly influential body of scholarship from the region, which has contributed to relevant theoretical debates on how actors overcome collective action problems in constructing transnational social movements and how they articulate mobilization efforts at the local, national and international scales. The use of new digital technologies has further blurred the distinction among scales of activism. It has become harder to tell where interpretative frames originate, to trace diffusion paths across national borders, and to determine the boundaries of movements. At the same time, there are important gaps in the literature, chief among them the study of right-wing transnational networks.

Environment and the Global Civil Society

2001 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Environmental Movement ◽  
Global Civil Society ◽  
Three Gorges ◽  
The Three Gorges ◽  
The World ◽  
Narmada Dam ◽  
The Three Gorges Dam

AbstractThis paper examines the role of civil society in environmental movements in the context of globalization. Exploring the various meanings of civil society, it argues that to understand civil society as a politically meaningful concept, due consideration should be given to social movements, which recharge civil society. At the same time, the efficacy of social movements rests on the vibrancy of civil society. In the present day world, civil society has become quite active in a large number of public interest issues of which environment has become quite central. This paper explores the conditions of the environmental movement as a truly global phenomenon and its role in the rise of a global civil society. The paper also reflects on the implications of the emergence of a global civil society for the protection of the environment. Drawing upon the cases of the Three Gorges Dam in China and the Narmada Dam in India the paper examines the role of an incipient global civil society. We must keep on striving to make the world a better place for all of mankind - each one contributing his bit, in his or her own way. - Ken Saro-Wiwa The Environment is humanity's first right. - Ken Saro-Wiwa

scholarly journals Protest polityczny w globalizacji

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 324-343
Author(s):  
Julia Wrede
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Global Citizenship ◽  
Global Civil Society ◽  
Social World ◽  
Protest Movements ◽  
Philosophical Idea ◽  
Occupy Movement ◽  
Social Landscape

The article shows relations between the philosophical idea of global civil society and civil engagement which transcends national borders – a trend that is being observed in recent years. The article characterizes contemporary social movements including two particular protest movements – Indignados of Spanish origin and the American Occupy movement. A detailed study of these movements helps with understanding the main trends in modern international politics and shows the fundamental mechanisms that shape the modern social world. As an element of global political culture, modern social movements are a significant example of global citizenship. They combine the main features of global civil society and allow us to draw a picture of the changing social landscape of globalization.

Turning the tide: a role for social movements

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bryn Jones ◽  
Mike O’Donnell
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Change Agents ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Democratic Tradition ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter continues the book’s focus on social justice and change agents by identifying these concerns in the evolution of social movements. The authors argue that, in addition to making explicit criticisms of neoliberalism, social movement campaigners and their networks could also play similar roles to those previously taken by labour movement organisations as advocates and facilitators of classical social democracy. Their emphasis on more direct democracy in socio-economic governance might stimulate a revival of this recently neglected element in the social democratic tradition. In this respect the relationship between prominent social movement activists and progressive parties is likely to be crucial in future years. In particular movement activists may need to determine whether they can achieve a strong relationship between the progressive forces of civil society and a Labour Party potentially revitalized in its egalitarian and democratic vision. The key challenge is to channel the energy and idealism of civil society groups into more far-reaching political and social transformation.

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