Charisma and the Radical Right

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Eatwell
Keyword(s):  
Political Discourse ◽  
Inner Core ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Socioeconomic Change ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures ◽  
Affective Bond

Although the concept of “charismatic” leaders is commonplace in political discourse, many academics hold that the notion is vague and these leaders’ alleged appeal to voters untestable. This chapter sets out a conceptualization of such leaders, focusing on radical mission, personal presence, symbiotic hierarchy, and Manichean demonization. It then considers four broad theories about why charismatic leaders have notable effects (and why the radical right gathers support): socioeconomic change and crisis, political opportunity structures, cultural legitimation, and psychological affinities. While it is important not to overstate the powers of most leaders, the chapter concludes by arguing that we need to appreciate the role of “coterie” charisma over an inner core, helping to keep parties together. Moreover, charismatic leaders exert a centripetal appeal, particularly to authoritarians and/or those least interested in politics, creating a more differentiated following than the affective bond stressed in the classic Weberian model.

scholarly journals Transnational Relations and Activism in International Relations: Debates and Consensus in Literature

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 142
Author(s):  
Ani W. Soetjipto ◽  
Arivia Tri Dara Yuliestiana
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Transnational Activism ◽  
Transnational Advocacy ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Transnational Relations ◽  
Norm Diffusion ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures

This article explores the concepts of transnational relations and activism in the study of International Relations, specifically the role of civil society in transnational advocacy. It is fascinating to discuss the role of civil society when state actors are no longer the most prominent actors in International Relations studies in the midst of globalisation. Some articles related to transnational relations have been written by the scholars of International Relations such as Thomas Risse-Kappen (1995). Even so, one of the most sophisticated concepts of transnational activism was introduced by Margaret Keck and Kathryn Sikkink (1998), in Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in International Politics. In order to fully understand transnational activism in the study of International Relations, a divergent perspective can be applied. In this article, the authors aim to examine the recent debates and its counternarratives in International Relations through critical and constructivism lenses. Firstly, this article would describe the concepts of transnationalism and transnational activism in the study of International Relations (state of the art). Secondly, it would be a discussion in the literature on transnationalism and transnational activism which cover themes about norm diffusion, the ‘boomerang pattern’, political opportunity structures and accountability and effectiveness. The last part is conclusion that can be drawn from this consensus and debates in the concept of transnational activism.

“Are You One of Those Women?” Within-Movement Conflict, Radical Flank Effects, and Social Movement Political Outcomes*

2015 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly J. McCammon ◽  
Erin M. Bergner ◽  
Sandra C. Arch
Keyword(s):  
Social Movement ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Radical Flank

Studies of social movement outcomes rarely consider the impact of conflict between groups within movements on the ability of movement actors to achieve their political goals. In this examination of the Texas women's movement from the late 1950s until the early 1970s, we consider the role of within-movement conflict as organized women worked to gain an Equal Legal Rights Amendment. Our analysis reveals that conflict within movements can benefit activists by fueling a radical flank effect and, in the end, helping activists achieve important political goals. Our study also reveals the agency of movement actors as one group distances itself from another to seek political elite support. Such efforts can help activists open largely closed political opportunity structures. We conclude that researchers studying movement political outcomes should consider the potentially beneficial role of within-movement conflict.

scholarly journals How Scandals Act as Catalysts of Fringe Stakeholders’ Contentious Actions Against Multinational Corporations

2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 387-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thibault Daudigeos ◽  
Thomas Roulet ◽  
Bertrand Valiorgue
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Corporations ◽  
The Political ◽  
Collective Actions ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Corporate Scandals ◽  
Single Target ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures ◽  
Corporate Elites

In this article, we build on the stakeholder-politics literature to investigate how corporate scandals transform political contexts and give impetus to the contentious movements of fringe stakeholders against multinational corporations (MNCs). Based on Adut’s scandal theory, we flesh out three scandal-related processes that directly affect political-opportunity structures (POSs) and the generation of social movements against MNCs: convergence of contention toward a single target, publicization of deviant practices, and contagion to other organizations. These processes reduce the obstacles to collective actions by fringe stakeholders by pushing corporate elites to be more sensitive to their claims, by decreasing MNCs’ capability to repress contentious movements, by forcing the targeted MNCs to formalize a policy to monitor and eradicate the controversial practices, and by helping fringe stakeholders find internal and external allies to support their claims. This conceptual model of scandals as catalysts of contentious actions contributes to a better understanding of stakeholder politics by unveiling the role of the political context in the coordination of fringe stakeholders.

Analysing how crises shape mass and elite preferences and behaviour in the European Union

2021 ◽  
pp. 146511652110440
Author(s):  
Catherine E De Vries
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Stress Test ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures

The COVID-19 pandemic proved the latest stress test for the European Union, after Brexit, the Eurozone crisis and the large influx of refugees. This highly relevant and well-timed special issue examines how past crises have left an imprint on the opinions and behaviour of ordinary citizens and political elites regarding the European Union. This Forum article reviews the special issue contributions by spelling out which lessons we can learn from each of them and which paths for future research they have opened up. In terms of a path forward, I argue that scholars ought to pay more attention to (a) the role of political elites, (b) political opportunity structures, and (c) heterogeneity both between and within member states.

scholarly journals Interests, Identities, and Relations: Drawing Boundaries in Civic Organizational Fields

2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 265-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Diani ◽  
Katia Pilati
Keyword(s):  
Network Analysis ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Organizational Fields ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Boundary Definition ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Network Patterns

This article combines social movement and organizational theory to explore boundary definition in civic organizational fields. Drawing upon evidence from two British cities and applying network analysis to relations between organizations interested in environmental, ethnicity, and migration issues, we show that identities shape network patterns more consistently than interest in specific issues. While this finding supports previous insights from organizational and social movement research on the relation between identities and fields, we go beyond them in showing that the role of identities is pivotal regardless of the nature of local political opportunity structures and cultures. We conclude by discussing possible strategies for exploring the link between organizational and social movement fields.

Occupy Movement, Religion and Social Formations

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-24
Author(s):  
Matt Sheedy
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Social Formation ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Occupy Movement ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures

The Occupy movement was an unprecedented social formation that spread to approximate 82 countries around the globe in the fall of 2011 via social media through the use of myths, symbols and rituals that were performed in public space and quickly drew widespread mainstream attention. In this paper I argue that the movement offers a unique instance of how discourse functions in the construction of society and I show how the shared discourses of Occupy were taken-up and shaped in relation to the political opportunity structures and interests of those involved based on my own fieldwork at Occupy Winnipeg. I also argue that the Occupy movement provides an example of how we might substantively attempt to classify “religion” by looking at how it embodied certain metaphysical claims while contrasting it with the beliefs and practices of more conventionally defined “religious” communities.

‘It Is a Tradition in the Nuclear Industry . . . Secrecy’: Political Opportunity Structures and Nuclear Knowledge Production in France

2021 ◽  
pp. 136078042110250
Author(s):  
Julie Schweitzer ◽  
Tamara L Mix
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Nuclear Program ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Shaping Process ◽  
History Of ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures

Employing the example of France’s civil nuclear program, we connect political opportunity structures (POSs) to mechanisms of knowledge production, identifying how opposing stakeholders generate knowledge about a controversial technology. A history of nuclear dependence in France creates a context that praises, normalizes, and rationalizes nuclear energy while stigmatizing attempts to question or contest the nuclear industry’s dominant position. Integrating Bond’s knowledge-shaping process with Coy and colleagues’ concept of oppositional knowledge, we consider how the broader social, political, and economic context influences opposing stakeholder assessments of nuclear energy. Employing qualitative semi-structured interviews, we offer unique insight into the French nuclear debate, discussing the role of POS in shaping knowledge production.

scholarly journals It's Not Just Structural: Social Movements are not Homogenous Responses to Structural Features, but Networks shaped by Organisational Strategies and Status

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Saunders
Keyword(s):  
Structural Features ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Government Institutions ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
The Status ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Different Characteristics ◽  
Environmental Organisation

Political opportunity structures are often used to explain differences in the characteristics of movements in different countries on the basis of the national polity in which they exist. However, the approach has a number of weaknesses that are outlined in this article. The article especially stresses the fact that such broad-brush approaches to political opportunity structures fail to account for the different characteristics of movement organisations within the same polity. The article therefore recommends using a more fine-tuned approach to political opportunities, taking into account that the strategies and status of organisations affect the real political opportunities they face. This fine-tuned approach is used to predict how the status and strategy of environmental organisations might influence the extent to which different types of environmental organisations in the UK network with one-another. We find that organisations that face an open polity - those with a moderate action repertoire and a constructive relationship with government institutions - tend not to cooperate with those with a radical action repertoire and negative relations with government institutions. On the other hand, those that vary their action repertoires, and which have variable status according to the issues involved or campaign targets, have a much broader range of network links with other types of organisations. Thus, there is much more diversity in types of environmental organisation in the UK than the broad-brush to political opportunity structures would account for. Nonetheless, it does seem that environmental organisations are aware of how their own behaviours might influence (non-structural) political opportunities, and that they mould their strategies and networking patterns around this awareness.

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