Social movement studies in post-3.11 Japan: A sociological analysis

2021 ◽  
pp. 026858092110053
Author(s):  
Naoto Higuchi

Between the decline of mass protests in the 1970s and the Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima nuclear meltdown in the 2010s, which resulted in the resurgence of mass demonstrations, social movements were widely regarded as uncommon in Japan. In this essay, the author reviews Japan’s social movement studies in the last decade, focusing on the influence of the lack of mass protest since the 1970s on scholarly interests. The essay examines the following four topics: (1) slow responses to the resurgence of mass demonstrations in post-3.11 Japan, (2) quick responses to the rise of the radical right movement, (3) the emergence of cynical approaches to studying social movements, and (4) the redemption of the history of Japan’s postwar social movements. Despite some twists and turns, we can see how social protests are a perpetual element of Japanese society that sociologists study as a common phenomenon.

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Gahr ◽  
Michael Young

This article provides a comparative analysis of two religiously inspired protests that fed broader social movements: the "rebellion" of immediate abolitionists at Lane Seminary in Cincinnati in 1834 and the new-left "breakthrough" at the Christian Faith-and-Life Community in Austin in 1960. The two cases are examples of moral protests breaking out of Protestant institutions and shaping social movements. From the comparison, we draw general lessons about the meso- and micro-level processes of activist conversions. We show how processes of "rationalization" and "subjectivation" combined in the emergence of new contentious moral orders. We apply these lessons to help explain the creative interactions of evangelical Protestants in the history of American moral protest. Our approach accords with pragmatist and new social movement theories of emergent moral orders.


2011 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Herrera ◽  
John Markoff

Scholars of Spain's democratic transition vary considerably in the role they attribute to movements. Spanish democratization is widely known for its successful elite negotiations and some describe it as an instance of democratization from above. For others it is a case of social movement activism creating problems for those elites negotiating the democratization process. Among those social movements, the least studied took place in the Spanish countryside. Rural movements played a role well beyond the standard accounts in two important ways. First, they challenged significant obstacles to democratization that elite deals had left in place at the local level. And, second, the local arena had major implications for the national scene. We trace the history of four rural campaigns that were a pivotal component of Spanish democratization. We conclude with some general observations on the role of social movements in imparting a dynamic character to democracy.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aliza Luft

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.


Caderno CRH ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (87) ◽  
pp. 659
Author(s):  
Antonio George Lopes Paulino

<p>O artigo revisita a história dos movimentos sociais de bairros de Fortaleza (CE), tendo como referente empírico o Conjunto Palmeiras, cuja formação territorial remete aos anos 1970. A análise resulta de aproximações etnográficas que adentram no cenário da mobilização por direitos fundamentais e pela urbanização do bairro, espaço social que resguarda uma memória de lutas e conquistas, possibilitando identificar agentes envolvidos na projeção desses movimentos nas décadas de 1980 e 1990. Essa experiência de organização coletiva segue na formação de espaços de autonomia, com momentos de interlocução e resistência frente ao Estado, trazendo contribuições para o debate acerca de temas como movimentos sociais, soberania e representação popular.</p><p> </p><p>BETWEEN DIALOGUE AND RESISTANCE: the neighborhood social movement in the Palmeiras Set, in Fortaleza (CE)</p><p>The article revisits the history of social movements in neighborhoods in Fortaleza (CE), with the empirical reference to Conjunto Palmeiras, whose territorial formation goes back to the 1970s. The analysis results from ethnographic approaches that enter the scenario of mobilization for fundamental rights and the urbanization of the neighborhood, a social space that protects a memory of struggles and conquests, making it possible to identify agents involved in the projection of these movements in the 1980s and 1990s. This experience of collective organization continues in the formation of spaces of autonomy, with moments of dialogue and resistance towards the State, bringing contributions to the debate on topics such as social movements, sovereignty and popular representation.</p><p>Keywords: Policy. Social movements. Representation. Sovereignty. City.</p><p> </p><p>ENTRE DIALOGUE ET RÉSISTANCE: le mouvement social de voisinage dans le Palmeiras Set, à Fortaleza (CE)</p><p>L’article revisite l’histoire des mouvements sociaux de quartiers de Fortaleza (CE), ayant comme référent empirique le Conjunto Palmeiras, dont la formation territoriale se réfère aux années 1970. L’analyse résulte d’approches ethnographiques qui entrent en scène de mobilisation pour les droits fondamentaux et d’urbanisation du quartier, un espace social qui protège une mémoire des luttes et des conquêtes, permettant d’identifier les acteurs impliqués dans la projection de ces mouvements dans les années 1980 et 1990. Cette expérience d’organisation collective se poursuit dans la formation d’espaces d’autonomie, avec des moments d’interlocution et de résistance à l’égard de l’État, apportant des contributions au débat sur des thèmes tels que les mouvements sociaux, la souveraineté et la représentation populaire.</p><p>Mots-clés: Politique. Mouvements sociaux. Représentation. Souveraineté. Ville.</p>


Author(s):  
Holly J. McCammon ◽  
Verta Taylor ◽  
Jo Reger ◽  
Rachel L. Einwohner

The introduction to The Oxford Handbook of U.S. Women’s Social Movement Activism, begins with an “aerial” view of the history of scholarship on U.S. women’s collective action, tracing the roots of this body of research to the early nineteenth century and following its trajectory to the present. In recent decades, the scholarly study of U.S. women’s activism has increased dramatically, with a wide range of investigations that reveal both the broad diversity of women’s politicized collective action and the theoretical sophistication in our understanding of the causes, processes, and consequences of women’s collective struggles. The introduction concludes with an overview of the Handbook’s five sections, which explore the history of women’s activism, the issues mobilizing women, the strategies and tactics women have employed, the targets and forums of women’s activism, and women’s participation in a variety of social movements, in addition to those concerned with women’s issues.


2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Goodwin ◽  
James Jasper ◽  
Francesca Polletta

In recent years sociologists have made great strides in studying the emotions that pervade social life. The study of social movements has lagged behind, even though there are few arenas where emotions are more obvious or important. We hope to understand this lag as well as make some suggestions for catching up. To do this we examine the history of scholarship on social movements, finding that emotions were poorly specified in the early years, ignored entirely in the structural and organizational paradigms that emerged in the 1960s, and still overlooked in the cultural era of the 1980s and 1990s. Despite isolated efforts to understand the emotions of social movements, they remain today a fertile area for inquiry.


Contention ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-30
Author(s):  
Aliza Luft

Recent years have witnessed a turn in the field of contentious politics toward the study of political violence, yet scholars have yet to focus their lens on genocide. Moreover, research on genocide is characterized by fundamental disagreements about its definition, origins, and dynamics, leading to a lack of generalizable theory. As a remedy, this article suggests that research on genocide can be improved by incorporating concepts from social movements. After reviewing the history of research on social movements and genocide, I analyze civilian participation in the Rwandan genocide as an example of how social movement theory helps explain civilian mobilization for genocide. Finally, I propose that a contentious politics approach to genocide would consider it one among many forms of contentious collective action, analyzable within the existing framework of social movement theory.


2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 474-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandro Mezzadra ◽  
Verónica Gago

The article takes the debates surrounding the ‘politics of autonomy’ in Latin America as its point of departure and investigates the transformations of the political notion of autonomy against the background of developments that have characterized the so-called long decade of the new ‘progressive governments’ in the region. Moving beyond the alternative between ‘conflict’ and ‘cooptation’ that has shaped academic and political debates on the topic, the authors analyze the relations between ‘social movements’ and ‘progressive governments’ from the angle of the transformations of capitalism in Latin America and of emerging new forms of activism rooted within everyday life (particularly within ‘popular economies”). The article critically discusses such notions as neoliberalism and neo-extractivism in order to build an analytical framework within which to reconstruct the history of Latin American social movements since the early 2000s and to test the productivity and the limits of the very notion of ‘social movement’ in the present political conjuncture.


2010 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 197-210
Author(s):  
Oskar Mulej

In this article, the Slovenian author merges the perspectives of the history of popular culture and of the history of social movements. At the turn of the 1970s/1980s, the little town of Ljubljana, the capital of the communist-ruled Slovenia, became the centre of Yugoslavian alternative culture, which run parallel to the official culture but was completely independent from it. Alternative culture constituted a protest against the realities of the last years of Josip Broz Tito’s rule. As such, it provoked hostile reactions of the state. The rulers of Yugoslavia did not take into account the fact that the punks only constituted a kind of “cultural opposition”, and not a viable political force. The punk culture was an attempt to create a new mode of expression and a new lifestyle, and its power as an inspiration in Europe, including Poland, was unprecedented. As a sui generis social movement, the punk paved the way for the emergence of civil society.


2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Heideman

Scholars studying social movements and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have noted a rapid expansion in the number of professional organizations dedicated to creating social change. This study uses the case of the peacebuilding sector in Croatia (1991–present) to examine central questions in both fields: where professional organizations come from, what drives professionalization, and what the consequences of professionalization are for the work of social change. I find there are actually many paths to NGO creation, and identify five types of NGOs: transformed, new, bud, seed, and clone. These five types of organizations had different paths for development, have different levels of professionalization, and engage in different types of work based on their location and history. Examining the history of a social change sector shows professionalization to be a nuanced, uneven process that can expand the social change sector even as it transforms the sector's work.


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