Collective action as narrativity and praxis: Theory and application to Hong Kong’s urban protest movements

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 260-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raul Lejano ◽  
Ernest Chui ◽  
Timothy Lam ◽  
Jovial Wong
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Hong Kong ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Alternative Form ◽  
Protest Movements ◽  
Democratic Community ◽  
Ethnographic Interviews ◽  
Street Protest ◽  
Urban Protest

Policy scholars need to better describe the diversity of actors and interests that forge collective political action through nonformal social networks. The authors find extant theories of collective action to only partially explain such heterogeneity, which is exemplified by the urban protest movements in Hong Kong. A new concept, that of the narrative-network, appears better able to describe movements chiefly characterized by heterogeneity. Instead of simple commonalities among members, a relevant property is the plurivocity of narratives told by members of the coalition. Analyzing ethnographic interviews of members of the movement, the authors illustrate the utility of narrative-network analysis in explaining the complex and multiple motivations behind participation. Narrativity and the shared act of narration, within an inclusive and democratic community, are part of what sustains the movement. The research further develops the theory of the narrative-network, which helps explain the rise of street protest in Hong Kong as an emergent, alternative form of civic engagement.

scholarly journals Social Networks and Civic Mobilizations (Portugal, 2012)

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (s2) ◽  
pp. 49-57
Author(s):  
Isabel Babo ◽  
Célia Taborda Silva
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Public Space ◽  
International Level ◽  
Protest Movements ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Action ◽  
Common Space

Abstract In Portugal, in 2012, the movement “To hell with troika! We want our lives!” emerged from digital social networks and with demonstration on the street on September 15. This social movement has patented new forms of public mobilization and protest motivated by citizens' dissatisfaction with the austerity measures of the Portuguese government, but it is part of the line of protest that has been taking place at the international level. Social networks were used to trigger mobilization, but the protest did not dispense with the traditional forms of expression in the public space, such as gatherings in the squares, rallies, marches and posters. Using a corpus taken from the written press, the event was analyzed using a theoretical and conceptual framework of theories of public space, social movements, and social networks. In this article we intend to reflect on the current protest movements, social networks and collective action, at a time when activism is exercised in electronic connections and in the street. Through this movement we aim to question whether we are facing new configurations of mobilization, visibility, public action and the creation of a common space, and / or if we are facing a continuity of the traditional social movement with the incorporation of new "repertoires of action".

O mundo urbano do trabalho no alvorecer da industrialização: o caso da Península de Setúbal

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joana Dias Pereira
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Labor Movement ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Economic Structure ◽  
Historical Process ◽  
Industrial Areas

This article main goal is to deepen the understanding both a spatial reality and a historical process – the emergency of industrial areas and workers communities.  It seeks to illustrate, through an empirical and monographic research, several territorial and spatial phenomena related to the germination of intricate social networks in the workers neighborhoods and villages and the rise of the labor movement. It attempts to demonstrate that, if many questions still prevail concerning the relationships between economic structure and political action, it is clear that the origin of the workers mass associations is deeply related with industrialization, urbanization and the sociability framework resulting of both processes.

scholarly journals The Rise of “Localism” and Civic Identity in Post-handover Hong Kong: Questioning the Chinese Nation-state

2017 ◽  
Vol 230 ◽  
pp. 323-347 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Veg
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Civic Identity ◽  
Cultural Identification ◽  
Local Identity ◽  
National Education ◽  
Democratic Community ◽  
Chinese Nation ◽  
Identity Discourses ◽  
Definition Of

AbstractWhile it was traditionally accepted that Hongkongers shared a form of pan-Chinese cultural identification that did not contradict their local distinctiveness, over the last decade Hong Kong has seen the rise of new types of local identity discourses. Most recently, “localists” have been a vocal presence. Hong Kong has – quite unexpectedly – developed a strong claim for self-determination. But how new is “localism” with respect to the more traditional “Hong Kong identity” that appeared in the 1970s? The present study takes a two-dimensional approach to study these discourses, examining not only their framework of identification (local versus pan-Chinese) but also their mode of identification (ethno-cultural versus civic). Using three case studies, the June Fourth vigil, the 2012 anti-National Education protest and the 2014 Umbrella movement, it distinguishes between groups advocating civic identification with the local community (Scholarism, HKFS) and others highlighting ethnic identification (Chin Wan). It argues that while local and national identification were traditionally not incompatible, the civic-based identification with a local democratic community, as advocated by most participants in recent movements, is becoming increasingly incompatible with the ethnic and cultural definition of the Chinese nation that is now being promoted by the Beijing government.

Brothers or others in arms? Civilian constituencies and rebel fragmentation in civil war

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric S Mosinger
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Diffusion Model ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Rebel Groups ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Cross National

Why do united rebel fronts emerge in some insurgencies, while in other insurgencies multiple rebel groups mobilize independently to challenge the state, and often, each other? I develop a diffusion model of rebel fragmentation in which participation in rebellion spreads, completely or incompletely, through networks of civilians and dissidents. Using this theoretical framework I hypothesize that two factors jointly determine whether a rebel movement remains unified or fragments: the rebels’ investment in civilian mobilization, and the overall level of civilian grievances. The theory predicts that widely shared grievances motivate the formation of many small dissident groups willing to challenge the regime. Given the difficulty of collective action between disparate opposition actors, an emerging rebel movement will tend towards fragmentation when popular grievances are high. Yet extremely high civilian grievances can also help rebels activate broad, overlapping civilian social networks that serve to bridge together dissident groups. Mass-mobilizing rebel groups, benefiting from the participation of broad civilian networks, are most likely to forge and maintain a unified rebel front. I test this theory alongside several alternatives drawn from cross-national studies of conflict using regression analysis. The quantitative evidence lends considerable credence to the role of rebel constituencies in preventing or fomenting rebel fragmentation.

Kindergarten children’s perceptions of the social unrest in Hong Kong

2021 ◽  
pp. 1476718X2110627
Author(s):  
Caroline Cohrssen ◽  
Nirmala Rao ◽  
Puja Kapai ◽  
Priya Goel La Londe
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Children's Drawings ◽  
Social Unrest ◽  
Protest Movements ◽  
Children's Perceptions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Children’S Drawings ◽  
The World

Hong Kong experienced a period of significant social unrest, marked by protests, from June 2019 to February 2020. Media coverage was pervasive. In July 2020, children aged from 5 to 6 years attending kindergartens in areas both directly and less directly impacted by the protests were asked to draw and talk about what had taken place during the social unrest. Thematic analysis of children’s drawings demonstrates the extent of their awareness and understanding and suggests that children perceived both protestors and police as angry and demonstrating aggression. Many children were critical of police conduct and saw protestors as needing protection from the police. Children around the world have been exposed to protest movements in recent times. The implications for parents, teachers and schools are discussed.

scholarly journals Activismo Transmedia. Narrativas de participación para el cambio social. Entre la comunicación creativa y el media art

Obra digital ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. 123-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Ortuño Mengual ◽  
Virginia Villaplana Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Mobile Devices ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Media Art ◽  
Digital Networks ◽  
Participatory Media ◽  
Network Culture ◽  
Activist Groups ◽  
Media Practices

El artículo propone una revisión de prácticas activistas mediáticas, origen de las formas participativas de la narrativa transmedia, en relación al lugar y la acción política. La implantación de las redes digitales ha permitido el desarrollo de una cultura red. Se analizan prácticas artísticas de colectivos activistas y las nuevas propuestas desarrolladas con dispositivos móviles vía GPS y webdoc. En este sentido, se proponen tres líneas discursivas sobre el activismo transmedia: las aperturas narrativas del territorio y la ciudadanía, las políticas de acción y representación colectiva, y finalmente, la expresión de la experiencia mediante el testimonio.Transmedia activism. Participatory narratives for social changeAbstractWe propose a review of media activist practices giving rise to participative transmedia narratives in relation to political action and location. Digital networks have allowed the development of a network culture. We discuss artistic practices of activist groups and new proposals made via GPS with mobile devices and web documentaries. We identify three kinds of discourse in transmedia activism: narratives that open up to the regionand its inhabitants, policies for collective action and representation, and the expression of experiences through witness.Keywords: Transmedia, activism, participatory media practices, discursive communication, creative communication, social artpp. 123-144

scholarly journals Liberalism, Governmentality and Counter-Conduct; An Introduction to Foucauldian Analytics of Liberal Civil Society Notions

2015 ◽  
pp. 8-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miikka Pyykkönen
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Potential Field ◽  
Political Action ◽  
The Other ◽  
Coercive Power ◽  
Historical Reality ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One

This article gives an analysis of Foucault’s studies of civil society and the various liberalist critiques of government. It follows from Foucault’s genealogical approach that “civil society” does not in itself possess any form of transcendental existence; its historical reality must be seen as the result of the productive nature of the power-knowledge-matrices. Foucault emphasizes that modern governmentality—and more specifically the procedures he names “the conduct of conduct”—is not exercised through coercive power and domination, but is dependent on the freedom and activeness of individuals and groups of society. Civil society is thus analyzed as fundamentally ambivalent: on the one hand civil society is a field where different kinds of technologies of governance meet the lives and wills of groups and individuals, but on the other hand it is a potential field of what Foucault called ‘counter-conduct’ – for both collective action and individual political action.

Self-Undermining Rhetoric in the Past and Present

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Seth Levine
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Political Change ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Economic Insecurity ◽  
The Past ◽  
Broad Concept ◽  
The Face

This chapter considers the prospects for political change in the face of communicative barriers to collective action. It begins to address this question by identifying several of the most well-known historical and recent moments in which there was large-scale mobilization on some economic insecurity issues. This discussion, in concert with the empirical findings in this book, helps clarify the prospects for political action (and policy change) on these issues. The chapter then uses the findings from the book to identify three types of people that are most likely to become active. It also talks about the implications of having this (narrower) set of people active as opposed to the full range of people that find the issues to be important. It concludes by reiterating how self-undermining rhetoric is a broad concept that can apply in many different situations beyond those considered herein.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document