scholarly journals The Other Side of the Coin: Explaining Crossnational Similarities Between Social Movements

1998 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Giugni
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
The Core ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures ◽  
Affinity Model ◽  
Structural Affinity ◽  
And Diffusion

This exploratory essay provides a general framework for the study of crossnational similarities among social movements by looking at three broad social processes: globalization, structural affinity, and diffusion. Each of these concepts is at the core of three apparently rival explanations of movement similarities. The globalization model explains similarities among social movements as a product of similar movement reactions to transnational political opportunities; the structural affinity model states that similar national political opportunity structures account for similarities among social movements across countries; and the diffusion model argues that the adoption of information from abroad causes similarities among social movements in different countries. This essay integrates three concepts in a general model of crossnational similarities among social movements. The model is illustrated with data on new social movements in four West European countries.

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.

scholarly journals Building Rhizomatic Social Movements? Movement-Building Relays during the Current Epoch of Contention

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Nikolaus Funke
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Ideal Type ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures ◽  
Movement Building ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Shared Understandings ◽  
Current Movement

This article investigates the movement building dynamics of contemporary social movement milieus (such as particular protests, social forums or occupations). It develops the concept of the “relay” to introduce four ideal-type movement building relays understood as distinct movement milieus: clustering relay, networking relay, organizing relay, and transforming relay. Each ideal-type captures different points on a continuum of increasing movement building and thus for generating commonalities, shared understandings and identities, mobilizations and strategies. Focusing on what I call the current “rhizomatic movement epoch,” which ranges from roughly the Zapatistas to the recent occupy-type protests, the relay framework can provide a larger conceptual umbrella or schemata for movement-to-movement transmissions. Moreover, focussing on “the situated” element of movements, the relay seeks to highlight the milieu of cooperation attempts, the physical, social and psychological space, the political-economic and socio-cultural setting, in which actors and groups interact. It focuses on those elements that are between the outside of the broader political economy and political opportunity structures (which arguably pre-structure the particular relay) and the “inside” of intra-group or movement behaviour (which in turn feeds back on the particular relay dynamics). While drawing on selected empirical examples from protests, social forums and networking attempts, this article has a conceptual focus, exploring possibilities by adoption of such a relay lens to further our understanding of movement building dynamics and the temporality of social movements, the current movement milieu and social movement theory more generally. As such, my hope is to raise questions and open further research avenues of interest to social movement organizers and scholars.

Opposition der Siebziger in Polen

2008 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hella Dietz
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Network Analysis ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Relative Deprivation ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Framing Analysis ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures

AbstractStarting with Hans Joas’ theory of creative action and Alberto Melucci's theory of collective identity (with slight modifications), the paper specify the conditions for a useful application of newer theories of social movements. Using this (neo-) pragmatist perspective, and drawing on the example of the development of civic opposition in Poland, it endeavours to question and expand the explanatory potential of the theories of relative deprivation, political opportunity structures, network analysis and framing analysis.

scholarly journals Why have Anti-Offshore Tin Mining Movements Failed in Bangka but Succeeded in East Belitung? Political Opportunity Structures and Political Settlement in the Context of Indonesia's Democratic Future

PCD Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-227
Author(s):  
Eko Bagus Sholihin
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Political Access ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures ◽  
Important Position ◽  
Political Settlement

Civil society movements have occupied an important position in Indonesia's democratisation. This article seeks to determine why anti-offshore tin mining movements in the post-authoritarian era failed in Bangka but succeeded in East Belitung, an area where tin mining has historically been important. By analysing the political opportunity structures and political settlement mechanisms involved, this article argues, first, that the movement's success in East Belitung can be attributed to open political access, fragmentation within elite circles, and alliances with influential elites; such political opportunities were not available in Bangka. Second, in Bangka, the local bourgeoisie and brokers used clientelistic approaches in their political settlement and prevented resistance by co-opting local communities within the extraction chain. In East Belitung, meanwhile, such efforts were stymied by the lack of local bourgeoisie, the strength of environmental awareness, and the availability of alternative economic resources. It may thus be concluded that, while a clientelistic approach to settlement may prevent conflict, it also limits the political participation of civil society movements—an important element of democracy.

Protest Dynamics under the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces Transitional Government

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kira D. Jumet
Keyword(s):  
Armed Forces ◽  
Power Relationship ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Transitional Regime ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Supreme Council ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures ◽  
The Military

This chapter explains how changes in political opportunity structures following the 2011 revolutionary protests affected subsequent anti-regime mobilization and the dynamics between the military transitional regime and those who contested it. Through an examination of protest cycles in Egypt 2011–2012, the chapter explores how government violence, repression, and concessions affected individuals’ emotions and their decisions to protest or not protest. The chapter demonstrates that changes in political opportunities created during the 18-day uprising altered repertoires of contention and reconfigured the power relationship between the regime and its opponents. The chapter also claims that particular elements of protest dynamics under the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) led to a relatively quick transition to civilian rule.

Strategies for Survival: Human Rights Organizations’ Responses to the Closing of Political Opportunity Structures in Hungary

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-139
Author(s):  
Márton Gerő ◽  
Pál Susánszky ◽  
Ákos Kopper ◽  
Gergely Tóth
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Human Rights Organizations ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures

In the last decade, there has been a tendency for governments to impose tighter restrictions on civil society organizations, especially those promoting democracy and human rights. In this study, we examine how human rights organizations are responding to the increasingly hostile political environment in Hungary. The expanding limits on civil society organizations is usually discussed within a framework labelled as the closing space for civil society, which emphasizes the legislation and governmental actions directly attacking civil society organizations. Despite the impression that the restrictions threaten the existence of these organizations, a closer examination reveals that well-established organizations are capable of developing coping strategies to survive. To fully understand how these strategies are developed, we need to supplement this framework with the theory of political opportunity structures. This broader theoretical perspective examines the openness of decision-making processes for non-ruling actors and includes the role of perceptions in the examination of reactions to changes in the opportunity structure. As our study shows, perceptions about the social environment have a crucial role in understanding the strategies of human rights organizations. Examining the reactions of ten organizations, primarily using the method of organizational interviews, we show that rather than direct restrictions attacking civil society organizations, the major factor shaping their strategies is the closing of political opportunities. As a consequence of an almost total closure of decision-making mechanisms, they have been changing their activities from focusing on their roles as experts and working with state institutions to emphasizing social embeddedness, community building and raising awareness.

scholarly journals Social Movements and Institutional Selectivity

1996 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Wisler ◽  
Marco G. Giugni
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
General Setting ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Institutional Selectivity ◽  
Movement Type ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures ◽  
The Relationship

Contrary to what is usually implied by work on the relationship between political opportunity structures and social movements, political institutions are not a general setting offering or denying formal access and political opportunities to every challenge, but rather favor certain types of movements and constrain others. This process of institutional selectivity depends on the relationship between the structure of a given political institution and the movement type and defines social movements as pro-institutional, counter-institutional, or neutral. Accordingly, variation in the movements' action repertoire and degree of success can be observed. Yet, political institutions leave the door open to different interpretations by social actors so that a framing struggle takes place; at stake is the fit between movement demands and the structure of political institutions. The argument is developed through the example of federalism and its impact on two types of movements—namely, regionalist and squatters' movements—and illustrated by discussing their fate in France, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Empirical data suggest that institutional selectivity is to be taken into account to reach a better understanding of the relationship between social movements and their political context.

The Dynamics of Social Movement Development: Northern Ireland's Civil Rights Movement in The 1960s

2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Bosi
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Civil Rights Movement ◽  
Political Context ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Northern Irish ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
Political Opportunity Structures ◽  
The 1960S

This article extends our understanding of social movement development through a qualitative longitudinal analysis of Northern Ireland's civil rights movement during the 1960s. It applies Diani's (1996) approach that links categories of master frames with political opportunity structures. The analysis chronicles how political context shaped the evolution of the moveSment's dominant message and traces how political opportunities imparted advantages to a reformist civil rights message that reflected a realignment master frame in early stages of Northern Irish mobilization. Later, changes in political context—police repression, lack of political responsiveness, and countermobilization—rendered reformist political realignments impossible and gave advantages to elements in the civil rights network that stressed the traditional ethnonational divisions and revanchist, antipartitionist messages. Specifically, this article asks how the inclusive and reformist mobilizing messages of the 1960s Northern Irish civil rights movement came about and then reverted to the exclusivist Nationalist message of the 1970s, and how the shifting political opportunities brought about these changes.

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