scholarly journals Die Evolution indigener Politik in Bolivien

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (142) ◽  
pp. 49-60
Author(s):  
Roberta Rice
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Organizational Capacity ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Social Movement Organizations ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Movement Strategies ◽  
Indigenous Movement ◽  
Movement Organizations

This study examines the emergence of indigenous movements as powerful new social and political actors in Latin America. Bolivia’s indigenous movement, in particular, stands out for its mobilizational and organizational capacity in uniting diverse sectors of civil society in the struggle against neoliberalism. The study explores the evolution of indigenous movement strategies in Bolivia, beginning from the transition to democracy in the early 1980s until the presidential victory of indigenous leader Evo Morales of the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) party in late 2005. Special attention is paid to the rise of contemporary indigenous-based parties rooted in established social movement organizations as well as the role of the indigenous movement in the Bolivian ‘Water War’ of 2000 and the ‘Gas War’ of 2003. The study contends that the success of Bolivia’s contemporary indigenous movement is largely the result of its two-pronged strategy based on unwavering opposition in both the streets and in parliament and its capacity to combine competing class- and ethnic- based demands.

The Sovereign and its Shadow: Constituent Assembly and Indigenous Movement in Ecuador

2003 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 721-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERT ANDOLINA
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Latin American Politics ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Constituent Assembly ◽  
Institutional Politics ◽  
Ideological Struggle ◽  
Indigenous Movement ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Constitutive Principles

A crucial development in current Latin American politics is the growing involvement of indigenous movements in democracies grappling with the challenges of regime consolidation. This article examines how Ecuador's indigenous movement consecrated new rights and national constitutive principles in the 1997–8 constitutional assembly. It argues that the indigenous movement defined the legitimacy and purpose of the assembly through an ideological struggle with other political actors, in turn shaping the context and content of constitutional reforms in Ecuador. The article concludes that softening the boundary between ‘cultural politics’ and ‘institutional politics’ is necessary in order to understand the impact of social movements in Latin America.

The Oslo Accords and Palestinian Civil Society

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liv Tørres
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Building Block ◽  
Organizational Capacity ◽  
The State ◽  
Efficient Tool ◽  
Palestinian Territories ◽  
Oslo Accords ◽  
Israeli Occupation ◽  
Internal Division

This chapter discusses the role of civil society in helping Palestinians challenge Israeli occupation. Palestinian organizations have developed despite the absence of the state, independence, sovereignty, and citizenship. Organizational capacity and activism are an efficient tool and building block for unity and power here as elsewhere, which in turn will help Palestinians challenge their circumstances. The Norwegian People's Aid (NPA) has been active in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since 1987. Its goal is to help build the organizational and collective muscles of Palestinians to challenge occupation, oppression, and internal division. It is against this background that the NPA works in partnership with local Palestinian organizations. It is on this basis that they believe it is important to work with local forces rather than simply provide services. And it is from this perspective that they have watched the development of Palestinian civil society and the tensions, changes, and challenges that followed the Oslo Accords.

The Relevance of the Responsibility to Protect for Latin America and the Caribbean Region: Prevention and The Role of Civil Society

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 266-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilberto M. A. Rodrigues ◽  
Andrés Serbin
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
General Strategy ◽  
Traditional Role ◽  
Research Education ◽  
Peaceful Resolution ◽  
The Caribbean

AbstractThe authors argue in this article that the main dimensions to be considered regarding the implementation of the Responsibility to Protect in Latin America and the Caribbean are the preventive dimension and, eventually the rebuilding dimension. The preventive dimension of the Responsibility to Protect cannot be dissociated from a general strategy of armed or violent conflict prevention, and should not be focused only in the prevention of mass atrocities. In the framework of the juridical and cultural legacy of the region, special attention should be directed to avoid considering the reactive dimension of RtoP, as well-embedded principles of national sovereignty, non-intervention and regional peaceful resolution of disputes obstruct any attempt of external intervention, even if they are related to international community initiatives. In this regard, the authors argue that the traditional role of regional organisations and mechanisms in peaceful resolution of inter-state conflicts, should be deepened, combined and coordinated with civil society initiatives, in the implementation of RtoP. The role of civil society organisations and networks should be strengthened through an increasing capacity building process, which includes developing skills and capacities to address both prevention and early warning, and which ought to be based on research, education and networking.

Mobilizing in Black Boxes: Social Networks and Participation in Social Movement Organizations

2000 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Kitts
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Social Movement Organizations ◽  
Black Boxes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Movement Organizations ◽  
Movement Participation

Recent research has focused on the role of social networks in facilitating participation in protest and social movement organizations. This paper elaborates three currents of microstructural explanation, based on information, identity, and exchange. In assessing these perspectives, it compares their treatment of multivalence, the tendency for social ties to inhibit as well as promote participation. Considering two dimensions of multivalence—the value of the social tie and the direction of social pressure—this paper discusses problems of measurement and interpretation in network analysis of movement participation. A critical review suggests some directions for future research.

Europe’s LGBT Movement: France

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Paternotte ◽  
Massimo Prearo
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Movement Organizations ◽  
General Will ◽  
Lgbt Activism ◽  
Movement Organizations ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Lgbt Movement ◽  
Limited Duration

Four moments can be identified in the development of LGBT activism in France: the tensions between private actions and acting publicly (1954–1974), the movement as an activist project (1974–1989), the first attempts of institutionalization (1989–1994), and the emergence of a space of LGBT activism (1994–2013). These moments are identified based on the nature of the collective action, the internal structure of the movement, the representativeness of national collectives, and the political plurality of the community of the LGBT movement. They show the nonlinear trajectory of the LGBT movement in France and confirm that the project of an LGBT movement, a structured and representative national organization, has never been fully achieved in the country. Two characteristics of the French political and social system contribute to explain this situation: a strong and inaccessible state that transcends civil society, and the impact of Republicanism. The closure of the French state, which restricts the opportunities available to activists, has had a significant impact on activism. It not only contributes to the individualization of protest, but also leads to a radicalization of activism, a limited duration of groups over time, and a lack of centralization, institutionalization, and NGOization of social movement organizations. This closure partly results from the Republicanist ideology, which requires the state to transcend civil society groups and the particular interests they would defend in favor of so-called general will. If the development of Republican ideas has historically facilitated the development of LGBT rights, Republicanism has more recently prevented LGBT activists from articulating a specific political identity.

scholarly journals Strange Bedfellows: How an Anticipatory Countermovement Brought Same‐Sex Marriage into the Public Arena

2014 ◽  
Vol 39 (02) ◽  
pp. 449-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Dorf ◽  
Sidney Tarrow
Keyword(s):  
Social Movement ◽  
Social Movement Organizations ◽  
Marriage Equality ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Same Sex Marriage ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Public ◽  
Triangular Relationship ◽  
Movement Organizations ◽  
Lgbt Movement

Since the 1980s, social movement scholars have investigated the dynamic of movement/countermovement interaction. Most of these studies posit movements as initiators, with countermovements reacting to their challenges. Yet sometimes a movement supports an agenda in response to a countermovement that engages in what we call “anticipatory countermobilization.” We interviewed ten leading LGBT activists to explore the hypothesis that the LGBT movement was brought to the fight for marriage equality by the anticipatory countermobilization of social conservatives who opposed same‐sex marriage before there was a realistic prospect that it would be recognized by the courts or political actors. Our findings reinforce the existing scholarship, but also go beyond it in emphasizing a triangular relationship among social movement organizations, countermovement organizations, and grassroots supporters of same‐sex marriage. More broadly, the evidence suggests the need for a more reciprocal understanding of the relations among movements, countermovements, and sociolegal change.

scholarly journals Valuing the Cause: A Theory of Authenticity in Social Movements

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward T. Walker ◽  
Lina Stepick
Keyword(s):  
Social Movement ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Contentious Politics ◽  
Social Movement Organizations ◽  
Cognitive Schemas ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Central Concept ◽  
Movement Organizations

Scholars of contentious politics expect that social movement organizations (SMOs) are valued according to their ability to craft resonant frames or to enact displays of worthiness. We offer an alternative, relational perspective highlighting the critical role of authenticity in shaping an SMO’s perceived value. Unlike frames and intentional displays, calculated efforts to proclaim authenticity often backfire. We distill two orthogonal types: grassroots (in)authenticity, based on idealized notions of civil society, and institutional (in)authenticity, rooted in cultural-cognitive schemas used to judge fit with established SMO categories. Grassroots authenticity benefits an SMO’s fundamental legitimacy, while lacking it entirely (i.e. “astroturfing”) severely harms public support. Institutional authenticity increases resources and survival chances, intelligibility to elite observers, and clarity of collective identities; still, lacking this (via hybridity) may assist in recruitment and outreach. We build propositions that elaborate these expectations and argue that authenticity should become a more central concept in social movement research.

scholarly journals The role of organized civil society in tobacco control in Latin America and the Caribbean

2010 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. S330-S339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Marcet Champagne ◽  
Ernesto Sebrié ◽  
Verónica Schoj
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Tobacco Control ◽  
The Caribbean

scholarly journals Have You Ever Seen the Void? Interest Groups Concerns Toward the Weakening Representational Role of Political Parties in European Countries

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Chiara Fiorelli
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Economic Interests ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Policy Choices ◽  
Democratic Life

Contemporary democracies face a trend toward the diffusion of the representational void left by under- legitimized political parties (Mair 2013). The essential functions of traditional political parties to organize and articulate political conflict and societal interests have been challenged both from the inside of the party system, by the emergence of populist habits of newcomers, and from the outside, by the progressive erosion of old political culture and corresponding increasing of hostility feeling. Intermediaries organizations of political and economic interests usually push their demands toward political actors in order to shape policy choices. What can happen when the traditional party system suffers from de- legitimation? In this paper, I will try to understand the level of concern of interest organizations toward the progressive detachment of civil society from political actors, in order to define if the risk of a void of representation is perceived as real and contingent. Thanks to a new original European dataset (the Comparative Interest Groups Survey), the analysis shows that different types of interest groups perceive the void to be real and with a possible impact on their activities and their own survival. As expected, in the regression model, differences emerge between countries with a traditional strong interests’ system and countries where groups activities are usually barely regulated. The results support the idea that the distance between civil society and political representatives should be considered a prominent focus of contemporary social and political investigation in order to understand the challenge for democratic life and the possible strategy of reaction.

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