The role of social movements in the project of civil society: the case of the women's movement

2013 ◽  
pp. 117-129
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Women's Movement

Indymedia in Belgium: the delicate balance between media activism and political activism

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (6) ◽  
pp. 1031-1038
Author(s):  
Robin Van Leeckwyck ◽  
Pieter Maeseele ◽  
Maud Peeters ◽  
David Domingo
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
European Countries ◽  
The Political ◽  
Media Activism ◽  
The Media ◽  
Original Website

Belgium was one of the first European countries to establish a local ‘national’ branch of the global Indymedia network. The diversity of those involved in this ‘national movement’ ultimately turned out to be both the strength of the original website and the cause of its decline. Indeed, due to political and organizational disagreement, many activists decided to create their own ‘local’ Independent Media Centre (IMC). This article distinguishes two perspectives on the role of Indymedia: the political activists saw Indymedia as a means to an end, as an instrument to discuss strategies and tactics, and to coordinate social movements and grassroots movements. The media activists, on the contrary, saw Indymedia as an end in itself, as a platform for civil society organizations to make their voices heard and facilitate democratic debate – in this vein, the experience of Indymedia.be was transformed into the alternative news site DeWereldMorgen.be.

Civil Society, Social Movements and the Irish State

2010 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peadar Kirby
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Political System ◽  
Free Market ◽  
The State ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Partnership ◽  
Corporate Profit ◽  
Fianna Fail

This article develops a theoretical framework to consider the symbiotic relationship between civil society, social movements and the Irish state. Civil society, largely through social movements, laid the foundations for an independent Irish state in the half-century before independence. Following independence, the nature of the civil society–state relationship changed; civil society became much more dependent on the state. The article empirically traces the nature of society's relationship to the state since the 1920s, and examines the nature of the political system and its major political party, Fianna Fáil, the structure of the economy, and the dominance of particular understandings of the role of civil society and the nature of society itself. The period since the advent of social partnership in 1987 is examined; this period marks a new attempt by the state to co-opt organised civil society making it subservient to its project of the imposition on society of the requirements of global corporate profit-making. The more forceful implementation of a global free-market project by the Irish state since the 1980s, and the co-option of organised civil society into this project, has left huge space for an alternative to emerge, the potential of which was indicated by the success of the ‘No’ campaign in the 2008 Lisbon referendum campaign.

Environment and the Global Civil Society

2001 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Environmental Movement ◽  
Global Civil Society ◽  
Three Gorges ◽  
The Three Gorges ◽  
The World ◽  
Narmada Dam ◽  
The Three Gorges Dam

AbstractThis paper examines the role of civil society in environmental movements in the context of globalization. Exploring the various meanings of civil society, it argues that to understand civil society as a politically meaningful concept, due consideration should be given to social movements, which recharge civil society. At the same time, the efficacy of social movements rests on the vibrancy of civil society. In the present day world, civil society has become quite active in a large number of public interest issues of which environment has become quite central. This paper explores the conditions of the environmental movement as a truly global phenomenon and its role in the rise of a global civil society. The paper also reflects on the implications of the emergence of a global civil society for the protection of the environment. Drawing upon the cases of the Three Gorges Dam in China and the Narmada Dam in India the paper examines the role of an incipient global civil society. We must keep on striving to make the world a better place for all of mankind - each one contributing his bit, in his or her own way. - Ken Saro-Wiwa The Environment is humanity's first right. - Ken Saro-Wiwa

“Bread and Roses”

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-100
Author(s):  
Tom Juravich
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Labor Movement ◽  
Women's Movement ◽  
First Generation ◽  
New Music ◽  
Labor Standards ◽  
Central Concept ◽  
History Of

This paper traces the history of the song “Bread and Roses” to examine labor culture and the role of song in the labor movement. In the late 1930s and early 1940s, “Bread and Roses” was included in several of the first generation song books produced by unions that reflected an expansive and inclusive labor culture closely connected with the Left. With the ascendance of business unionism and the blacklisting of the Left after the war, labor culture took a heavy blow, and labor songbooks became skeletons of the full-bodied versions they had once been. Unions began to see singing not as part of the process of social change but as a vehicle to bring people together, and songs such as “Bread and Roses” and other more class-based songs were jettisoned in favor of a few labor standards and American sing-along songs. “Bread and Roses” was born anew to embody a central concept in the women’s movement and rode the wave of new music, art, and film that were part of new social movements and new constituencies that challenged business unionism and reshaped union culture in the 1980s.

Democratisation and New Social Movements

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Žiga Vodovnik
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Sufficient Condition ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
New Social Movements ◽  
Democratic Transformation ◽  
Political Economic

AbstractThe article offers a reflection on the processes of democratisation in Slovenia, arguing that the new social movements were a key player in initiating and directing democratic transformation, but later came to be gradually marginalised with the consolidation of the “new” or “bourgeois” civil society. Furthermore, a new chronotope of analysis shows that the role of social movements was a necessary but not a sufficient condition for political, economic and social changes, since during the second phase of the democratisation a political detachment is already underway. The key point of contestation and discordance can be identified in their completely opposite understanding of democracy and the process of democratisation itself.

‘It is time to reterritorialise utopian thinking’: community, the commons and the funding of autonomous movements in Latin America – an interview with Marcelo Lopes de Souza

2019 ◽  
pp. 119-134
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Community Development ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Community Empowerment ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Utopian Thinking ◽  
The Commons ◽  
American Civil Society

This chapter presents an interview with Marcelo Lopes de Souza, a scholar who cooperates with social movements, and professor in the Department of Geography at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Drawing on the experiences of Latin American social movements, Marcelo discusses the implications of a commitment to radical autonomy for the funding of community-based movements and for emancipatory community development more broadly. Among the topics covered are the importance of ‘the commons’ in the life of communities; the role of ‘autonomous’ movements in community empowerment; the so-called ‘NGOisation’ of Latin American civil society and the extent to which this phenomenon has been a feature of the movements that Marcelo is familiar as well as its effects.

scholarly journals The Role of Civil Society in Political Repression: The UK Prevent Counter-Terrorism Programme

Sociology ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 003803852199697
Author(s):  
Narzanin Massoumi
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Political Repression ◽  
Counter Terrorism ◽  
Cooperative Relationships ◽  
Civil Society Organisations ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Uk

Research on social movements shows a bias towards movements that oppose the status quo. Consequently, state–movement relations are primarily characterised as antagonistic. Where cooperative relationships are considered, the focus is on co-option and institutionalisation of movements. By contrast, this article focuses on social movements that support the status quo and how in their collaborations with governmental actors, they act as para-statal agencies. Drawing on findings from a multi-site ethnography examining the implementation of the UK Prevent counter-terrorism programme, I show how neoconservative think tanks and counter-extremism civil society organisations help to enact and extend Prevent as a distinct form of political repression. As such, this article gives close attention to the otherwise neglected role that non-state actors play in non-violent political repression. My argument builds on and extends emerging work analysing social movement activity beyond the prism of the ‘challengers versus authorities’ paradigm.

The “Power of Presence”: Professional Women Leaders and Family Law Reform in Morocco

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 337-360
Author(s):  
Mounira M Charrad ◽  
Rita Stephan
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Women Leaders ◽  
Women's Movement ◽  
Family Law ◽  
Professional Women ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Political Capital ◽  
Legal Change

Abstract The 2004 reforms of Islamic family law in Morocco brought about a long-awaited expansion of women’s rights. The Moroccan women’s movement was a key player in the promulgation of the reforms. We highlight the role of professional women leaders in the movement and show how they developed political capital and the “power of presence” by combining (i) professional attainment, (ii) leadership in women’s organizations, and (iii) active participation or positions in politics and civil society. We suggest that more needs to be understood about the implications of women’s education and professional attainment for legal change, especially in the Middle East.

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