scholarly journals SCALE, PLACE AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: STRATEGIES OF RESISTANCE ALONG INDIA’S NARMADA RIVER

REVISTA NERA ◽  
2012 ◽  
pp. 96-113
Author(s):  
Pratyusha Basu
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
National Level ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Narmada River ◽  
Sardar Sarovar ◽  
Class Divisions ◽  
Sardar Sarovar Dam

This paper focuses on the struggles being waged by the Narmada Bachao Andolan, a rural social movement opposing displacement due to dams along India’s Narmada River. Building a comparison between two major anti-dam struggles within the Andolan, around the Sardar Sarovar and Maheshwar dams, this study seeks to show that multi-sited social movements pursue a variety of scale and place-based strategies and this multiplicity is key to the possibilities for progressive change that they embody. The paper highlights three aspects of the Andolan. First, the Andolan has successfully combined environmental networks and agricultural identities across the space of its struggle. The Andolan became internationally celebrated when its resistance led to the World Bank withdrawing funding for the Sardar Sarovar dam in 1993. This victory was viewed as a consequence of the Andolan’s successful utilization of transnational environmental networks. However, the Andolan has also intervened in agrarian politics within India and this role of the Andolan emerges when the struggle against the Maheshwar dam is considered. Second, this paper examines the role played by the Andolan in building a national movement against displacement. Given that India’s Supreme Court gave permission for the continued construction of the Sardar Sarovar dam in 2000, the power of the state to push through destructive development projects cannot be underestimated. The national level thus remains an important scale for the Andolan’s struggle leading to the formation of social movement networks and the construction of collective identities around experiences of rural and urban displacement. Third, this paper reflects on how common access to the Narmada river also provides a material basis for the formation of a collective identity, one which can be used to address the class divisions that characterize the Andolan’s membership. Overall, the paper aims to contribute to the study of social movements by showing how attachments to multiple geographies ensure that a movement’s potential futures always exceed the nature of its present forms of resistance.

THE NEW-NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: ARE SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGING THE ONTOLOGY OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS?

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-358
Author(s):  
Bart Cammaerts
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Class Politics ◽  
Opportunity Structures ◽  
Nodal Points ◽  
New Social Movement ◽  
The Impact

Our hypermediated societies affect the very nature of what a social movement is. This article identifies five core nodal points of what constitutes a social movement: Program claims, Identity construction, Connections, Actions, and Resolve (PICAR). Primarily using France’s yellow vest movement case, I assess the impact of social media on these nodal points. I find that social media afford opportunities as well as present challenges for contemporary movements which taken together amounts to a newly emerging ontology. This new-new social movement ontology is characterized by processes of discontinuity (open ideological positioning, fluid collective identities, weak ties, an online repertoire of action, and relative ephemerality) co-existing with continuity (the return of a class politics of redistribution, the continued importance of collective identity, offline repertoires, and cycles of protest). This analysis demonstrates the dynamic interplay between political and mediation opportunity structures, producing new emancipatory potentials and challenging constraints.

The Concept of Social Movement

1992 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Diani
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Interest Groups ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Specific Area ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Cultural Conflicts ◽  
New Synthesis ◽  
Recent Developments

Recent developments in social movement research have evidenced a greater underlying consensus in the field than one might have assumed. Efforts have been made to bridge different perspectives and merge them into a new synthesis. Yet, comparative discussion of the concept of ‘social movement’ has been largely neglected so far. This article reviews and contrasts systematically the definitions of ‘social movement’ formulated by some of the most influential authors in the field. A substantial convergence may be detected between otherwise very different approaches on three points at least. Social movements are defined as networks of informal interactions between a plurality of individuals, groups and/or organizations, engaged in political or cultural conflicts, on the basis of shared collective identities. It is argued that the concept is sharp enough a) to differentiate social movements from related concepts such as interest groups, political parties, protest events and coalitions; b) to identify a specific area of investigation and theorising for social movement research.

Populist Social Movements of the Great Recession*

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paris Aslanidis
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Unified Framework ◽  
Wall Street ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
The People ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Action Frame

Social movement scholars have thus far failed to give populism its deserved attention and to incorporate it into their field of study. Although sociologists, political scientists, and historians have explored diverse facets of the intersection of populism and social dissent, there has been no concerted effort towards building a comprehensive framework for the study of populist mobilization, despite its growing significance in the past decades. In this article I combine insights from populism studies, social movement scholarship, and social psychology to build a unified framework of analysis for populist social movements. I suggest populism is best understood as a collective action frame employed by movement entrepreneurs to construct a resonant collective identity of “the People” and to challenge elites. I argue that populism depends on the politicization of citizenship, and I apply this framework to the movements of the Great Recession to classify Occupy Wall Street and the European indignados as instances of a populist wave of mobilization, using data from archival material and a set of semistructured interviews with Greek activists.

Dayah collectively as a social movement

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-64
Author(s):  
Hanafiah Hanafiah
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Social Movements ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Social Reproduction ◽  
Social Process ◽  
National Level ◽  
Islamic Culture ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Creation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore, find and formulate a mechanism and strategy in social process in Dayah, which can be developed to be a model of new social process applied in public school. Design/methodology/approach The main objective of this research was to examine the strategy and mechanism of social reproduction in Dayah. The strategy and mechanism of social reproduction in public schools were also observed for comparison. The public schools were high school or vocational high school equivalent to the class in Dayah Mudi Mesra. The selected high schools as the object of comparison were SMAN 1 Samalanga and SMAN 2 Tanjungan, Samalanga. The selected public schools were public schools with similar sociological and psychological background and culture with Dayah Samalanga. This study is a social study using a qualitative approach with phenomenological design. The method used is the case study method; case studies are used as a comprehensive explanation related to the various aspects of a person, group, organization, program, or community situation that is studied, attempted and explored as deeply as possible. Findings Dayah with Islamic culture promises an effective social movement in Acehnese society. Dayah potential power was on the agents or social actor as the initiators of the idea of the creation of a network of social movements among Dayahs in Aceh. The stages of the creation of a social movement until movement crystallization can be modelled by utilizing their expert elite agents that are owned by Dayah in Aceh which is the intellectual elites and clerical elites. In addition, Dayah is a form of Acehnese local wisdom in education and religion that enables social movements to walk more naturally, democratically and educationally. Dayah ability related to Islamic culture as a broader social movement even has been tested at the level of the state and the nation of Indonesia. It is indicated by the creation of democratic process in Indonesia, which is activated by a community of Islam with democratic values as religion doctrine. As social movements, religious communities are able to construct perceptions, thoughts and attitudes in the lower class in response to the post-Suharto democratic change. Collins mentioned that social movements, which are derived from Islamic organizations, are able to show their presence at the local and national level. Originality/value The sociological wisdom is its unique social process. Based on preliminary studies, social processes in Dayah are closely related to the cosmopolitan value of Islam. This cosmopolitan value appears in the social order in the Dayah subculture, which appears to be more open to the role of the individual in society as an agent who can achieve a new social class. In this case, Dayah education can be a counter attack against negative social reproduction trends in general education.

Collective identities and formal ideologies in the Irish grassroots pro-asylum seeker movement

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-72
Author(s):  
Niall Moran
Keyword(s):  
Social Movement ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Support Group ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Asylum Seeker ◽  
Identity Work ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

This article examines the relationship between formal ideologies and processes of collective identity construction across two key waves of mobilisation of pro-asylum-seeker groups in Ireland, namely radical anti-racism and the multicultural support group. In each period, a formal ideological stance delimited the scope of actions available to members. In examining the interplay between collective identity and ideology, the actions and trajectories of individual social movement organisations (SMOs) and the movement at large can be better understood. Processes of collective identity construction facilitated SMO members in creating conditional senses of ‘weness’. In instances, these challenged formal ideologies with differing results. In the case of radical anti-racism, it created a reformist/radical division among members. In the multicultural support group, it created a reformist/non-reformist division. These cleavages are crucial to understanding how the movement progressed over time. Collective identity work is understood as a means through which individuals can challenge or reinforce formal ideologies, thus playing a crucial role in the trajectories of the SMOs examined and their repertoire of actions.

scholarly journals Peer Production and Collective Action

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefania Milan
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Cultural Production ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Social Protest ◽  
Peer Networks ◽  
Social Movement Organizations ◽  
Peer Production ◽  
Production Mechanisms

A variety of social movements across the world and the political spectrum are now taking advantage of peer production mechanisms such as collaboration, co-production, and self-organisation. This essay investigates the consequences of peer production for social protest, looking at how peer production reshuffles and remediates social change activism today. It explores the convergences and tensions between peer networks and contemporary social movements ranging from informal coalitions and amorphous grouping to traditional social movement organisations. First, it traces the historical trajectory of peer production as it has come to permeate the progressive social movements of the last three decades, linking distinct approaches to organizing to technological innovation. Second, it reflects on the so-called social affordances (and constraints) of digital infrastructure and their role in fostering specific modes of creativity and convergence apt to support protest actors. Third, it explores three types of consequences of peer production for social movements, namely cultural production and norm change, collective identity, and the commons. The chapter then examines three tensions that might emerge in the process of embedding peer production mechanisms and values in instances of collective action, namely: individual vs. collective engagements, peer networks vs. social movement organizations, and self-organized vs. commercial infrastructure.

Queer Festivals

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konstantinos Eleftheriadis
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
Gender And Sexuality ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
European Level

To what extent is queer anti-identitarian? And how is it experienced by activists at the European level? At queer festivals, activists, artists and participants come together to build new forms of sociability and practice their ideals through anti-binary and inclusive idioms of gender and sexuality. These ideals are moreover channelled through a series of organisational and cultural practices that aim at the emergence of queer as a collective identity. Through the study of festivals in Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Copenhagen, and Oslo, Queer Festivals: Challenging Collective Identities in a Transnational Europe thoughtfully analyses the role of activist practices in the building of collective identities for social movement studies as well as the role of festivals as significant repertoires of collective action and sites of identitarian explorations in contemporary Europe.

Social Movements

2020 ◽  
pp. 365-365
Author(s):  
Marilena Simiti
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Social Protest ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Recent Financial Crisis

Greece has a sustained political tradition of social movement activity. From the restoration of democracy in 1974 to the recent financial crisis Greece has experienced numerous episodes of collective action, ranging from peaceful demonstrations to violent protests. This chapter delineates the trajectory of major social movements (the student, feminist, ecological, alter-globalization movements, the anti-austerity protests, the Greek Indignados as well as the urban disruption of December 2008) underlining that social protest has not been pacified in contemporary Greek society. Even though protest is a normal and ubiquitous aspect of political life, social movement activists have not retreated from the use of confrontational protest, nor has political conflict become more institutionalized. On the other hand, the Greek social movement sector has also witnessed significant long-term shifts since 1974, including the diminishing influence of political parties on movements, the transnationalization of contention, and the increased heterogeneity and fluidity of collective identities, as well as the proliferation of non-state-centric forms of political activism. The chapter concludes with some reflections on future challenges for social movement studies in Greece.

Bali Tolak Reklamasi: The local adoption of global protest

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 620-638 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birgit Bräuchler
Keyword(s):  
Social Movement ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Land Reclamation ◽  
Collective Identities ◽  
Local Identity ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
Negotiation Processes ◽  
National Power ◽  
Different Cultures

Diverted by the virality of social media and the powerful visibility of contemporary global protest, social movement research started to loose sight of the invisible and silent aspects of mobilization and underlying collective identities. Looking at a Balinese protest movement against land reclamation whose anti-capitalist and performative character remind of recent transnational protest, this article refocuses on collective identity and examines the local adoption of global protest. It analyses the evolving actor landscape and the negotiation processes between different cultures, ecologies, generations, media and networking strategies that prominently shape the Bali movement. The article conceptualizes the movement as an emerging information ecology and tracks its entanglements with local identity, national power politics and global activism through a culture and transmedia approach. It thus analyses the loud and the silent side of the protest and the movement’s decision-making strategies that involve human and non-human agency, an aspect that is largely missing in current social movement debates. Going beyond simplified notions of strong leadership or leaderless networks, it tracks the difficult balancing acts between openness and closedness, between an ideally consensual and inclusive movement and the necessity to make strategic decisions in a specific local, national and transnational setting.

Social Movements, Party Organization, and Populism: Insights from the Bolivian MAS

2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (03) ◽  
pp. 19-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santiago Anria
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Party Organization ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Political Force ◽  
Rural And Urban Areas ◽  
Hybrid Organization ◽  
Rural And Urban

Abstract The Movement Toward Socialism (MAS) emerged in Bolivia’s Chapare region in the 1990s. Born of a rural social movement of coca growers, it spread to the cities and became the country’s dominant political force as its leader, Evo Morales, was elected to the presidency in 2005. This article argues that the MAS is a hybrid organization whose electoral success has been contingent on the construction of a strong rural-urban coalition, built on the basis of different linkages between the MAS and organized popular constituencies in rural and urban areas. Whereas the MAS’s rural origins gave rise to grassroots control over the leadership, its expansion to urban areas has fostered the emergence of top-down mobilization strategies. The analysis also reveals how much popular sectors allied with the MAS have pressured the Morales government from below and held it accountable to societal demands.

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