scholarly journals Thinking and theorising about activism: who and how?

2009 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Humphrys
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Global Justice ◽  
Movement Analysis ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
Antonio Gramsci ◽  
The Future

This article overviews the following three articles in the journal, which arise from the 2008 conference Other Worlds 2: After the Neo-Con Men. The article responds to an issue raised across the papers regarding social movement knowledge and theory: what is the tension between analysis produced inside the academy and that which arises from within movements. And how can theory can be developed in a way that both takes into account the viewpoint and needs of the historical players whose activity is shaping the future (social movement actors) and the wider social forces that give rise to and shape the struggles those players are involved in. It is argued that the new movements around globalisation and global justice have reasserted 'activism' as a key component of social movement analysis, challenging academics to engage with social movements in a more direct way and to ensure their output is relevant to that audience. It is argued that the concept of the ‘organic intellectuals’, outlined by Italian Marxist philosopher Antonio Gramsci, has particular utility.

Die Bewegung für Klimagerechtigkeit und Energiedemokratie in Deutschland.

2016 ◽  
Vol 46 (184) ◽  
pp. 403-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrik Sander
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Movement Analysis ◽  
Climate Justice ◽  
Climate Politics ◽  
Historical Materialist

This article argues that social movement research must be renewed by a historical-materialist perspective to be able to understand the emergence and effects of the relatively new climate justice movement in Germany. The previous research on NGOs and social movements in climate politics is presented and the recent development of the climate justice movement in Germany is illustrated. In a final step two cases of climate movement campaigns are explained by means of the historical-materialist movement analysis proposed by the author.

From Virtual Public Spheres to Global Justice: A Critical Theory of Internetworked Social Movements

2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Langman
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Global Justice ◽  
Social Protest ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Social Movement Theory ◽  
Public Spheres ◽  
Electronic Networks ◽  
Movement Theory

From the early 1990s when the EZLN (the Zapatistas), led by Subcommandte Marcos, first made use of the Internet to the late 1990s with the defeat of the Multilateral Agreement on Trade and Investment and the anti-WTO protests in Seattle, Quebec, and Genoa, it became evident that new, qualitatively different kinds of social protest movements were emergent. These new movements seemed diffuse and unstructured, yet at the same time, they forged unlikely coalitions of labor, environmentalists, feminists, peace, and global social justice activists collectively critical of the adversities of neoliberal globalization and its associated militarism. Moreover, the rapid emergence and worldwide proliferation of these movements, organized and coordinated through the Internet, raised a number of questions that require rethinking social movement theory. Specifically, the electronic networks that made contemporary globalization possible also led to the emergence of “virtual public spheres” and, in turn, “Internetworked Social Movements.” Social movement theory has typically focused on local structures, leadership, recruitment, political opportunities, and strategies from framing issues to orchestrating protests. While this tradition still offers valuable insights, we need to examine unique aspects of globalization that prompt such mobilizations, as well as their democratic methods of participatory organization and clever use of electronic media. Moreover, their emancipatory interests become obscured by the “objective” methods of social science whose “neutrality” belies a tacit assent to the status quo. It will be argued that the Frankfurt School of Critical Theory offers a multi-level, multi-disciplinary approach that considers the role of literacy and media in fostering modernist bourgeois movements as well as anti-modernist fascist movements. This theoretical tradition offers a contemporary framework in which legitimacy crises are discussed and participants arrive at consensual truth claims; in this process, new forms of empowered, activist identities are fostered and negotiated that impel cyberactivism.

The ‘movementisation’ of the Labour Party and the future of labour organising

2018 ◽  
pp. 254-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuelle Avril
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Movement Analysis ◽  
Labour Party ◽  
The Future ◽  
Methodological Considerations ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Movement Activities ◽  
Hybrid Forms

Drawing from political science and organisational studies, but also from social movement analysis, this chapter examines the current terms of the debate on the future of Labour organising and tracks the emergence of hybrid forms of political parties with emphasis now placed on social movement activities alongside traditional election campaigning. This process of ‘movementisation’ is couched by some in optimistic terms as a way to reconnect the party with civil society, while others point on the contrary to the dangers such an evolution may entail, arguing that radicalisation will alienate the party further from the interests of the wider electorate. The analysis starts with some methodological considerations, continues with a presentation of Labour supporting groups and movements, with particular focus on the most recent one – Momentum – and then leads to an appraisal of the impact which this process is having on the structure and mobilising power of the Labour party.

Contentious Politics and Social Movements

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sidney Tarrow ◽  
Charles Tilly
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Contentious Politics ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Many

This article discusses contentious politics and social movements, specifically during the Philippines' turmoil of January 2001. It first defines ‘contentious politics’, and then relates it to social movement. It identifies the many ways of studying the dynamics of contention and ends with a study of democracy, violence, and several questions of the future of social movements.

Theorizing Meaning Construction in Social Movements: Symbolic Structures and Interpretation during the Irish Land War, 1879–1882

1997 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne E. Kane
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Movement Analysis ◽  
Meaning Construction ◽  
Cultural Transformation ◽  
Symbolic Systems ◽  
Land War ◽  
Symbolic Meanings ◽  
The Face

Though the process of meaning construction is widely recognized to be a crucial factor in the mobilization, unfolding, and outcomes of social movements, the conditions and mechanisms that allow meaning construction and cultural transformation are often misconceptualized and/or underanalyzed. Following a “tool kit” perspective on culture, dominant social movement theory locates meaning only as it is embodied in concrete social practices. Meaning construction from this perspective is a matter of manipulating static symbols and meaning to achieve goals. I argue instead that meaning is located in the structure of culture, and that the condition and mechanism of meaning construction and transformation are, respectively, the metaphoric nature of symbolic systems, and individual and collective interpretation of those systems in the face of concrete events. This theory is demonstrated by analyzing, through textual anlaysis, meaning construction during the Irish Land War, 1879–1882, showing how diverse social groups constructed new and emergent symbolic meanings and how transformed collective understandings contributed to specific, yet unpredictable, political action and movement outcomes. The theoretical model and empirical case demonstrates that social movement analysis must examine the metaphoric logic of symbolic systems and the interpretive process by which people construct meaning in order to fully explain the role of culture in social movements, the agency of movement participants, and the contingency of the course and outcomes of social movements.

Combining Laclauian Discourse Analysis and Framing Theory Václav Havel’s ‘Hegemonic Rhetoric’ in Charter 77

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-203
Author(s):  
Juhan Saharov
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Rhetorical Analysis ◽  
Early Period ◽  
Movement Analysis ◽  
Framing Theory ◽  
Empirical Method ◽  
Protest Movements ◽  
Charter 77

The literature on the resistance and protest movements of Czechoslovakian dissidents and intellectuals during the communist period is abundant, but little attention has been devoted to close rhetorical analysis of the texts by the leaders of these movements. In conducting a case study of the rhetoric of the Czechoslovakian social movement Charter 77 during its early period of activity (1977–1978) as embodied in the early political essays of its leader Václav Havel and in the declaration of the movement, this article highlights the need to combine two theories in studying the rhetoric of social movement leaders: Laclauian discourse analysis and social movement framing theory. The article claims that, in order better to explain the choice of rhetoric of social movements, the two theories can be used in a single framework as an empirical method for analyzing social movements’ strategies. The study shows how combining Laclauian discourse analysis with framing theory expands social movement analysis; in combination, this framework explains the inception, emergence and choice of strategy of the Charter 77 movement.

Global Movements

2018 ◽  
pp. 714-730
Author(s):  
Donatella della Porta
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Global Justice ◽  
Transnational Networks ◽  
Organizational Model ◽  
Neoliberal Globalization ◽  
Global Justice Movement ◽  
Governmental Organization ◽  
Global Movements

The chapter focuses on global social movements, defined as transnational networks of actors that define their causes as global and organize protest campaigns and other forms of action that target more than one state and/or international governmental organization. Bridging insights from international relations and social movement studies, the chapter analyzes the spread of transnational contention, examining some main characteristics of repertoires of action, organizational model, and framing processes, with particular attention to the global justice movement. Explanations for the spread of global movements are then reviewed: the politicization of international relations, the development of multilevel opportunities, movements’ strategies of domestication and externalization, and the spreading of neoliberal globalization. Finally, the chapter examines the potential evolution of global movements, considering the challenges to transnationalization of contention in recent anti-austerity protests.

Zapatistas between Sliding Doors of Opportunity

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Inclán
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Social Movement Organizations ◽  
Democratic Regime ◽  
Zapatista Movement ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Guerrilla Movements ◽  
Movement Organizations

This chapter summarizes the main arguments of the book and offers an explanation of why a seemingly successful insurgent social movement might be able to mobilize sympathy and support for its agenda but fail to force state authorities to address its demands. The conclusion is that despite relative failures, through protest mobilization and the support of solidaristic social movement organizations, insurgent social movements like the Zapatista movement may be able to survive as salient actors within a new democratic regime and as iconic figures among other social movements around the world. This chapter also compares the fate of the Zapatista movement to the outcomes of other social, indigenous, and guerrilla movements within different transitional conditions and offer some expectations for the future of Mexico’s democracy.

scholarly journals Cyberprotest: new media and the new social movement in Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 765-775
Author(s):  
Munadhil A. Muqsith ◽  
Valerii L. Muzykant ◽  
Ksenia E. Kuzmenkova
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
New Media ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Protest Movement ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Government ◽  
National Coalition ◽  
Draft Bill ◽  
New Social Movement

This paper aims to write the phenomenon of cyberprotest through new media in Indonesia. The development of new media caused changes in the pattern of social movements. This paper tries to explain how the design campaign of activists of the National Coalition to Rejects The Draft Bill of Music (RNTL RUUP) initiated by the Government of Indonesia. They consider this Draft Bill of Music will threaten freedom of expression in music in the future. Activists mobilized the protest movement through the #TolakRUUPermusikan and #Bersama BatalkanRUUPermusikan through online petitions, websites, Instagram, and Twitter.

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