On the Frontier of Social Movements

Abstract

The author argues that globalization has shifted the nature of conflicts considerably, to the point that the social movements are no longer those that set social categories in opposition to one another, as in the case of social classes. Dominant forces define themselves no longer by content or by forms of social life, but by an unlimited capacity for change or adaptation to an environment that is in constant modification and often unpredictable. The key question for social movements no longer has to do with defining an autonomous space or time, but, rather, with recognizing the priority that must be given to the creation – much more than to the defence – of an autonomy that is less professional or economic than moral – that is, the autonomy of the individual, considered as an actor, or, more precisely, as a subject. This is why it is preferable to replace the expression ‘social movements’ with that of ‘cultural movements’.