Contentious Episodes Research Articles

On Records: Delaware Indians, Colonists, and the Media of History and Memory

On Records: Delaware Indians, Colonists, and the Media of History and Memory

On Records: Delaware Indians, Colonists, and the Media of History and Memory

On Records: Delaware Indians, Colonists, and the Media of History and Memory

Mechanisms of Ethnic and Separatist Mobilisation: A Dynamic Theoretical Framework for the Analysis of Separatist Movements

This short presentation aims to delineate the basic features of an alternative theoretical framework for the comparative analysis of separatist mobilisation. This framework is used in my dissertation, which is a small-N comparison of separatist mobilisation. The separatist movements under consideration are the West Papuans in Indonesia, the Oromo in Ethiopia and the Abkhaz in Georgia. Apart from a set of features common to the selected movements and states, I argue that comparative analysis is feasible due to the delimited character of the research question itself: In a relatively recent review article, James Fearon and David Laitin have found that a major puzzle of studies concerning ethnic violence is “why publics follow elites.” Similarly, this study aims to explain primarily how – and subsequently why- publics follow elites in instances of separatist mobilisation. It is moreover examined what is the role and impact of ethnic identities in such instances. The core research question leads us to focus on social interactions and collective processes rather than on macro-structural determinants, causal variables and necessary conditions of separatism and ethnic mobilisation. Typically, small-N comparisons are considered by the bibliography to be data-driven rather than theory-driven. Researchers of small-N case-oriented studies “examine cases as wholes, not as collections of variables” (Ragin 1987: 52) and are usually concerned with identifying “regularities, patterns, mechanisms and reccurent processes […] in inductive fashion through the systematic analysis of empirical data” (Brubaker & Laitin 1998: 430). Still, one needs theoretical guidelines in order to define what sort of mechanisms should be employed, what type of regularities are we searching for and what is the scope of possible relations of causality. As I will argue in the next section, traditional theories of nationalism, ethnic conflict and ethnic mobilisation are not sufficiently capable of providing such answers. I argue that it is more fruitful to combine some elements of the constructivist theories of ethnicity with the literature of social movements and contentious politics. Particularly I follow the theoretical proposal of Charles Tilly, especially as it is set out in the book Dynamics of Contention (DOC) which co-wrote with Doug McAdam and Sidney Tarrow. The core preposition of this framework is that episodes of contentious politics should be explained through the search for recurring causal mechanisms and processes. The various sequences and combinations of common mechanisms produce different outcomes of contentious episodes. In this analysis I employ four mechanisms or sets of mechanisms that appear capable of explaining how separatist mobilisation takes place in three different settings. The proposed mechanisms are 1) brokerage, 2) social appropriation of pre-existing structures and frame-bridging, 3) boundary activation/deactivation and 4) collective attribution of threat and opportunity. The combination of the proposed mechanisms seeks to capture the dynamic interplay among ethnic identities, separatist goals, institutions and organisational resources in a more satisfying way than the standard theories of ethnic mobilisation and separatism.

Primary Frameworks, Keying and the Dynamics of Contentious Politics: The Islamization of the Chechen and Palestinian National Movements

Expanding on McAdam, Tarrow and Tilly's approach to the study of contentious episodes, we develop a conceptual framework to analyze front-stage politics in the light of back-stage cultural and interpretative processes, drawing upon the Chechen and the Palestinian national movements. We elaborate on Goffman's original notion of ‘primary frameworks’ to capture the influence of fundamental cultural templates, and his concept of ‘keying processes’ to capture the way primary frameworks are reworked in the dynamics of political contention. We then identify three central components of primary frameworks, namely, collective identity (the subject), what the subject does (the verb) and who or what is the object of those actions (the object). This article identifies the primary frameworks and keying processes of Chechens and Palestinians with relation to Russia and Israel, respectively. It then traces how they are played out in the heat of political contention as changes in the structure of political opportunities and threats unfold, and how they combine to drive a process of Islamization. We conclude by discussing how the subject—verb—object triplet of primary frameworks helps specify the dynamic interpretative work in political contention.

Can conflict-generated diasporas be moderate actors during episodes of contested sovereignty? Lebanese and Albanian diasporas compared

AbstractConflict-generated diasporas are considered likely to maintain radical behaviours. This article seeks to explain why and how they nevertheless adopt moderate claims, especially when advocating highly sensitive issues such as state sovereignty. Focusing on groups in the US I investigate the Lebanese diaspora linked to the pro-sovereignty movement in Lebanon (2000–2005) and the Albanian diaspora linked to Kosovo's independence movement (1999–2008). The contentious episodes take place during the original homeland's post-conflict reconstruction. Embedded in the literatures on diasporas, conflicts, and transnational social movements, this article argues that instrumental approach towards the achievement of sovereignty explains why conflict-generated diasporas adopt moderate behaviours. Diasporas hope that by linking their claims to a global political opportunity structure of ‘liberalism’ they ‘play the game’ of the international community interested in promoting the liberal paradigm, and thus expect to obtain its support for the legitimisation of their pro-sovereignty goals. Diaspora entrepreneurs advance their claims in a two-step process. Initially they use frame bridging and frame extension to formulate their existing grievances. Then, an increased responsiveness from their host-state emerges to sustain their initial moderation. While individuals or groups in diaspora circles occasionally issue threats during the contentious episodes, the majority in the diaspora consider moderate politics as their dominant behaviour.

Mobilizing Under the Gun: Theorizing Political Opportunity Structure in a Highly Repressive Setting

Although episodes of contentious politics in undemocratic regimes constitute the lion's share of contentious political events worldwide, the theorizing of political opportunity structures is based largely on contentious episodes in democratic/liberal political settings. This anomaly hampers recent attempts to redefine the boundaries among episodes of contention across time and place. Employing the case of the first Palestinian Intifada (1987-1992), I critically examine three theoretical aspects of political opportunity structures (POS): (1) how the link between POS, strateg, and tactics is forged; (2) how different levels of POS interact; and (3) the ability of multiactor movements to cope with the shifting nature of POS. I conclude by briefly illustrating the relevance of my findings to other structurally similar cases, and discuss the implications of my analysis for further sensitization of the Dynamics of Contention research program.

Contesting the Past

AbstractThe search for validation and quest for justification in the past is a commonplace tendency. It is of particular note at the present and is widespread across the political spectrum and around the world. Using the past can also entail the deliberate erasure of contentious episodes. While motivated by a search for good relations, contesting the past creates new ‘victims’, in so far as those whose role is neglected or actively misrepresented can be seen as victims or at least as having a grievance. From this perspective, the historian emerges as the necessary opponent of false consciousness, with his own obligation to truth in both past, present and, therefore, future.

The Moral Politics of Argentine Crowds

Based on archival research and ethnographic fieldwork, this article reconstructs protesters' actions, collective beliefs, and shared self-understandings during two recent contentious episodes in contemporary Argentina, the 1993 Santiagazo and the 1996 pueblada in Cutral-co. Drawing upon E.P. Thompson's and J. Scott's notion of moral economy, the anaysis dissects the crowds' beliefs as to what are right and wrong political practices. The notion of moral politics, it is argued, calls for simultaneous attention to the content of protesters' beliefs, to their origin, and to their impact on the course of the events.

Dynamics of Contention

In 2001, Doug McAdam, Sydney Tarrow, and Charles Tilly published Dynamics of Contention. In this jointly written volume, they aim to identify “similarities and differences, pathways and trajectories across a wide range of contentious politics – not only revolutions, but also strike waves, wars, social movements, ethnic mobilizations, democratization, and nationalism”. Thereby, they set out to develop the foundations for a general programme for the study of contentious episodes wherever and whenever they occur.As Dynamics of Contention is an ambitious work in the field of historical sociology and social history, we have invited comments by Knut Kjeldstadli, Dilip Simeon, and Thomas Welskopp – scholars from different research traditions. Charles Tilly responds.

Psychological issues relevant to astronaut selection for long-duration space flight: a review of the literature.

This technical paper reviews the current literature on psychological issues relevant to astronaut selection for long-duration space flights. Interpersonal problems have been and remain a recurring problem for both short and long-duration space flights. Even after completion of the space mission, intense psychological aftereffects are reported. The specific behavioral problems experienced during United States and Soviet Union space flights are reviewed, specifically addressing contentious episodes and impaired judgments that occurred during the Mercury, Apollo, and Skylab missions. Psychological tests used in the selection process for the space program have focused primarily on the detection of gross psychopathologies in potential candidates. Although these psychological instruments excluded some people from becoming astronauts, the battery of tests failed to predict which individuals would manifest behavioral aberrations in judgment, cooperative functioning, overt irritability, or destructive interpersonal actions.

Space, Strategies, And Alliances In Mobilization: The 1960 Metalworkers' And Coal Miners' Strikes In Chile

Geography is a central factor influencing political opportunities, alliances between movement organizations and elites, and contentious repertoires. Scholarship incidentally refers to the relationship between geography and social protest, though recent work gives space greater theoretical importance. I bridge key concepts in social movement theory with work on space and protest through an analysis of a 1960 metalworkers' strike in Santiago, Chile and comparison with a contemporaneous provincial coal miners' strike. This article presents evidence that (1) characteristics of the built environment and everyday spatial routines in specific locales influence activists' tactical repertoires; (2) local political opportunities and alliance patterns significantly affect movement strategy and protest outcomes: and (3) social movement organizations operate within a nested opportunity structure in which local, regional, national, and international actors and opportunities interact in the context of con-tentious episodes. The findings have implications for studies of tactical repertoires and policing, comparisons of local movements, and nested opportunities in centralized and federal states.

Organizing against Globalization: the Case of ATTAC in France

This article argues that the current opposition to globalization is not a structural side effect of economic integration. Instead of assuming that globalization generates resistance, it stresses the political and interpretive processes that shape collective action. It substantiates this claim by studying the rise of an antiglobalization social movement organization called ATTAC in France. It holds that ATTAC's emergence is the product of political entrepreneurs whose actions were constrained by the ideational and organizational legacies of previous contentious episodes, particularly the December 1995 strikes. Finally, it contends that ATTAC's success stems in part from its ability to produce a hybrid discourse that marries state interventionism with participatory politics.