Repertoires Of Collective Action Research Articles

Direct Actions in the Czech Environmental Movement

Direct actions constitute an important repertoire of action for environmental movements in Western countries. This article differentiates two ideal types of this repertoire of action: the anarchist concept, which understands direct action in terms of values and as a preferred way of doing things; and the liberal concept, which uses direct action in an instrumental way. Based on my empirical research in post-socialist Czech Republic, the article focuses on debates over environmentalism and, to be more precise, on uses of direct actions by environmental organizations. It explains why the liberal concept was very limited and why direct action as a preferred way of doing things has not become a part of the repertoire of collective action. The article argues that the movement was politically moderate due to a combination of reasons: the very specific historical experience of the Czech environmental movement, which inclines it to use dialogue rather than confrontations with power; the fear of political hostility and marginalization by the state; and the internal dynamics of the environmental milieu.

Mapping repertoires of collective action facing the COVID-19 pandemic in informal settlements in Latin American cities

How are civil society organizations responding to COVID-19’s impacts on informal settlements? In Latin America, civil society organizations have developed a repertoire of collective action, seeking to provide immediate and medium-term responses to the emergency. This paper aims to map these initiatives and identify strategic approaches to tackle the issues, given the strengths of those undertaking the initiative, and the scope, purpose and sphere of intervention. Using direct contact, a survey, and a virtual ethnography with social organizations has allowed us to identify and characterize the initiatives. The repertoire focuses on emergency measures around food security, and pedagogies for prevention, sanitation and income relief at the neighbourhood and district levels. We argue that the civil society response repertoire is diverse in form and resources but limited in scope; meanwhile the urgency of the situation and the mismatch with state action mean that crucial spheres of informality, vital to cultivating grounds for a healthy recovery phase, are being neglected.

Civil Society and Social Mobilizations in the Context of the Rio Doce Socioenvironmental Disaster.

To explain how social movements and organizations changed in the context of the Rio Doce, Brazil socioenvironmental disaster, this article identifies a process of organizational innovation. The research is based on documental data and interviews with activists over the 3 y of the disaster. The main argument is that organizational innovation consists of changes in organizational forms and repertoires of collective action, based on existing organizational models and tactics. On the one hand, the innovation occurred through the territorialization of novel organizational forms, intermediated by social movements that act as incubators. On the other hand, it consisted of the combination among extrainstitutional, institutional, and multiscalar repertoires and in the innovation in tactics and performances. Mechanisms of adaptation, imitation, and negotiated diffusion are identified which operated in this innovation process. It is argued that the organizational innovation of social movements was propelled by political constraints of disaster governance, which pushed them to innovation, in addition to the role of preexisting organizations. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2020;16:681-690. © 2020 SETAC.

Repertorios de reivindicación

El presente artículo intenta dar cuenta de una serie de repertorios de acción artística colectiva que tuvieron lugar en la ciudad de Rosario (Argentina) entre 1995 y 2001. Se trabajaron tres modulaciones de estos repertorios. La primera, denominada performáticas de la manifestación, operó en diversas marchas y protestas, aportando elementos lúdicos y paródicos. La segunda, llamada irrupciones acontecimentales, se dio en los escraches realizados a ex represores de la dictadura militar 1976-1986, generando una suerte de “happenings” sorpresivos. La tercera, definida como paisajes eventuales, comprendió diversas intervenciones estéticas, dramáticas y pedagógicas en la espacialidad urbana, con el fin de concientizar a la población frente a los abusos policiales. Para el análisis de los estudios de caso se realizaron una serie de entrevistas que se cruzaron con algunos registros periodísticos y fotografías.

Indigenous Movements, Collective Action, and Social Media: New Opportunities or New Threats?

Indigenous peoples remain among the most marginalized population groups in the Americas. The decline of the Indigenous protest cycle in Latin America by the mid-2000s meant that research on collective action turned elsewhere just as the use of social media was becoming more prominent in the tactical repertoire of collective action, and we know little about how Indigenous groups have adapted new technologies for the purpose of civic engagement. If social media has begun to take the place of disruptive action (the most effective tactics in the 1990s according to Indigenous leaders), if personalized action is replacing collective identity (a strength of the Indigenous movements in the 1980s–1990s) and if their access to technology is limited, what does this mean for the ability of Indigenous communities to pursue their claims? Based on 2 years of fieldwork, this article addresses this question from the perspective of Indigenous organizations in three Latin American countries, Bolivia, Chile, and Ecuador. We find that some Indigenous organizations have benefited from the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in terms of enhanced communication, access to information, visibility, interest promotion, and commercialization of products and services. At this point in time, however, it appears that the disadvantages outweigh the benefits.

REPERTORIO DIGITAL: ¿UNA ACCIÓN COLECTIVA INNOVADORA PARA LOS MOVIMIENTOS SOCIALES?

Usar recursos digitales en la acción colectiva ha abierto dos interrogantes analíticas para los movimientos sociales: ¿El activismo digital determina cambios o innovaciones en los repertorios de acción colectiva? y ¿El activismo digital impacta en el sistema político de un país? Para esta segunda interrogante se toma el caso del movimiento indígena ecuatoriano (MIE) y su actuación en los hechos acaecidos en octubre de 2019. El marco de análisis se soporta en la teoría clásica sobre contienda política de Tilly, así como la crítica que sobre ella han hecho los estudios de las redes sociales. De igual manera se toma cierta base empírica en los estudios sobre activismo digital en Chile, que se considera son los más relevantes en América Latina. La categoría principal es “repertorios de acción colectiva”, con énfasis en lo digital.

Explaining the Crisis of the Green Movement in Iran (2009-2017)

ABSTRACTThe Green Movement has been the most significant challenge the Islamic Republic of Iran has confronted since the 1979 Revolution. Despite an initial flourishing, the Green Movement gradually declined and was unable to achieve its goals. It was finally forced to play in the framework of the existing order. The present study explains the reasons for which the Green Movement declined and also attempts to determine which factors affected the regression and subsequent evolution of the movement and how. Social movement failure remains a largely understudied topic, and the literature on movement emergence is much more sophisticated than the literature on movement decline. The same is true about the Green movement of Iran. To answer the raised questions, the author uses social movement theory and examines the role of political opportunities, framing, mobilizing structures and repertoires of collective action in the decline and subsequent evolution of the movement. The findings illustrate how the loss of political opportunity played a decisive role in the decline and further evolution of the movement and severely affected the movement’s mobilizing structures while indirectly affecting its framing and repertoire of collective action. The inappropriate and ambiguous framing of the movement by its leaders along with a lack of strategy to address the existing challenges, the general haphazardness and the inability to adopt efficient collective actions undermined the movement and accelerated its failure.

After the March: Using Instagram to Perform and Sustain the Women's March

The January 2017 Women's March was an example of the paradigmatic March on Washington, part of the repertoire of collective action used by social movements in the United States for decades. Similar marches were held on its first and second anniversary, in January 2018 and January 2019, respectively. One did not need to travel to the nation's capital to participate in these marches, however; activists also organized hundreds of “sister marches” across the United States and internationally. Yet, a sole focus on these one‐day, physical events misses a great deal of activity. In this article, we examine social media activity related to the Women's March on the platform Instagram that was posted well after the 2017 march was over but before the 2018 march was fully planned. We do so to gain purchase on how individuals and organizations use social media to maintain movements between large events. We analyze a systematic sample of Instagram posts from two sources: (1) individual Instagram users’ public posts with the hashtag #womensmarch and (2) posts from the official Instagram account of the Women's March. Conceptualizing these posts as political performances, we use our findings to draw implications for the study of contemporary protest.

The topography of medieval popular protest

ABSTRACTAssumptions about the topography of popular revolt have been essential in constructing sociological and historical models that demarcate a ‘pre-modern’ from the ‘modern’ period. In Charles Tilly’s words, the ‘repertoires of collective action’ before the mid-nineteenth century were ‘parochial, particular, and bifurcated’, while afterwards, they became ‘cosmopolitan, autonomous, and modular’ (2008). By relying on primary sources across the Italian peninsula, France, Flanders and Britain and for the early modern period across German-speaking regions into Russia, this article shows that the plethora of late medieval revolts were rarely, if ever, confined to a neighbourhood or bounded by local religious congregations or family ties. Instead, they were citywide and north of the Alps fused alliances with the peasantry and other cities. With popular protest pushing eastward in the early modern period, these long-distant dimensions became more extensive, crossing linguistic boundaries and thousands of kilometres. In addition, this article raises new questions, such as why peasants and urban rebels in Italy, in contrast to northern Europe, resisted cross-mural alliances, and to what extent late medieval popular insurrection differed from those of the early modern period. The article ends with a call for new models to understand these differences.

How to control politicians? Social cybermovements and new ways for political accountability

The problem of political corruption continues to be a major concern on a global scale. In this work I specifically examine the dimension of political accountability and their new possibilities for improvements from the civil society in the networks era. By analysing the literature, I synthesise the main weaknesses in political accountability and I explain the new context of citizen monitoring created by social cybermovements. Taking into account the direct observation of several movements (in the 15-M context), I describe how the transformations in online repertoires of collective action are promoting new types of tactics in order to improve political accountability.

The Nomad, The Squatter and the State: Roma Racialization and Spatial Politics in Italy

AbstractWhat happens when Roma people move from the space of an informal settlement to that of a squat of a housing rights movement? In this article, which is based on the analysis of housing squats involving Roma people in the Italian capital city of Rome, I argue that this move is more than a housing solution: it is a new form of contentious and aesthetic politics. In Rome approximately 7,000 Roma face extreme housing deprivation and segregation, in both official and makeshift camps. While different associations have for many years advocated Roma housing inclusion through a minority and human‐rights framework, in the aftermath of the 2007/2008 economic crisis an increasing number of Roma have moved to squats set up by social movement activists. The aim of the article is threefold. First, it illustrates the collective action repertoire of Roma‐squatting. Secondly, it considers its aesthetic politics, which through spatial dislocation unsettles the racializing discourse endorsed by policymakers that underpins the segregation of the Roma. Finally, this article unpacks the process of politicization of Roma‐squatting and discusses the urban frames and material resources that consolidate this transformation through a comparison of four housing squats that Roma people joined.

The Contemporary Repertoire of Contentious Identity Politics and Religious Conflicts in France

Abstract This paper analyses the framing and meaning of contentious politics in contemporary France. Building on the work of Charles Tilly and Sidney Tarrow, this study of contention involves two interrelated dimensions. The first one relates to inherited, historical forms of collective action (repertoires). Here, contentious politics varies in connection with political power, institutional regimes, and the dominant culture. In early modern history, such forms of contention were linked to a traditional repertoire of grievances (about bread, belief, or land) and concerns about the purity of the religious community. A new repertoire emerged in the 18th century, as well as new forms of contention. Yet, key components of contentious politics remained, such as concerns about the purity of the nation, and grievances fuelled by the threat posed by “Others.” As a result, there are significant similarities between past conflicts about religion, and the current debate over the alleged threats to French secularism.

Spaces of hope in authoritarian Turkey: Istanbul's interconnected geographies of post-Occupy activism

In Istanbul's history, Taksim Square has always been an identity place for activists, similar to Tahrir Square in Cairo or Maidan in Kiev, but this paper points out that the Gezi protests created other identity places across Istanbul. This article focuses on the notion of 'spaces of hope' in relation to ‘cycles of protests’ and ‘repertoires of collective action’, in examining the post-Occupy activism in Istanbul following the Gezi protests and in the face of increasing authoritarianism. Based on two phases of ethnographic research conducted in Istanbul from 2013 to 2017, commencing during the Gezi Park protests and later expanding to its anniversaries and other political events in the central parks of Istanbul, the paper traces the spatial memories, political emotions and cultural legacy of waves of protests. It defines the previously occupied parks as ‘political parks’ (Bayat, 1997, 2012) where identities of protesters transform and intersect through offline networks formed at various parks in Istanbul. This paper makes the case for how people's identities and political emotions transform due to their engagement with the spaces of social movements not only at their peak but also following their demise in an attempt to test, reinforce and challenge the participatory and spatial strategies of the Gezi protests and from a wider perspective other Occupy movements.

Introduction: The Transformation of Petitioning in the Long Nineteenth Century (1780–1914)

This introductory essay, firstly, offers a comparative, historical perspective on the transformation of petitioning into a vehicle for mass popular politics across North America and Western Europe during the “long” nineteenth century (1780–1914). While petitions were well established as an instrument of state in many early modern states, from the late eighteenth century a new type of mass, public, collective petitioning, based on established or invoked rights, emerged on an unprecedented scale in many countries. Mass petitioning underpinned the nascent repertoires of collective action pioneered by social movements. At the same time, the reception of petitions was institutionalized by political authorities, particularly legislatures elected under limited suffrage, as a potential source of legitimation. Secondly, the introduction suggests why people petitioned, and continued to petition, when their campaigns were often unsuccessful in achieving immediate results. The answer lies in the manifold advantages of petitioning in enabling political organization, mobilization, identity formation, citizenship, political change, and the forming of networks with elite political actors. By shaping an emerging field examining petitioning and petitions, raising awareness of petitions as sources and the methodologies to exploit them, and addressing broad questions of interest to historians and social scientists, this special issue hopes to stimulate further research and contribute to a rich dialogue in the years to come.

‘Boxing Is Our Business’: The Embodiment of a Leftist Identity in Boxe Popolare

Based on two-year ethnography of boxe popolare—a style of boxing codified by Italian leftist grassroots groups—and participant observation of a palestra popolare in an Italian city, the article purports to (a) deepen understanding of the nexus between physical cultures and politics and (b) contribute to understanding the renewal of political cultures by overcoming the disembodied perspectives on ideology. The first section of the paper tracks down the relation that ties boxing to the sociocultural matrix of the leftist grassroots groups. Boxing draws its significance from the antagonistic culture of the informal political youth organisations in which the practice is embedded and reflects the main changes that have been occurring in the collective action repertoires of the street-level political forces over the past few decades. The second section analyses the daily activities of boxe popolare. The paper thereby demonstrates how training regimes manipulate the bodies to inculcate a set of corporeal postures and sensibilities inherent to a mythology of otherness peculiar to the far-left ethos. In conclusion, the lived experience of boxe popolare addresses the importance of placing the situated practices and the socialised body at the centre of the study of political cultures in the contemporary post-ideological era.

Practices of Solidarity: Direct Social Action, Politicisation and Refugee Solidarity Activism in Italy

In the context of activism in solidarity with refugees in Italy in the long summer of migration, the article analyses the relationship between political claim-making and direct social actions, i.e. actions that do not primarily focus upon claiming something or other from the state or other power holders but that instead focus upon directly transforming some specific aspects of society by means of the very action itself. In this case, many different kinds of Dsa were put in place by Italian activists, from the emergency provision of food, clothes and blankets to migrants that have been blocked somewhere to the creation of officially recognised humanitarian corridors. Through the analysis of qualitative interviews to activists involved in solidarity with refugees in Italy between 2015 and 2017, the article identifies four different mechanisms of interaction between Dsa and political claim-making: the capacity of Dsa to provide a hub of shared experiences that fosters politicisation; the expression of political claims through direct social actions; the use of Dsa to produce legitimacy and credibility to be spent in the realm of political claim-making; the obstacles to political elaboration and political action that the engagement in Dsa pose. The analysis shows that direct social actions, far from being isolated and separated from political claim-making, has a dynamic relationship with it and should be investigated as part of the same repertoire of collective action.

(Re)Framing a Problem: Militancy in Question

Even though “militancy” is frequently used in scientific literature and in the daily life of parties and social movements, there are few definitions of the term. Our goal is to convert the idea of militancy into a research problem. A Brazilian scientific literature review shows that the term is used either as an adjective, either as a noun. We conceptualize militancy as a methodology to produce collective action aiming to intervene, or to interfere, in current social norms. This methodology focuses on organizations such as parties and unions, characterized by strict discipline that aims to produce docility, commitment, and obeisance. Then, we show how New Social Movements (NSM) have created unconventional tactics and organizations, offering an alternative to the militant methodology. Organizing teams using horizontal arrangements, operating with decentralized and autonomous networks, recognizing the diversity of its participants, NSM are occupying the streets and reinventing the repertoires of collective action and protest. We suggest the use of the word “activism” to describe this methodology. By distinguishing militancy from activism we wish to re(frame) some problems in the Brazilian scene of political engagement and protest

From Designing to Organizing New Social Futures: Multiliteracies Pedagogies for Today

More than 20 years ago, literacy pedagogies informed by the emerging networked world defined by local diversity and global connectedness, new digital media and fast capitalism. Modern people now fully inhabit the world they described, but the contours of that world’s racial dynamics and growing inequality call for a refinement of pedagogies that embrace a more activist metaphor than that of design. Our pedagogies of multiliteracies must now embrace the ‘organizing of social futures’ in ways that apprentice young people to repertoires of collective action, in which literacy becomes more fully a means of supporting community efforts to promote and bring about more just futures.

Territorialising social movements

Following the mass mobilisations and occupations of urban squares since 2011 that came as responses to the global financial crisis, the spatial practices of social movements have undergone crucial transformations. This paper addresses these through the case of Athens and contends that the territorialisation of movements in urban space occurred through the centralisation of counter-austerity struggle in the occupied Syntagma Square and, following this, through the dispersal of spatial practices that emerged out of the squares across the city. In the first instance, solidarity, mutual aid and collective self-organisation practices articulated in the occupied square introduced new collective action repertoires; while, in the aftermath of Syntagma, these were transposed in local groups, solidarity initiatives and networks that produced new territorialised forms of struggle and solidarity in Athenian neighbourhoods. Through these, the paper contributes to ongoing debates on contestation ‘from below’ emerging in urban contexts of austerity as constitutive of contemporary contentious politics. The arguments raised here on the transformations of movements occurring during and due to austerity span the period between 2011 and 2014 and empirically draw on participatory ethnographic research conducted in Athens, Greece between October 2012 and May 2013.

Movilización y acción colectiva por los derechos humanos en la paradoja de la institucionalización

This article proposes an analytical integration for the study of mobilization and collective action in defense of human rights from the perspective of political processes, from a discussion with the current academic literature and in reference to concrete processes in Latin America. We argue that collective action in defense of human rights is moving in the inherent tension of the paradox of institutionalization, when rights are recognized by states and governments the regulatory framework can restrict and constrain collective action, but at the same time, can open a formal opportunity to legitimize and enhance collective action. We propose that in this tension the mobilization and collective action for human rights is characterized by a triple analytical specificity: 1) formal structures mobilization and the networking which tends his defense; 2) the changing relationship between legal and political national, and international opportunity; 3) the type of collective action repertoires that maintain a constant relationship with the legal and institutional resources.