Social Movement Activists Research Articles

A redemocratização investigada por meio de cartilhas do movimento Pró-participação Popular na Constituinte: Educação Política e Cultura

Trata da ditadura militar de 1964, período que representa uma das facetas da cultura política autoritária da sociedade brasileira. Até a saída dos militares do governo central em 1985 se deu a partir de diversas frentes de embates, acomodações e cessões entre a elite parlamentar de oposição, a sociedade civil e o governo ditatorial. Aponta textos normativos, atores políticos e práticas do regime de 1964 persistiram no cenário político. Descreve a história político-institucional brasileira e como foi recorrente que os textos constitucionais fossem expressões da disputa político-institucional entre elites oligárquicas locais e projetos normativos centralizadores. Atenta-se especialmente no período entre 1985 e 1988, nas atuações coletivas de movimentos sociais, como o Movimento pró-Participação Popular na Constituinte (MPPC), que mobilizaram milhões de pessoas e fizeram centenas de eventos e coletaram milhões de assinaturas em emendas populares com propostas para a Assembleia Nacional Constituinte (ANC). Conclui apresentando resultados parciais de pesquisa descrevendo como essa mobilização foi possível e quais instrumentos foram mobilizados.

Features of the verbal forms of greetings-farewell

The article deals with the speech formulas of greeting-farewell in Turkish and Arabic. National pecu???liarities of speech etiquette represent a developing system. Speech etiquette is influenced by two factors – social and linguistic. Social factors include changes in the political structure of society, the activities of various social movements, the interaction of national cultures, the development of the media and their greater role in public life. Language factors are related to changes within the language system itself. Chief among them is the tendency to save the speaker’s time and effort. In all languages, the situation of greeting and farewell, in General, is quite verbose, including a number of phrases expressing the mean???ing of wishes, parting words, gratitude, assessment of the situation, invitations, intentions to continue contacts, care for the partner. The speech act of greeting-farewell performs an important function in the communicative culture of Turkish and Arab people. There are a lot of similarities in the formulas of greet???ing and farewell. In their daily lives, Turks and Arabs usually use many benevolent formulas of greetings and goodbyes. The speech component of the greeting consists of greeting formulas, the use of which is focused on certain time frames: morning, evening, to meet after a long absence, to communicate for the first time or after returning from a trip.

Notas sobre la teoría de la colonialidad del poder y la estructuración de la sociedad en América Latina

La teoría de la colonialidad del poder formulada originalmente por Aníbal Quijano, a principios de los anos noventa, y ampliada posteriormente por la red latinoamericana de intelectuales-activistas ligados a lo que se ha denominado "Proyecto Modernidad / Colonialidad / Descolonialidad", es una de las propuestas epistémicas más debatidas en el escenario intelectual contemporáneo en América Latina. Especialmente en la región andina, esta propuesta ha sido -y es actualmente- central en el proceso de emergencia de nuevas perspectivas críticas e ideas radicales, no sólo en el campo académico, sino fundamentalmente junto al accionar epistémico y político de los diferentes movimientos sociales. En este trabajo realizamos una revisión de los núcleos fundamentales de esta teoría, centrándonos en las elaboraciones del propio Aníbal Quijano. Introducimos los principales componentes conceptuales de la colonialidad del poder, para luego inscribir la potencialidad explicativa que contienen estos elementos teóricos en la comprensión de la estructuración de las sociedades y los Estados-nación en América Latina.

Framing economic inequality in the news in Canada and the United States

News frames are the interpretations and emphases in the presentation of complex issues that privilege certain understandings over others. We take the case of the framing of economic inequality in the news in order to make an empirical contribution and a conceptual contribution. The framing of economic inequality in news coverage is important to understand as news frames can shape public opinion and subsequently policy responses to inequality. There is no research we are aware of that documents how economic inequality is framed in the news. We compiled a dataset of 2109 news articles, published between 2000 and 2014, about economic inequality, and conducted a detailed content analysis. Empirically, we document how inequality was framed as an issue, specifically whether it was framed as a social problem with negative consequences, and what its causes, consequences, and solutions were. Conceptually, we also address an important gap in knowledge about the determinants of news frames. Research about how news frames are shaped by contextual factors in the production of news is uncertain about which factors matter and to what extent. The dataset has a set of features that allow us to simultaneously examine a number of potential determinants of news frames. Our data allow us to compare the relative influences on news coverage of economic inequality of (1) national context, (2) the political leaning of newspapers, (3) changing economic conditions, and (4) social movement efforts. Of these four factors, we find that only the Occupy movement influenced the volume of attention and the identification of economic inequality as a problem with negative consequences. National context, political leaning, and change in economic conditions had much more limited, or no, influence. Following the emergence of the Occupy movement, attention to economic inequality increased and remained higher than before. However, despite the clear effects of the Occupy movement on problem identification, news coverage of the causes and solutions to economic inequality did not significantly shift. We, therefore, find that social movement activity had the clearest influence on news frames, but the observed effect in this case was superficial rather than detailed.

The individualization of political activism

PurposeThe study aims to investigate a relevant topic, but still underestimated by sociological studies: animal advocacy, namely, the organized interest in non-human animals' life, rights and well-being. The Italian case is discussed, with a twofold objective: to highlight the evolution of some repertoires of contention and to use this study to analyze the changes of contemporary collective mobilizations and their relation with the modernization process.Design/methodology/approachThe analysis is based on an online survey (704 responses nationwide), 24 semi-structured interviews with relevant members of groups and associations and a protest event analysis. Furthermore, a vast empirical archive and some academic studies concerning Italian animal advocacy in its historical dimension have been consulted.FindingsThe paper underlines the current specificities of Italian animal advocacy, compared to past decades. The great importance assumed by personal action frames and repertoires of contention emerged as characterizing elements. Activism is always more individual and less related to collective organizations: the central role of veganism and of the internet as protest tool is underlined. Both the increasing possibilities offered by better discursive opportunities structure, but also the possible incorporation of more radical frames within consumer market dynamics emerged from the interviews and the survey.Originality/valueThe phenomenon of animal advocacy (and, more generally, the activities of contemporary social movements) is contextualized within some typical characteristics of modernity, looking both at structural “opportunities” (e.g.: the diffusion of post-materialist values) and “constraints” (e.g.: veganwashing operations). Based on previous definitions coming from social movements studies and following a debate hosted by this journal, the role of collective organizations and especially the centrality assumed by individual activism is critically analyzed, evaluating the new possibilities, but also the possible negative sides. Not only cultural changes, but also political and legal contexts matter. In this sense, both a focus on Italy and more general reflections on western modernities are proposed, trying to go beyond animal advocacy and reflecting on social movements and collective mobilizations more widely.

Political ecologies of the post-mining landscape: Activism, resistance, and legal struggles over Kalimantan's coal mines

This study explores contestation over the meanings, rules and practices of coal mine reclamation and mine closure in the context of East Kalimantan, Indonesia's major coal producing province. As mining intensified in the province, and coal was mined out, concessions were left with large mine voids un-refilled and abandoned without closure – many within close vicinity to human settlements. Following an extended campaign led by a diverse group of social movement actors, utilising various advocacy and litigation strategies, the East Kalimantan legislature adopted a provincial regulation in 2013, reinforcing higher-level regulations that mandate coal mining companies to conduct reclamation and post-mining clean up. The regulation was the first time that activists had directly influenced policy regulating mining at the sub-national level in Indonesia. Yet the policy outcome alone has not been sufficient to shape change: an estimated 1735 coal mine voids remain un-refilled in East Kalimantan, and the number of human fatalities from deaths in mine voids continues to grow. Remediation of mine sites is rarely performed to return land to its pre-mined conditions. By bringing together relevant scholarship in political ecology, the politics of development and legal geography, we analyse the relationships between pact-making, political settlements, contestation and policy reform related to the governance of post-mine landscapes.

Smartphones versus NHK? Mobilization strategies of the Japanese anti-nuclear movement under Abe’s restrictive media policy

ABSTRACTAgainst the background of Japan’s falling rank in the Reporters Without Borders’ Press Freedom index, from 22 in 2011/12 to 61 in 2015, and a growing self-censorship within Japanese mainstream media since Prime Minister Abe took office in 2012, this article examines what media strategies are adopted by social movement actors and asks whether Internet-based media strategies replace contacts to mass media circles. Media coverage plays an important role in movement mobilization; however, the relationship between media and social movements is characterized by a power relationship leaning toward media actors, as social movement scholars such as Gamson and Wolfsfeld suggest. This article tackles these questions from the perspective of movement actors based on 24 qualitative semi-structured interviews with representatives of social movement organizations active in the anti-nuclear movement conducted in 2013 and 2014 in the Greater Tokyo Area. The results indicate that with growing public demand for alternative internet-based information by civic groups, movement organizations expand their activities in this realm while at the same time they do not neglect mass media contacts.

Institutional philanthropy and popular organising in Africa : some initial reflections from social movement activists

As popular forms of organising increasingly serve as sites for change in Africa, institutionalised private philanthropy, which has generally stayed away from such activist spaces is slowly engaging. While anecdotal knowledge exists, evidence-based analysis on these relationships is scarce. This study explored how African movements experience and see the role and nature of philanthropy in relation to their own functioning and objectives. It highlighted that it is not merely a question of whether it is appropriate for institutional philanthropy to engage, but the ‘how’ of engagement that matters most. As a result, different challenges and limitations emerged. The research reflected critical concerns raised by movements about philanthropic orientation, ideology, and practice, and called for radical mindset shifts from institutional philanthropy – particularly on aspects such as power, control, accountability, and impact – and provided practical observations for consideration.

Success factors of network protest movement (analysis of the conflict over St. Isaacs cathedral in 2017–2018)

In the article, the peculiarities of the communication activity of Russian social movements in organizing online and offline actions are explored on the example of the conflict between the authorities and the public concerning the official decision on the transfer of St. Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg (in the building of which the museum works) to the Russian Orthodox Church. As a theoretical and methodological basis of the study, a modernized theory of social movements is used, taking into account their features associated with their use of new communicative capabilities of social networks. Methods of dynamic network analysis were used for analyzing the collected empirical data on the content of the political communication of the network groups. The structural characteristics of the online communication of the two protest network groups “Let’s protect…” and “Let’s save…” the cathedral museum as well as communication links between them are revealed. The differences in their chosen strategies of fighting against the government’s decision are illustrated. The stages of their development are emphasized: mobilization of the movement’s participants by cultural figures and politicians dissatisfied with the decision (January 2017); organizational institutionalization during meetings and rallies (February — May 2017); attainment of the goal (June 2017) with the subsequent termination of the decision (success of the movement). The dynamics of the volume and structure of communication during the entire period of the conflict are analyzed at each stage. A conclusion is made about the real political power of the e-movement during the conflict. It is proved that the use of social networks does not automatically result in the success of the network protest movement, much depends on the chosen strategy. Network protest mobilization alone does not ensure the success of the movement in Russia.

УСТОЙЧИВОЕ РАЗВИТИЕ ОБЩЕСТВА: ПРОБЛЕМЫ И ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ

The article examines the problems of sustainable development of modern societies, identifies their causes and the evolution of views on the origins of unstable and non-equilibrium development in the spatial and temporal aspect of social and political processes. Identify the factors of territorial sustainability, stresses the importance of humanization of development of all spheres of society, the role of education in formation of personality, able to independently decide within fragile and conflict in the world. The fact of General global instability of development is emphasized. Achieving the sustainability of social systems is currently a debatable and difficult task, the main problem of its solution is the inability to meet the growing needs of both individuals and society as a whole due to the exhaustion of resources on a global scale. Of course, production and distribution in some countries is ahead of time, in others it leads to a lag at the level of previous centuries. The uneven evolution of different countries in the direction of technological structure and artificial replenishment of their own resource base, the desire of countries that have entered the era of technological take-off to take priority political and military positions, gives rise to many planetary and territorial conflicts. The technological progress itself is contradictory, all the consequences of which are still unclear, poorly understood by people, and therefore are often perceived as a threat to man himself and the future of mankind. The new era has shown that at the current level, political management and police-military pressure cannot cope with numerous social, economic, environmental, ethnic, and religious problems, and their resolution must be at a deeper intellectual and cultural level. It is obvious that the importance of forming a person who is able to understand the risks of modern civilization is increasing, breaking through the muddy waves of information flows, misinformation and myths, and the role of education and upbringing is growing many times. Step-by-step solution of these tasks can begin with separate territories that localize and concentrate the rules, methods and methods of concretizing the combined actions of administrations, citizens, parties, social movements, and cultural and educational institutions.

Herbert Marcuse on Radical Subjectivity and the “New Activism”

What forms of collective political action conceivably might offer the best prospects for radical, transformative change in the context of a planet currently in crisis, and characterized by intersecting struggles for environmental, economic, social, and racial justice? The concept of radical subjectivity that Herbert Marcuse developed throughout his life and work can provide social movement theorists, organizations and activists with valuable theoretical and practical resources to identify, encourage, and further develop new and emerging forms of political agency and activism, and thereby contribute to the mobilization of contemporary social movements seeking to address these crises and their underlying causes. This concept, when critically reevaluated and appropriated in light of more recent insights about the nature of subjectivity and political agency as well as in the context of these contemporary struggles, can assist in the development of a theory and practice that might be adequate to address the multiple global crises currently confronting humanity and other forms of life on Earth.

Przeciw „ideologiom”. „Wolność” nauki jako stawka w wojnach kulturowych

Against „ideologies”. „Freedom” of science at stake in culture wars The subject of the current article is the analysis of select institutional activities, including drafts of legislative initiatives and social actions, that took place during 2018-2020 at Polish universities (and outside of them), aiming at defining of what can be expressed, who is entitled to speak within the realm of academy – and what can be said by an academic teacher or scientist during public debate. These social actions and legislative initiatives are discussed in the broader context of activities of social movements having clear ideological face (either left- or rightwing), protests against lectures and debates organised at universities that were labelled as „ideological” ones, as well as projects intending to promote specific visions of academic freedom along with corresponding regulations for universities.

Women's Underrepresentation in the U.S. Congress

Women's elective office-holding stands at an all-time high in the United States. Yet women are far from parity. This underrepresentation is surprising given that more women than men vote. Gender–as a feature of both society and politics–has always worked alongside race to determine which groups possess the formal and informal resources and opportunities critical for winning elective office. But how gender connects to office-holding is not fixed; instead, women's access to office has been shaped by changes in law, policy, and social roles, as well as the activities and strategies of social movement actors, political parties, and organizations. In the contemporary period, data from the Center for American Women and Politics reveal that while women are a growing share of Democratic officeholders, they are a declining share of Republican officeholders. Thus, in an era of heightened partisan polarization, women's situation as candidates increasingly depends on party.

Maximizing #MeToo: Intersectionality and the Movement

Although women of color experience high rates of harassment and assault, the #MeToo movement has largely left them on the margins in terms of (1) the online conversation, (2) the traditional social movement activity occurring offline, and (3) the consequential legal activity. This Article analyzes how race shapes experiences of harassment and how seemingly positive legal strides continue to fail women of color thirty years beyond Kimberle Crenshaw’s initial framing of intersectionality theory. I discuss the weaknesses of the reform efforts and argue for more tailored strategies that take into account the ineffectiveness of our current Title VII framework and, more specifically, the continuing failure of the law to properly deal with intersectionality. This analysis and the resulting proposal demonstrate how advocates can leverage #MeToo as an opportunity to reshape law, organizations, and culture in a way that better protects all women, and particularly women of color.

To make what is vertical horizontal: picturing social domination

In attempting to show how visual epistemology is a crucial terrain of political struggle, this article argues that the popular image of the social pyramid renders the idea of a totalizing structure epistemologically available in a mediasphere devoid of such images. The pyramid evokes how social relations are organized and poses the question of their reorganization as a structure–agency problem. Yet, at the same time, the pyramid critically evokes a totalizing whole, it obscures an abstract form of domination specific to capitalist social life by locating the source of domination in hierarchical power relations as such. The article explores this double nature through an investigation of historical and contemporary images of social pyramids. Attempts by social movement actors to update the pyramid so that it more accurately reflects social reality, reveal the potential and the limitations of a visual epistemology for anticapitalist praxis in the present.

Institutional Distrust, Institutional Participation, and Protest Behavior in the European Social Movement Sector

Institutional distrust has become a pervasive element of global society in general and European society in particular. Concurrently, participation in institutions is also declining, raising concerns about the effectiveness of civil society. Distrust of institutions like the political, education, legal-judicial, and law enforcement systems is linked to declining participation in mainstream political behaviors like voting, but it is unclear how individuals’ trust of and participation in certain institutions affects social movement activity and participation in protest. Here, I use recent European protest movements to better understand the link between institutional distrust, institutional participation, and social protest. Using the 7th wave of the European Social Survey, I construct several multilevel mixed-effects logistic regressions predicting participation in four forms of protest: signing petitions, boycotting products, wearing protest badges, and participating in demonstrations. It turns out that, while institutional distrust is moderately and positively linked to certain forms of protest, those who partake in mainstream political institutions are far more likely to participate in all forms of protest.

Normalcy, Race, and Biomedical Technology in Brazil: The Case of Low White Blood Cell Count.

This article explores the intersection between low-complexity biomedical technologies and ideas about race in Brazil. Using ethnographic material collected in the northeastern city of Salvador on the clinical management of low white blood cell count (leukopenia), and debates involving doctors, biomedical scientists, and social movement activists on establishing racialized parameters in complete blood count tests, I explore how the notion of normalcy is connected to ideas about racial difference. Taken both at a population and individual bodily level, normalcy serves to contrast local history, portrayed as the result of widespread admixture between groups, with other national contexts, such as that of the United States. While a material body that cannot be classified as racially pure is seen as normal in the contemporary Brazilian context, nevertheless these pure racial types feature discursively as existing in a long lost past of Brazil's history. At the same time, normalcy can also be locally challenged by certain actors, such as social movement activists, who underline the specific experience of certain racialized bodies, questioning the overarching national narratives of admixture and arguing for the need to recognize these bodies as normal as well, particularly in the context of political struggle for the reduction of social inequalities. These two ways in which normalcy appears articulated with local meanings of race gives way to seemingly contradictory and confronting discourses. Thus, racial categories that are explicitly not identified with admixture are seen as a thing of the past (the history of the Nation) and a thing of the future (a more racially equal country). This can be better comprehended by the process through which different historical discourses on racial difference in Brazil appear in connection with, or as a proxy for, ideas such as nation, population or gender, originating from different places and moments in history.

La seguridad y el estado democrático liberal. Criminalizando la política de los jóvenes

Las políticas de austeridad fueron la reacción de muchas democracias liberales ante la crisis económica iniciada en 2008. Esto provocó un aumento de la contestación y de la movilización social, protagonizada en muchos casos por personas jóvenes. Como reacción a su vez, muchos gobiernos desarrollaron políticas con el objetivo de combatir estas formas de movilización, incluyendo la criminalización de la protesta. Este artículo explora las prácticas por parte de instituciones y el Estado encaminadas a eliminar y criminalizar formas de activismo tales como las revueltas estudiantiles en Quebec, (la “maple spring”), o el movimiento de los indignados en España. A pesar de las diferencias entre ambos países, Canadá puede ser descrito como una ‘democracia liberal madura’ mientras España encaja mejor con la etiqueta de ‘democracia liberal emergente’, en los dos países se ha promovido la criminalización de las prácticas de muchos jóvenes que buscaban ejercitar su derecho constitucional de manifestarse y expresarse libremente a través de la acción colectiva. Aunque en cierto sentido estas prácticas pueden ser explicadas atendiendo a ciertas contradicciones inherentes a las democracias, las políticas criminalizadoras también reflejan algunos prejuicios muy arraigados contra las personas jóvenes. Fundamentamos esta afirmación en el hecho que los jóvenes han causado siempre una atención desproporcionada por parte de la policía y el sistema de justicia legal cuando se veían vinculados con formas convencionales de delincuencia. ¿Qué papel desempeñó en el desarrollo de políticas criminalizadoras el hecho de que las protestas ciudadanas contra la austeridad en 2011 y 2012 tuvieran un marcado componente de protesta juvenil? La discusión sobre las ideas preconcebidas sobre la edad, y la creencia establecida entre algunos sectores de la población de que la juventud ha de ser ‘vigilada de cerca’ permite avanzar en la comprensión de las formas de respuesta estatal cuando son las personas jóvenes las que aspiran a participar activamente en la política.

Social movements in Taiwan's democratic transition: linking activists to the changing political environment

Accounts of Taiwan's transition from authoritarianism to democracy frequently emphasize the role of political leadership in that historical shift. But as numerous scholars have demonstrated, just as important (perhaps more so) was the impact of social movements and politics outside the KMT (the then ruling Kuomintang or Nationalist Party). Yun Fan's book on social movements in Taiwan's democratic transition offers a valuable empirical and theoretical contribution to this literature, and to studies of social movements more generally. As the book's subtitle suggests, Fan's focus is on the role of activists in social movements. This might seem an obvious place to start, but Fan argues that the literature on social movements has generally paid too much attention to political opportunity structure. In other words, the tendency has been to see the wider political environment as being the dominant variable in shaping participation in social movements and the strategies and tactics that...

Political socialisation and intergenerational transmission: life stories of young social movement activists in Morocco

ABSTRACT Since the 2011 protests and uprisings, a plethora of studies on young people's political participation in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has been published. Remarkably, the concept of political socialization was hardly used in this research. But for MENA area studies, and for the humanities and social sciences in general, it remains a central question how subjects socialized under authoritarian rule develop democratic orientations and critical political subjectivities, how they are suddenly induced to protest, often even risking their lives. Against this backdrop, the article makes the case for a biographical and generational approach to research the political socialisation of young people in the MENA region. Based on life stories with social movement activists in Morocco, the article looks into processes of intergenerational transmission and intragenerational communication that are relevant for the emergence of political orientations and for the process of becoming an activist. An in-depth analytical contrast of three biographies along the lines of collective memory, gender, formal education, and symbolisation illustrates different dynamics of intergenerational transmission in political socialisation, namely continuity, negotiation, and disparity.