Social Movement Society Research Articles

Data in movement: the social movement society in the age of datafication

ABSTRACT Data has increased currency in contemporary activism and has become an integral part of the action repertoire of today’s social movements. But data and data infrastructure are not only tools to support a movement’s struggle: they are constitutive parts of the environment in which movements operate, and objects of contention in their own right. These developments challenge scholars of social movements and collective action. How are movements changing under the pressure of datafication? What ‘new’ mechanisms, actors and tactics meet the growing demand for citizen participation in an increasingly datafied society? Is social movement scholarship ‘fit’ to capture and interpret this evolution? This theoretical article puts social movement studies in dialogue with critical data studies with the aim of encouraging a much-needed cross-pollination. It advances the notion of ‘datafied movements’ to address the novel structural condition of contentious politics in the age of datafication and to explore the socio-technical, systemic effects of data and data infrastructure on movement dynamics. It reflects on how five key social movement dynamics, and the related elements in the conceptual toolbox of social movement studies – group formation, opportunity structures, action repertoires, meaning work, and collective identity – are altered by datafication and the advance of intelligent systems in society. In so doing, this article charts the building blocks of a future-proof research program in social movements.

Contentious Institutionalization of Protests under Democracy: The Evidence from Taiwan, 1986–2016

AbstractWhile many scholarly works are concerned with how social protests promote democratization, this article addresses the causally reverse question: how democratization shapes the landscape of street protests. We use a unique database of 31 years of protest events in Taiwan, a smooth and successful case of authoritarianism-to-democracy transition, to engage in a dialogue with political transition theory, the institutionalization thesis and networked movement theory. The logistic regression analysis indicates that protest violence persists under consolidated democracy, but it is marginalized. We find an indirect effect from the growth of social movement organizations that foster the adaptation of festive and performative tactics, which are less confrontational in nature. Politicians' involvement, however, remains a constant source of disruptiveness. Our conclusion of contentious institutionalization finds that late-democratizing countries also gravitate towards becoming a ‘social movement society’ as advanced democracies do, but in a highly compressed period of time.

Environmental Movement Interventions in Tourism and Energy Development in the North Atlantic

This article compares environmental movement engagement in energy and tourism development in Norway and Iceland by bridging the social movement societies (SMSoc) and the players and arenas perspectives. Results are based on field observation and interviews, as well as web-based textual analysis and a preliminary online survey. Results show that Norway is an institutionalized and multi-level social movement society with a mix of professionalized and grassroots local, national, and international organization. Iceland, by contrast, is a national and episodic social movement society where movement players operate at a national scale and engage in project-specific collaboration or opposition in tourism or energy development arenas. This analysis demonstrates the value of bridging the SMSoc and players and arenas perspectives for international comparative social movements research.

How Protesters and the State Learn From One Another: Spiraling Repertoires of Contention and Repression in Ukraine, 1990-2014

This article employs a contentious politics framework to examine the mobilization–repression nexus as it occurred in Ukraine from the 1990 Revolution on Granite, through the 2000-2001 Ukraine without Kuchma campaign and the 2004 Orange Revolution, to the 2013-2014 Euromaidan movement. Comparative analysis of these four cases suggests that developments in both the contentious and repressive repertoires resembled spirals: each campaign became more complex and of longer duration than the last, and each was driven by the repeated protester–government interactions and by the political, economic, and technological environment that changed over time. In the transit from autocracy to democracy, Ukrainian activists adopted and “normalized” political protest much more quickly than did the authorities. The activists creatively innovated as they borrowed from earlier dissent traditions and from other social movements abroad. For the government, the process of learning how to manage contention with means other than their usual repression tactics was much longer, and it is not over. As it slowly transits from Soviet past to democracy, Ukraine continues its development into a “social movement society.”

1920년대 개성의 사회운동과 비밀결사 개성공산당 -사회운동과 지역성의 관계를 중심으로-

1920년대 개성의 사회운동과 비밀결사 개성공산당 -사회운동과 지역성의 관계를 중심으로-

Becoming a Movement Society? Patterns in the Public Acceptance of Protest, 1985–2006

ABSTRACTA social movement society refers to a society in which protest is a standard, institutionalized feature of the political landscape. Is the United States steadily becoming such a society? Whereas other empirical tests of the movement society thesis have focused on political tactics and individual participation in protest, we point to the public’s attitudes as another indicator of the movement society. Using the General Social Survey (GSS) data, we find that the public has grown more accepting of protest with time. In addition, using indicators of social location, social engagement, and political engagement as predictors, we find that while these factors help explain support for the protest, their effects vary depending on the type of protest in question. Age, education, gender, income, employment status, and political interest all affect the acceptance of public meetings and demonstrations; however, the effect of income is reversed when it comes to the acceptance of a nationwide strike. Lastly, an age-period-cohort analysis finds evidence that a period effect is greater than a cohort effect in changing attitudes over time. Taken together, these findings support the claim that broad, societal-level influences have contributed to the public acceptance of protest, which is suggestive of a social movement society. Yet while the United States may constitute a social movement society, it is one with clear boundaries: Individuals do support protest but only to the extent that it does not disrupt the material advantages associated with their social location.

Protest and Politics: The Promise of Social Movement Societies

Protest and Politics: The Promise of Social Movement Societies

‘Transborder conversation’ and oppositional codes: Mediatised diffusion of social movement discourse between Hong Kong and China

Since 2003, Hong Kong has gradually transformed into a ‘social movement society’. With the help of new technologies, mediatised ‘transborder conversation’ about social movement across the border with mainland China, as a verbal practice, has become routine. Sojourn students from the mainland, who usually stay in Hong Kong for several years, actively participate in this verbal practice. Taking a ‘discourse-centred online ethnography’ approach, this study aims to unpack the verbal practice of transborder conversations driven by sojourn students during the Umbrella Movement from the theoretical perspective of speech codes. By conducting participant observation and in-depth interviews with 30 participants, two oppositional codes, cynicism and idealism, have been identified. Each code assumes different relations of the self and the state and different political efficacy, which manifests as different interactional practices. The presence of these oppositional codes has endangered the counter-hegemonic nature of transborder conversations.

Towards a Western European “Social Movement Society”? An Assessment: 1981–2009

Some social movements scholars argue that contemporary democracies are becoming “social movements societies”: citizens are often mobilized to make claims; protest actions are progressively becoming part of institutional politics; and protest has diffused to new constituents. In other words, participants in protest activities are more difficult to be identified. This article aims to provide an updated assessment of the “social movement society” thesis in Western Europe, with a focus on the expansion, institutionalization, and, in particular, to the diffusion of political protest to new groups. Using the European Values Study, which spans from 1981 to 2009, it is found that in Western Europe forms of protest are more popular than in the past, that a partial institutionalization has occurred, and that traditionally disengaged individuals protest more compared to the past. However, the process of “normalization” of the political protester has yet to be completed, given that differences in the levels of engagement still exist among social groups.

A Collective Object for the Sociology of Morality Project

pinquity Revisited: Communications Technology and the Transformation of the Urban Public Sphere.’’ Sociological Inquiry 68(3):373–397. Castells, Manuel. 1997. The Power of Identity. London: Blackwell Publishers. Coleman, Gabriella E. 2012. Coding Freedom: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Hacking. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Coleman, Gabriella E. 2014. Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous. New York: Verso. Dauvergne, Peter, and Genevieve LeBaron. 2014. Protest Inc.: The Corporatization of Activism. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press. Downing, John. 2001. Radical Media: Rebellious Communication and Social Movements. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. Earl, Jennifer, and Katrina Kimport. 2011. Digitally Enabled Social Change: Activism in the Internet Age. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Fisher, Dana. 2006. Activism, Inc.: How the Outsourcing of Political Campaigns is Strangling Progressive Politics in America. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Harcourt, Bernard E. 2013. ‘‘Political Disobedience.’’ Pp. 45–92 in Occupy: Three Inquiries in Disobedience, edited by W. J. T. Mitchell, B. E. Harcourt, and M. Taussig. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Hick, Steven, and John G. McNutt, eds. 2002. Advocacy and Activism on the Internet: Perspectives from Community Organization and Social Policy. Chicago: Lyceum Books. Jordan, Tim, and Paul Taylor. 2004. Hacktivism and Cyberwars: Rebels with a Cause. New York: Routledge. Lievrouw, Leah A. 2011. Alternative and Activist New Media. London: Polity. Meyer, David S., and Sidney G. Tarrow. 1998. The Social Movement Society: Contentious Politics for a New Century. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. Ramos, Howard, and Kathleen Rodgers, eds. 2015. Protest and Politics: The Promise of Social Movement Societies. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. Rheingold, Howard. 1993. The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Samson, Robert J., Doug McAdam, Heather MacIndoe, and Simon WefferElizondo. 2005. ‘‘Civil Society Reconsidered: The Durable Nature and Community Structure of Collective Civic Action.’’ American Journal of Sociology 111(3): 673–714. Walker, Edward. 2015. Grassroots for Hire: Public Affairs Consultancy in American Democracy. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Wellman, Barry. 1997. ‘‘An Electronic Group Is Virtually a Social Network.’’ Pp. 179–205 in Culture of the Internet, edited by S. Kiesler. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Wellman, Barry. 2004. ‘‘The Three Ages of Internet Studies: Ten, Five and Zero Years Ago.’’ New Media and Society 6(1):123–129. Whalen, Jack, and Richard Flacks. 1990. Beyond the Barricades: The Sixties Generation Grows Up. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Whittier, Nancy. 1995. Feminist Generations: The Persistence of the Radical Women’s Movement. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. Wolfson, Todd. 2014. Digital Rebellion: The Birth of the Cyber Left. Champaign: University of Illinois Press. Yang, Guobin. 2009. The Power of the Internet in China: Citizen Activism Online. New York: Columbia University Press.

The Commercialization and Digitization of Social Movement Society

The Commercialization and Digitization of Social Movement Society

Protest and politics: the promise of social movement societies

Introduction: The Promise of Social Movement Societies / Howard Ramos and Kathleen Rodgers Part 1: Political and Historical Context 1 Reconsidering the Social Movement Society in the New Century / David S. Meyer and Amanda Pullum 2 Evangelical Radio: Institution Building and the Religious Right / Tina Fetner, Allyson Stokes, and Carrie B. Sanders 3 The Social Movement Society and the Human Rights State / Dominique Clement 4 Institutionalization, State Funding, and Advocacy in the Quebec Women's Movement / Dominique Masson Part 2: State Dynamics and Processes 5 How the State Shapes Social Movements: An Examination of the Environmental Movement in Canada / Catherine Corrigall-Brown and Mabel Ho 6 Immigrant Collective Mobilization and Socio-economic Integration in Canada / Philippe Couton 7 Uncooperative Movements, Militarized Policing, and the Social Movement Society / Lesley Wood Part 3: How People Participate 8 Social Movement Communities in the Movement Society / Suzanne Staggenborg 9 No to Protests, Yes to Festivals: How the Creative Class Organizes in the Social Movement Society / Judith Taylor 10 Justification and Critique in the Social Movement Society / Jim Conley 11 The Concept of Social Movement and Its Relationship to the Social Movement Society: An Empirical Investigation / David B. Tindall and Joanna L. Robinson Part 4: Knowledge and Culture 12 Alternative Policy Groups and Global Civil Society: Networks and Discourses of Counter-Hegemony / William K. Carroll 13 Wilderness Revisited: Canadian Environmental Movements and the Eco-Politics of Special Places / Mark C.J. Stoddart 14 Alberta Internalizing Oil Sands Opposition: A Test of the Social Movement Society Thesis / Randolph Haluza-DeLay Conclusion: What We Can Say about the Promise of Social Movement Societies / Kathleen Rodgers and Howard Ramos References Index

The ‘Normalisation’ of the Protester: Changes in Political Action in Italy (1981–2009)

Authors claim that political protest is ‘normal’ in contemporary democracies, which are, therefore, ‘social movement societies’. This article analyses the Italian case, showing that there has been an expansion and a gradual institutionalisation of political protest, but it also tests whether there has been a ‘normalisation’ of the protester. It is argued that in a ‘social movement society’ protesters are more heterogeneous than in the past. Using survey data spanning over 30 years we find that the association between several individual characteristics and participation in political protest weakens or disappears. However, complete normalisation of the protester has yet to be completed.

Lawyering for Social Change: Pro Bono Publico, Cause Lawyering, and the Social Movement Society

Over the past few decades, large law firms have increasingly integrated social movement causes and organizations into their pro bono practices. In this article, I examine the field of pro bono representation and examine the various types of organizations and social movement causes that receive large-firm representation. I find that large firms represent a range of social movement issues and that this shift has increased over time. My findings support the "social movement society" thesis that movements have increasingly become integrated within mainstream institutions and have expanded to include new constituencies and claims. However, I also find that large firms channel their resources toward some issue domains over others, indicating uneven representation across the contemporary pro bono field.

States and social movements

Chapter 1: The State, Protest, and Social Movements Chapter 2: Protest in Contemporary Democracies Chapter 3: The Social Movement Society Chapter 4: Repressive States and Protest Chapter 5: Revolutions and States Chapter 6: Globalization, Protest, and the State References

<b>Global, conventional and warring movements and the suppression of contention. Themes in contentious politics research</b> <br>doi:10.5007/2175-7984.2011v10n18p25

Contentious events often come in waves, but they are seldom homogeneous. A series of contentious events over the past two years were the result of the global financial crisis that began in the United States in 2008 and ultimately diffused around the world. But it was in Greece and the European Union that the crisis hit hardest. There, conventional protest, violence, and political contention combined. The Greek/Euro crisis has three lessons to teach us about the current themes in social movement research. The first lesson has to do with the nature of the capitalist crisis that triggered these events. The second lesson is that there are limits to globalization and internationalization. The third lesson is that while the financial crisis sparked a great deal of contention, it was differently affected by the political opportunity structure of each country. This article investigates three meanings of the term “social movement society” that became popular in the North in the 1990s: global movements; contained movements; and warring movements. It closes with some speculations about the relationship between the movements of recent years and protest policing and the increasing danger of suppression of all movements as the result of the fear of terrorism.

Asymmetric Partnership: Migrant Organisations, Trade Unions and the Equality Ombudsman

The study examines civil society agency for social inclusion among Associations Founded on Ethnic Grounds (AFEGs), focusing on their engagement for combating discrimination and enhancing migrant incorporation into the Swedish labour market. The overall rationale of the study investigates the complex institutional conditionality of AFEGs for developing their agency as social movement and civil society actors. The main aim of this study has been to understand how anti-discrimination agencies run by AFEGs, with subsidy support by the state, describe their experiences, and which implications the subsidy may have for the orientation and direction of their actions. The study comprises primarily interviews with anti-discrimination lawyers and heads of two agencies, but also interviews with representatives for the Equality Ombudsman. The greatest challenge for the agencies has been caused by subsidy cutbacks, which have affected both the working conditions of the agencies and other engagements of the AFEGs, such as educational courses among their members, awareness raising concerning the issues of anti-discrimination among different officials, in municipalities, trade unions and among employers. Due to the cutbacks, the civil society actors such as AFEGs have been forced to adapt to market principles by becoming entrepreneurs specialised, in this case, in the field of anti-discrimination law. The study further analyses the effects of this development as well as opportunity structures for collaboration with trade unions and the Equality Ombudsman. Even though these partnerships reveal relational asymmetries, the authors call attention to current and possible future openings in opportunity structures for wider collaboration between AFEGs, trade unions and the Equality Ombudsman.

Party-Sponsored Protest and the Movement Society: The CDU/CSU Mobilises Against Citizenship Law Reform

In 1999, the CDU/CSU single-handedly launched an extremely successful petition drive against the SPD-Green citizenship law reform (in particular against dual citizenship). This article argues that four developments converged to explain this tactical innovation. First, Germany's political culture had become a 'social movement society', with even conservatives accepting protest as a political means. Second, the issue of immigration pressurised the party to adopt a hard-line stance in order to co-opt the extreme right. Third, the Kohl government had left a legacy of resistance to citizenship liberalisation and of populist exploitation of anti-foreigner sentiment. Fourth, the petition drive reflected the CDU/CSU's new opposition status and its internal struggle over agenda and leadership. The article concludes with a look at the CDU/CSU's subsequent use of plebiscitory tactics and the implications for the future of protest politics.

The Social Movement Society: Contentious Politics for a New Century. Edited by David S. Meyer and Sidney Tarrow. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1997. 282p. $68.50 cloth, $24.95 paper. Social Movements in Politics: A Comparative Study. By Cyrus Ernesto Zirakzadeh. London: Addison Wesley Longman, 1997. 288p. $32.00

What does protest means in industrial societies? To answer this question, David Meyer and Sidney Tarrow bring together political scientists and sociologists from Europe and the United States to build on comparative insights. The 17 contributors include some of the most prominent voices in the study of contentious politics as well as a few new ones. Some chapters are organized around case studies (Klandermans, Roefs, and Olivier on the African National Congress; Rucht on protest in Germany; and McCarthy and McPhail on protest in the United States), while others compare across cases (Crozat on Western democracies; Della Porta, Fillieule, and Reiter on policing in France and Italy; Kubik on Central Europe; Hipsher on Latin America). The editors' introduction and the final two chapters (Katzenstein on feminist movements; Keck and Sikkink on transnational advocacy networks) advance cross-regional comparisons.

Mobilizing for Change in a Social Movement Society

VERTA TAYLOR Ohio State University consequences for sexual freedom should certainly ensure more of it. Of course, this is exactly what the Christian right and more other Orthodox religions are afraid of; but as I see it, failing another epidemiological disaster, the forward motion is toward sexual freedom and pleasure. This may mean more destabilization of marriage if sexuality is unsatisfying in the relationship, and more permission to use sexuality as a major bond in relationships where sexuality is fulfilling. Nonmonogamy may be more common, but not necessarily as much of an absolute trespass (la the European model). In the twentyfirst century, sex will be more of an appetite and less of a moral crisis. And the good news here is that, ultimately, such a change may make us more humane in our interpersonal relations and more just in our social programs and legal institutions. Sexual health can become part of a rational public health program, and not a political hot potato. At least this is the twenty-first century I would like to live in.