Theories Of New Social Movements Research Articles

Existential Struggles in Nigeria and Social Movement Theory: Case Study of #ENDSARS

Existential struggles appear to be unending in developing nations, including Nigeria. Some of the existential struggles lead to citizen agitations and evolve into social movements, some of which have recorded varying success rates. This paper thus seeks to examine #ENDSARS protests as a case study vis-à-vis the social movement theory. It explores the theory to provide meaning to what happened with #ENDSARS, outcomes and recommendations for future social movements or otherwise. Findings indicate that New Social Movement Theory (NSMT) played out effectively during the #ENDSARS protest, with technology driving all the attributes of the social movement theory. As a recommendation, the policymakers must approach issues affecting the welfare and livelihoods of its citizens carefully before it snowballs into agitations like the #ENDSARS protest. Government must balance the need for fiscal responsibility and economic growth with the need to protect the interests of ordinary Nigerians and ensure social stability. Theorists must hereafter review new theories against contemporary realities and technological potential.

GERAKAN STOP ASIAN HATE: SEBUAH RESPONS RASISME TERHADAP KETURUNAN ASIA DI AMERIKA SERIKAT

This paper analyzes the response to racism experienced by Asian descent in the United States through the Stop Asian Hate movement. By using qualitative research methods and the use of critical race theory, it can be seen the various impacts of racism. This paper also uses the theory of new social movements which is elaborated with the concept of Connective Action to dissect the collective movements of society such as forming non-profit organizations, demonstrations, advocacy, and campaigns through digital media as an effort to protect Asian descendants in America. Racism against Asian descent in the United States continues to escalate even to the point of murder. Racism against Asian descent also experienced an increase in the era of President Donald Trump's leadership along with the spread of the Covid-19 Virus Pandemic in the United States in early 2020. Trump's racist personality has increasingly made hate crimes against Asian descent flourish

Habermas’ Colonization Thesis in the Digital Network: Pandemic Resistance in Advanced Capitalism

As scholars anticipate the structural reconfigurations arising from the COVID-19 pandemic, resistance to pandemic measures remains a site of rich discussion. While previous researchers have studied anti-mask, anti-vaccine, and anti-lockdown action, here called anti-restriction movements, as a series of actions informed by individual characteristics like psychological profiles, political leanings, or gender, this paper emphasizes how anti-restriction actions evolved into social movements articulating the antagonisms between state and subject. This paper applies Jürgen Habermas’s theory of New Social Movements (NSMs) to theorize anti-restriction movements as reactions to bureaucratic and economic regulation in cultural and private life. Habermas’s original theory assigned NSMs a radical potential in reinvigorating public political discourse and democratic processes which remains to be seen today. By contrasting the discourses of anti-restriction movements in Indigenous communities in Chiapas, Mexico and suburban communities in Orange County, California, this paper describes how profit-driven market algorithms steer social movements away from their radical potential towards sensationalism and misinformation. Not only do social media platforms “colonize” communication on the national level, but western countries’ control of social media platforms “digitally colonizes” peripheral countries by redirecting subaltern social movements with the hybridized discourses of imperial nations.

How is art political? The political construction in the discourse of art activism in Hong Kong

With the radicalization of activism in Hong Kong in the past decade, it has become increasingly common for artists to engage in the political situation through their creative work; the discussion of art and activism has also become popular and the term ‘art activism’ is usually used to describe such practices, referring it with a new political imagination of art. This article takes the discussion of such practices through the concept of art activism as a complex dynamic of discursive practice. It reflects the ways in which politics are constructed through the discourse of art activism, and how such a concept contributes to its political dynamics in social movements. This article attempts to analyse the changing trajectory of the discourse of art activism and to explore how different actors discuss its confrontational relationship in different contexts. Hence, what kind of politics does this concept refer to? This article suggests that the discourse of art activism has been influenced by the theory of New Social Movements in the West, in which the construction of collective emotions and identities are emphasized. It has become a key element in the political composition of art activism, and provided a new impetus to the dynamics of social movement, but at the same time imposed certain limitations later on. This article takes such a review as an attempt to outline the political construction of the discourse of art activism in Hong Kong, tracing its dynamics and changing trajectories, hence the heterogeneous elements in the discourse of art activism that may provide an alternative perspective in deconstructing its boundaries.

Movimientos sociales: el papel de las emociones y los derechos humanos en la transformación del derecho local e internacional

La teoría de los nuevos movimientos sociales brinda herramientas analíticas para comprender cómo se manifiestan las emociones en los movimientos sociales (MS), y cómo se activan como posibilidades transformadoras de las realidades y contextos en los que estos se dinamizan. Este artículo aporta a la discusión sobre los MS enfatizando en el rol de las emociones como catalizadores de cambios y transformaciones, especialmente con respecto a los Derechos Humanos (DDHH). Para esto, a través de un análisis de fuentes teóricas se examinan las relaciones de interdependencia entre los MS, las emociones y el derecho. El artículo argumenta que los DDHH y las emociones son recursos que emplean los MS que facilitan su acción transformadora en la esfera local en tanto promueven un cambio de abajo hacia arriba y a nivel internacional lo que permiten generar una mayor sincronía social.

Cultural identity of urban communities of the historical reenactors

The object of this research is the cultural identity of urban communities of the historical reenactors. The subject of the author’s scientific interest is the mechanisms and practices substantiating the specificity of positive cultural identity of the communities, united within the framework of the historical reenactment movement. The article examines the dominant trends in the development of modern reenactment movement: trend towards the fragmentation of movement and complication of the structure of collective identity, and intention towards unity. Special attention is given to the identification of mechanisms that allow retaining and maintaining balance between the processes of differentiation and integration of reenactment movement. Methodologically, the author’s understanding of the specificity of collective identity of the historical reenactors is based on the theoretical ideas of H. Blumer, N. Smelser and P. Sztompka, as well as the theory of new social movements that focus attention on their sociocultural dimension. The scientific novelty consists in the fact that this article is first to comprehensively analyze cultural components of the collective identity of the historical reenactment movement; as well as determine its structural components, mechanism and characteristic attributes. It is substantiated that under the influence of the modern global trends, cultural identity of reenactors along with the basic components attaints the new ones that contribute to the expansion of cultural-historical mobility and cohesion of reenactment movement.

Nowe ruchy społeczne w Niemczech w kontekście kryzysu migracyjnego

<p>Celem artykułu jest przybliżenie profilu trzech ruchów społecznych funkcjonujących we współczesnych Niemczech, których działalność jest bezpośrednio związana z problemem kryzysu migracyjnego, a które wykazują pod względem programowo-ideologicznym profil skrajnie prawicowy, a także próba ich umieszczenia w teorii nowych ruchów społecznych. Działalność wybranych ruchów, zgodnie z przyjętą hipotezą, nastręcza licznych wątpliwości w związku z zastosowaniem do nich wspomnianej teorii. Przy zastosowaniu analizy jakościowej materiałów publikowanych przez wybrane ruchy społeczne, analizy ich działalności w przestrzeni publicznej oraz dyskursu naukowego im poświęconego wykazano, że zjawisko skrajnie prawicowych ruchów społecznych nie jest zbieżne z kategorią nowych ruchów społecznych. W pierwszej części tekstu przedstawiono profil trzech skrajnie prawicowych ruchów społecznych działających w Niemczech (PEGIDA, Pro-Bewegung oraz HoGeSa). Następnie przybliżono dostępne wyniki badań socjologicznych i politologicznych, przeprowadzonych do tej pory przez niemieckich badaczy, podkreślając problematyczność w zdobyciu wystarczających danych niezbędnych do wnioskowania o faktycznym zapleczu społecznym i charakterze tych grup. W kolejnej części zestawiono elementy teorii nowych ruchów społecznych z obecnym wizerunkiem skrajnie prawicowych ruchów antyimigracyjnych, wskazując zarówno na podobieństwa, jak i różnice. W podsumowaniu stwierdzono, że wykazane rozbieżności stanowią lukę w analizie nowych ruchów skrajnie prawicowych i potencjał do przyszłych badań.</p>

НА ПУТИ К ЛУЧШЕМУ ОБЩЕСТВУ, ИЛИ ПОЧЕМУ ЛЮДИ СТАНОВЯТСЯ АКТИВИСТАМИ?

The author analyses the role of social and political activity of citizens in a “good society” (i.e. suitable for living). It is supposed that this activity drives the transition to a higher-order ideal. However, it implies selective criticism over certain social institutions and processes, rather than the total criticism of the present. The basic theoretical and methodological approaches to studying social and political activity are described in the article. Six most commonly used theories are considered: theory of collective action (J. Dollard, L. Killian, G. Le Bon. N.E. Miller, N.K. Mikhaylovsky, F. Allport, N. Smelser, R. Turner, etc.), relative deprivation theory (T. Gurr, J. Davis, R. Merton, W. Runciman, etc.), rational choice theory (M. Lichbach, M. Olson, K.-D. Opp, D. Chong, etc.), resource mobilization theory (M. N. Zald, D. McAdam, J. McCarthy, S. Tarrow, Ch. TiIly, etc.), political opportunities theory (P. Eisinger, D. Meyer, etc.), the theory of new social movements (S. Buechler, S.D. Kendall, N. Pichardo, A. Scott, etc.) and political reframing (B. Gladarev, A. Demidov, K, Clément, O. Miryasova). The models are presented in the order of their apparition; each of them is currently being developed and represents an attempt to face modern challenges. The author highlights that social and political activity in a “good society” correlates with personal well-being and helps master democratic rules of conduct, and these tendencies are typical both for Western and Russian societies.

Consumer rights: a co‐optation of the contemporary consumer movement

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the relationship between the development of consumer rights and the emergence of the contemporary consumer movement. Rethinking the contemporary consumer movement as a new social movement (NSM) enables a closer examination of the actors, opponents and goals of the movement, and how governments and other political institutions responded by conceptualising and developing a set of “consumer rights”.Design/methodology/approachThe lens of NSM theory is used to examine the historical development of, and relationship between, consumer rights and the contemporary consumer movement.FindingsAs a NSM, the goal of the contemporary consumer movement is to bring about ideological change. However, this paper argues that the development of “consumer rights” can be read as an attempt by oppositional forces to co‐opt the goals of the movement, thereby neutralising the threat of the movement and negating the opportunity for radical ideological change. Identifying that co‐optation can occur not only through the actors, but also via the “totality” or goals of a movement, broadens our understanding of how NSMs decline or are institutionalised.Originality/valueThis paper offers a critical interpretation of the origins and purpose of “consumer rights”. It suggests that rather than being read as a success of the contemporary consumer movement, consumer rights actually represent a co‐optation of the movement, which served to placate consumer activists while actually maintaining the very structures of advanced market capitalism and consumer culture the movement sought to destabilise.

Situating Movements Historically: May 1968, Alain Touraine, and New Social Movement Theory

Recent literature on social movements has called for a renewal of theory so that it engages more directly with the social and historical dynamics in which movements emerge and crystallize. Too often, some critics argue, movements are treated as static or reified phenomena that are disconnected from their links to space and time. I examine new social movement theory from an historical perspective that emphasizes its connections with concrete social dynamics at a given point in time. Unlike alternative approaches, new social movement (NSM) theory and in particular the work of Alain Touraine, was forged out of a specific episode of social conflict—the May 1968 revolt in France—and was deeply informed by the experience of this conflict. This theory provides a dynamic and relational model in which social and historical processes are treated as major determinants of collective action within society. In fact, what explains the success of NSM theory and its enduring influence over time, is that it reaches beyond an analysis of social movements to provide an overarching theory of society at a given historical juncture. The article suggests that NSM theory provides a fruitful perspective for scholars searching for an approach that take history into account.

Self-description, Self-deception, Simulation: A Systems-theoretical Perspective on Contemporary Discourses of Radical Change

In advanced modern societies ecological integrity, democratic renewal, social inclusion and global justice are non-controversial collective concerns. The ecological, economic, social and political unsustainability of the present arrangements is largely uncontested. Demands for radical societal change as they have once been articulated by the counter-cultural new social movements seem to have been fully mainstreamed. At the same time, however, there is an unprecedented consensus of defence reinforcing the established system of liberal consumer capitalism. What is required in order to make sense of these evident contradictions is a theory of late-modern society's discourses of radical change. New social movement theory (NSMT) can neither explain the mainstreaming of the supposedly subversive discourses of radical change nor their relationship towards the firmly established consensus of defence. A critical review of Niklas Luhmann's systems theoretical analysis of protest communication paves the way towards an interpretation of contemporary discourses of radical change as a particular form of societal self-description that functions as a means of societal self-deception: late-modern society uses the form of simulation in order to stabilize and reproduce at the same time the unsustainable status quo and the belief in the radical alternative.

Islamic "New Social Movements"? Radical Islam, AL-QA'IDA and Social Movement Theory

European new social movement (NSM) theory was developed to describe and explain the apparently unique character of the wave of collective action that began in the 1960s and continues to this day. Key characteristics of NSM theory are a post-industrial orientation, middle-class activist core, loose organizational form, use of symbolic direct actions, creation of new identities, and a "self-limiting radicalism." The theory's claims to movement innovation were later criticized by many as exaggerated and ahistorical. However, the filtering down of key NSM elements into social movement studies has led to changing definitions of what social movements actually are and opened up new opportunities for the integration of religious movements into the social movements mainstream. Using the case of radical Islam, and with particular reference to the terrorist social movement organization al-Qa'ida, this article argues that drawing on key features of NSM theory should lead to a better understanding of radical Islam as well as a more realistic explanation of its continuing development and transformation.

Dichotomies and contemporary social movements

In this essay Vincenzo Ruggiero explores the dichotomy between theories of new social movements that draw upon rationalist/resource‐mobilization approaches and those that focus on collective identity and cultural difference as key motivators. Taking contemporary social movements (CSMs) engaged in opposition to globalizing neo‐liberalism (from anti‐G8 protests to the World Social Forums) as the focus of analysis, the paper argues that because ‘the different components of the movement have extremely diversified needs’ it is as difficult for activists as it is for researchers to identify a common purpose or set of unifying principles. However, Ruggiero suggests that by refusing to succumb to traditional organizational ‘leader‐follower’ paradigms, CSMs begin to resemble the ‘free city’ of ‘the multitude’, which so bewildered Kreon's messenger from the dictatorial city‐state of Thebes. The multitude do not speak with one voice, however, and in this ‘movement of movements’ we find rejectionists that eschew all forms of engagement with capitalism's economic and social manifestations, international solidarity activists building resistance ‘from below’ with grass roots movements around the world, and finally regulators and reformers who seek to utilize existing legal and democratic resources to constrain and encourage corporations into more pro‐social and pro‐environmental behaviour. Ultimately, though, CSMs are attempting to work through the eternal conflict between reason and utopia—imagining Rimbaud's new life while, as Marx implored, changing the existing world, or as Ruggiero puts it—‘between real achievement and contestation of the official notion of the real’.

Even Newer Social Movements? Anti-Corporate Protests, Capitalist Crises and the Remoralization of Society

This paper examines the possibility of using Jürgen Habermas's theory of new social movements as a way of making sense of the recent wave of anti-corporate protests. It is argued that anti-corporatism fits with Habermas's model in many key respects. However, a number of problems in the Habermasian model are identified. Specifically, Habermas limits his focus to the First World and develops his account in relation to a now outdated model of the Welfare Society. These issues must be addressed, but if they are, it is argued, the Habermasian model remains useful.

Bringing difference into deliberation? Disabled people, survivors and local governance

English This article discusses the rules of the game in participatory democracy and the engagement of disabled people and mental health service users/survivors in the process. Drawing on theories of new social movements and of deliberative democracy, the article considers how notions of ‘legitimate participants’ are constructed within official discourse, and how those can be challenged by autonomous groups of disabled people. It also explores assumptions about appropriate forms of deliberation within participation forums and how an appeal to rational debate can exclude the emotional content of the experience of living with mental health problems from deliberation about mental health policy. The argument is illustrated by reference to research conducted by the author, and by a Canadian study of user/survivor involvement in policy making.

Conceptualizing Cultural Politics in Subcultural and Social Movement Studies

In this article it is argued that combining theories of social movements and subcultures provides a way of 'conceptualizing cultural politics'. The focus is on debates that have taken place over the conceptualization of subcultures and social movements as well as the status and viability of cultural politics. Contemporary subcultural theorists are critical of the rigid concepts used by the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) but, it is argued, they provide few feasible alternatives. They also have little to say about the supposed contemporary significance of cultural politics. New social movement (NSM) theorists, on the other hand, have generated conceptual frameworks that recognize the complexity of collective phenomena and have developed an approach which enables us to engage with the controversy over cultural politics. However, they concentrate too narrowly on struggles waged at the level of lifestyle, culture and civil society. The article shows how, like the CCCS, critics of NSM theory rightly question the potency of symbolic challenges and stress the persistent role of material issues and the continued part that conventional political actors, such as the state, play in contemporary social conflicts. Finally, the case of New Age Travellers is used to illuminate these debates in subcultural and social movement studies and to show how elements of each approach can be employed fruitfully in empirical research.

The Struggle for Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka

Regionalism has commonly been expected to dissolve as a consequence of the administrative regional penetration of the centralized modern state and the homogenizing forces associated with modernization. This mode of reasoning has reappeared recently among authors who see globalization as a universal force that will eradicate regional economic inequalities, local identities and regional political mobilization. Contrary to these expectations, regional autonomy movements continue to play a central political role within many states. Consequently, it remains an important analytical challenge to understand the construction and politicization of regional interests.Against this background, the article presents a critical interpretation and contextual analysis of Tamil separatism in Sri Lanka. It is argued that studies of nationalist movements should seek inspiration in the contemporary dialog between three main perspectives on social movements (theories of new social movements, resource mobilization theories, and theories of collective identity) and a corresponding three‐dimensional understanding of place (location, locale, and sense of place). The paper shows how nationalist mobilization cannot be reduced to essentialist notions of primordial nations, territorial nation‐states, or internal colonialism, but instead should be understood as the outcome of cultural and political practices by a multitude of actors, operating in time‐ and place‐specific contexts.

Fragmented Community Action or New Social Movement?

Environmentalism is usually regarded as a `First World' phenomenon associated with economic prosperity and rising living standards. This article examines environmentalism in the context of a `Third World' country, Jamaica. While the tourist industry successfully promotes Jamaica as an unspoiled tropical holiday destination, the country faces serious environmental threats from industry, agriculture and from tourism itself. Structural adjustment and stabilization programmes have cut deeply into government expenditure with a consequence that environmental protection has low priority. However, in Jamaica social action has emerged in response to environmental problems. Groups have begun to organize at national, parish and community level and have become vehicles for citizens to lobby, protest and campaign on a number of pressing ecological issues. This article seeks to establish if the emerging social action is most accurately categorized as fragmented community action or whether it amounts to a new social movement. The factors which have shaped and influenced the development of the `movement' are explored in the context of local, national and global processes which have given rise to the social action. The applicability of theories of new social movements in accounting for environmentalism in the `Third World' is discussed.

Users as Citizens: Collective Action and the Local Governance of Welfare

Self‐organization amongst users of community care services preceded the consumerist developments of the 1980s and early 1990s, but can be considered to have been “legitimized” by top‐down objectives relating to “user involvement”. Nevertheless, the objectives and value bases of disabled people’s organizations and organizations of users (or survivors) of mental health services have not always been consistent with those of consumerism, and user groups have experienced tensions in determining the extent to which they should respond to official agendas. Drawing on theories of new social movements and of citizenship, this paper considers the developing place of user organizations within systems of local governance. It looks at the way in which groups have sought to assert the legitimacy both of experiential knowledge and of their position as citizens in the face of official responses which have constructed them as self‐interested pressure groups. It draws on empirical research investigating local groups of disabled people and of mental health service users conducted in the first part of the 1990s. It discusses the significance of shared identity as a basis for collective action alongside more pragmatic motivations to influence the nature of health and social care services. In the context of appeals to “community” and “partnership” which are starting to replace the discourse of markets and contracts as the key metaphor for both policy‐making and service delivery, the article considers likely future roles for groups comprising people often excluded from community.

Generational Differences Amongst New Age Travellers

Previous studies of ‘New Age’ travellers have paid no attention to generational differences within the travellers' scene. This paper looks at these differences to reflect upon the new social movement (NSM) literature. It is argued that NSM theory only analyses those movements with ‘post-material’ concerns about culture, identity and symbolic challenges. It thus ignores less privileged movements which are concerned with apparently ‘traditional’ issues, such as survival, political opposition and citizenship rights. A number of such movements have emerged during the past few years in the wake of economic and social restructuring under post-Fordist conditions and the dismantling of a Keynesian-style welfare state that is associated with these processes. While the older generation of travellers was tied to the NSM movements and chose to move onto the road, the younger travellers have been forced to do so for lack of any reasonable alternative, having faced unemployment and homelessness in a post-Fordist/Keynesian era. They are, therefore, part of the contemporary movement scene to which ‘old’ issues are seemingly still applicable. The article concludes by showing how both the older and the younger travellers are now struggling to survive in the face of legislation which effectively criminalises their way of life.