Global Social Movements

1
Global Social Movements
2
Week 2. What Are Social Movements? Politics
Beyond the State.
3
Overview

• I. Defining Social Movement
• II. Social Movements as Non- or
  Extra-Institutional Activity
• III. Social Movements as Oppositional or
  Anti-Systemic
• IV. Social Movements and the Problem of
  Collective Action

4
I. Defining Social Movement

• 1. What makes social movements different from
  other kinds of political activity? Distinguish
• A. Institutionalised/ formal politics.
• B. Extra-institutional/ informal politics.
• 2. Pakulskis definition in Social Movements as
  starting point. Social movements are
• recurrent patterns of collective activities which
  are partially institutionalised, value oriented
  and anti-systemic in their form and symbolism.
  (Social Movements, p. xiv).

5
II. Social Movements as Non- or
Extra-Institutional Activity

• 1. Institutions can be defined as activities
  which are repeated or continuous within a
  regularized pattern that is normatively
  sanctioned (FDMT).
• 2. SMs distinguished from formal institutions
  and organisations
• (i) Formal institutions Constitution
  parliament government judiciary public service
  etc.
• (ii) Organised political agents political
  parties, interest groups, pressure groups.

6

• 3. Informality of SMs
• no rules or formal requirements of membership
• no formal leaders
• no formal democracy.
• 4. But movements are typically associated with
  (give rise to/ are inspired by) organisations
  such as
• interest and lobby groups,
• political parties,
• campaigning/ self-help organisations,
• publications etc.

7
Movement vs. Organisation
8

• 5. What kinds of activities are involved in
  doing politics? Political Action through
• Established channels
• Informal/ anti-institutional
• Public opinion
• Culture
• Personal change
• 6. So where does politics take place?

9
What are they doing?
10
III. Social Movements as Oppositional or
Anti-Systemic

• Why else would SMs work outside the formal
  political institutions, if not to change them?
• 2. But SMs as anti-systemic in different ways
  
• oppositional (promoting change),
• conservative (resisting change),
• reactionary (reversing change).

11

• 3. Anti-systemic movements in pluralist liberal
  democracies are initially surprising, because the
  system appears to provide mechanisms for social
  and political change.
• 4. Therefore these SMs were described as new
  social movements (NSMs) as surprising.

12

• 5. Note that contrast between conservative,
  progressive and reactionary movements assumes
  direction of history or development.
• 6. I.e. evaluative assumptions about
  improvement, progress, development,
  modernisation.

13
IV. Social Movements and the Problem of
Collective Action

• 1. SMs are collective actors. An obvious feature
  of (effective) political activity?
• 2. But SMs exhibit distinctive features of
  collective activity more clearly than
  organisations, which aim to act as one.
• 3. Conservative theories of SMs
• irrationality of collective behaviour
• panics, rumours, mobs, crowds,
• mass movements of fascism and communism.

14

• 4. More positive view of collective action as
  the rational and potentially difficult
  achievement of social change.
• 5. Problem of collective action how can many
  individuals act together or as one in order to
  change society?

15

• 6. Collective action in liberal democracy vs.
  repressive regimes.
• 7. Collective action problem provides an
  alternative explanation of absence of political
  action from
• apathy
• false consciousness.

16
Summary
Summary

• I. Defining Social Movement
• II. Social Movements as Non- or
  Extra-Institutional Activity
• III. Social Movements as Oppositional or
  Anti-Systemic
• IV. Social Movements and the Problem of
  Collective Action