Democracy and Social Movements

Prof. Lourdes Veneracion-Rallonza, PhDDepartment of Political ScienceAteneo de Manila University

Context

• Domination fosters resistance (Marx, Foucault)

• Assumption of consent also presupposes withdrawal of such thus transforming the polity

• Critique Alternative Social Imaginary

Mobilizing Social Movements

• Response to societal stresses, injustices, and conflicts (e.g. economic transformation, population shift, social disruption) (Taylor 2000)

• Combination of processes (e.g. urbanization and social interaction; social classes; universities and mass education; ‘freedom’ spaces)

Social Movements

• Collective action (from mass behavior to political process and resource mobilization)

• Way by which ordinary people participate in public politics (Tilly 2004)

• Collective challenge by people with common purpose (Tarrow 1994)- campaigns- modes of political action (e.g. awareness raising, demonstrations, rallies, public meetings)

• Agents for change

Narrative of Paradigms: Theories of ‘Collective Action’ (Edelman)

• Mass/collective behavior

• Resource mobilization

• Political process

• New social movements

Mass/Collective Behavior Theories

• Functional

- Collectives as symptoms of social disequilibria and new patterns of social behavior (e.g. Park 1967)

- Incapacity of social system to manage tensions; fostering of solidarity (Smelser 1962)

• Psychological

- mass response to totalitarianism through ‘mob mentality’ (Arendt

1962)

• Economic- strategic decision of rational individuals (Olsen 1965)

- class (Marxist) analysis (Thompson 1971)

Resource Mobilization Theories

• Organizational

- omnipresent discontent

- ‘strategic-oriented’ (Cohen 1985)

- resolution of ‘free-rider’ puzzle through analysis of available resources (McCarthy and Zald 1977)

- interest group politics deployed by socially-linked groups

- identification of preference structures

Political Process Theories

• Organizational and Process-flow- jumped off from RM’s failure to explain spontaneous mobilizations and scarce-resourced movements

- ‘political opportunity structures’ or strategic analysis of threats vis a vis opportunities (Tarrow 1998)

- diachronic approach or analysis of the frequency of contentious events over long periods of time (Tilly 1986)

- synchronic approach or examination of conflicts occurring at the same time in relation to space (Shorter and Tilly 1977)

New Social Movements Theories

• Identity-Oriented

- ‘central conflict’ in society, e.g. labor vs. capital according to Marx

- ‘actor’ and ‘social action’ dynamics according to Weber

- Structural preconditions of collective action in post-industrial societies that studies contention as focused on ‘way of life’

- actors have the capacity to act and struggle for historicity (Tourraine 1988)

- components: (1) recognition of commonalities and shared identities and interests; (2) adversarial relations with opposing side; (3) actions beyond the capacity of social system (Melucci1989)