Suchergebnisse

Covers Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Bolivia, and Mexico; 12 articles.

There is an underlying optimism in much of the literature that considers the emergence of social movements as being associated with deepening processes of democratization. The expansion of civil society is seen to expand political space. This paper takes a critical lens to this perspective, using recent political events in Thailand as a case study of the political strategies and alliances of social movements. We examine the debates that saw many social movements and their leaderships initially support elected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his Thai Rak Thai Party only to see this support drain away as these same movements called on their followers to bring down the government. More importantly, we examine how these movements came to ally with conservative forces associated with the palace and military. Based on the Thai case study, we suggest that these seemingly unlikely outcomes result from the very nature of social movements. Leadership by middle-class activists, the need for alliances, the development of networks, and a focus on single issues and identities leads social movements to make substantial political compromises. The consequences can be negative for democratic development. (Pac Rev/GIGA)

Open Marxists argue that capitalist society is mediated through forms of alienated and dispossessed labour from the means of production. For Open Marxists, then, labour is fluid in its constitution because it is constantly struggling to various degrees in and against its alienated and dispossessed capitalist form. Static sociological concepts of social class therefore cannot fully grasp this fluid and antagonistic relationship between labour and capital. In this paper, we agree that the starting point for an analysis of class under capitalism is the dispossession of labour from its means of production. But we further argue that even at this relatively high level of theoretical analysis, it is still possible to isolate a more complex account of social class than many Open Marxists would accept. We then employ this alternative class perspective to highlight some weaknesses in respective Open Marxist accounts of class and social and political movements. Following these critical observations, and with the theoretical assistance of Gramscian analysis, we demonstrate how Open Marxism can develop a more robust account of the class nature of contemporary social and political movements.

In this article, the author explores the inherent tension in the mixed political culture (i.e., parochial, subject, and participant) of postcolonial Macao under the reign of its first chief executive, Edmund Ho Hau Wah. The continuity of a parochial or subject political culture is reflected in the alliance between the government, pro-Beijing and probusiness elites, and traditional social organizations. Participant culture can be seen in the emergence of social movements and labor protests that challenge the government's capacity to govern effectively. The paradoxical and unaccountable system of the Macao administration and patrimonial rule, coupled with the failure of traditional social organizations in representing workers' interests, has resulted in a growing labor movement. Demand overload, government's tardiness in tackling social problems (social inequality, discrimination, and the relative deprivation of workers), and administrative corruption have pushed workers' grievances and tolerance to the limit, which has culminated in challenges to the legitimacy and governing capacity of the government, as shown in the "infamous" 2007 labor protest. (Asian Aff/GIGA)

From 1968 through 1974 a wide array of progressive political movements, social movements, and college student movements flourished in Denver, Colorado, USA. These included anti-racism movements, movements against the US war in Vietnam, and movements seeking to establish alternatives to mainstream consumer capitalism. . The author was a participant in and chronicler of these movements as a print journalist and photographer. The material being uploaded includes: ***Scans of Primary Documents from 1968-1974 Photographs taken during this period by the author are being released for use by scholars, academics, enrolled students, and journalists. A tiny credit line is appreciated whenever that is possible and appropriate. Commercial reuse outside of academic or scholarly publications is not appropriate.

Social movements : setting the scene -- Commitment without coercion : social movements and collective engagement -- Varieties of voice and exit : social movement tactics -- Social movement encounters with society : contentious entanglements -- Social movements and liberty : case studies in the modern history of freedom -- Issues raised by contemporary social movements -- Meanings and methods of social movements : further implications -- Summary of key themes and arguments.

This Advanced Introduction is an accessible and critical review of the most important theories and concepts in the field of social movements and political protests. Karl-Dieter Opp precisely outlines the strengths and weaknesses of the different approaches and investigates how they can be unified into a structural-cognitive model.

The main premise of political ecology is that environmental change is not a neutral process amenable to technical management. Rather, it has political sources, conditions and ramifications that impinge on socio-economic inequalities and political process. The article seeks to provide an introduction to the rapidly growing research field of Third World political ecology and provides an overview of the historical development of the field since the 1970s. The theoretical tool has been employed to analyse the case study of kudremukh environment movement. The article raises certain questions like weren't the priorities of workers considered upon the closure of mining? Why have the trade unions not been able to dictate the central content of bargaining policy for trade unions? Why do NGOs select a particular issue in terms of environmental degradation and play crucial roles as lobbyist and umpire through judicial activism and well as act as interpreters and mediators through the press?