Suchergebnisse

Contemporary network society offers ever widening opportunities to individuals to connect with each other and to shape the world around them, which includes the immediate environment as well as the "big picture". The internet makes it easier for many people to initiate social debates. The key conditions for the emergence of participatory campaigns are, among other things, citizen's higher preparedness to get involved, which is also related to the shrinking credibility of "official" politics; furthermore, new technologies are available to highly educated people who combine a novel cultural self-understanding with aspirations to change the world. Sergius Seebohm and Paula Hannemann offer insights into the preconditions of these new social movements and shed light on their history, which they see unfolding in three steps; after an initial economic focus on customer participation, we witnessed the emergence of national and international networks which were appropriated for purposes of campaigning. Finally, it has now become increasingly possible for individuals to make use of these structures and their know-how for their own campaigns. Today, everybody can initiate change. The authors draw on the example of several campaigns against homophobic passages in the statutes of the BSA (Boy Scouts of America). Adapted from the source document

Der Beitrag thematisiert die Beziehungen zwischen der Labour Party, den Gewerkschaften und neuen sozialen Bewegungen in Großbritannien. Dabei wird die Tatsache berücksichtigt, daß der Einfluß dieser neuen Bewegungen hier weitaus geringer ist (und deshalb bisher auch kaum erforscht wurde) als in der Bundesrepublik. Inhaltlich geht es vor allem um die personenbezogen-sozialstrukturellen, institutionellen und programmatischen Aspekte der Wechselbeziehungen zwischen dem parlamentarischen Flügel der Labour Party einerseits und dem Gewerkschaftsverband TUC und den neuen sozialen Bewegungen auf der anderen Seite. Es wird gezeigt, daß die Beziehungen zwischen Partei und Gewerkschaft sich etwas intensiviert haben, aber die personenbezogenen und politischen Spannungen geblieben sind. Die Beziehungen der Partei zur britischen Friedensbewegung haben ihr einen neuen sozialen Bezug gegeben; gleichzeitig wird insgesamt festgestellt, daß der Einfluß der sozialen Bewegungen und der Gewerkschaften auf die Labour Party noch immer sehr begrenzt und partiell ist. (HA)

Arguing that new social movements discourse lacks the tools to analyze resource-poor groups, the efforts of the economically marginalized to organize in the US & the Federal Republic of Germany are discussed. New social movements tend to focus on postmaterialist issues (eg, pacifism, feminism, & the environment), but there is an emerging awareness of the often-hidden downside of the post-Fordist social agenda. Drawing on the US discussion of poor people's movements, spontaneous, disruptive, & radical forms of protesting this agenda are considered. It is concluded that chances for successful protest depend on moral support from established organizations, material infrastructure, informational support, & strong leadership. In Germany, political mobilization of marginalized groups is occurring around the concepts of citizenship & civil rights. The substantive, normative, & theoretical implications of this struggle are explored. 50 References. Adapted from the source document.