Vanessa Barker
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195370027
- eISBN:
- 9780199871315
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195370027.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter details the case study of California. It shows how a democratic process based on polarized populism led to a retributive penal regime, with high rates of imprisonment for all kinds of ...
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This chapter details the case study of California. It shows how a democratic process based on polarized populism led to a retributive penal regime, with high rates of imprisonment for all kinds of offenders. It analyzes the success of the crime victims movement, facilitated by the direct democracy measures such as the initiative process, in transforming the moral calculus of punishment. The victims movement helped to bring about a more emotive, passionate, and punitive approach to crime control, making crime victims' pain central to the justification, legitimation, and authority of criminal law and penal sanctioning. The chapter analyzes how a more conservative populist movement challenged state authority, weakened social trust, and demanded a tough law‐and‐order approach to crime and fears over growing ethnic and racial diversity, intensifying social divisions and social exclusion.Less
This chapter details the case study of California. It shows how a democratic process based on polarized populism led to a retributive penal regime, with high rates of imprisonment for all kinds of offenders. It analyzes the success of the crime victims movement, facilitated by the direct democracy measures such as the initiative process, in transforming the moral calculus of punishment. The victims movement helped to bring about a more emotive, passionate, and punitive approach to crime control, making crime victims' pain central to the justification, legitimation, and authority of criminal law and penal sanctioning. The chapter analyzes how a more conservative populist movement challenged state authority, weakened social trust, and demanded a tough law‐and‐order approach to crime and fears over growing ethnic and racial diversity, intensifying social divisions and social exclusion.
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804774109
- eISBN:
- 9780804778190
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804774109.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter examines trajectories of political participation by focusing on who initially participates. It analyzes the roots of individual participation in social movements and looks at predictors ...
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This chapter examines trajectories of political participation by focusing on who initially participates. It analyzes the roots of individual participation in social movements and looks at predictors of initial engagement in contentious political activity. Three broad types of factors are considered: ideology (religiosity, strength of partisanship, party identification, and efficacy), biographical availability (age, marital status, child rearing, and working), and resources (income, education, and political knowledge). To determine how these factors influence contentious political engagement, the chapter draws on the Jennings and Stoker panel data for testing competing theories of activism. Using two main panel regression models, a random effects and a fixed effects model, it demonstrates that ideological factors indeed predispose certain individuals to become active in contentious politics, but only those who are biographically available are able to translate this disposition into action over time.Less
This chapter examines trajectories of political participation by focusing on who initially participates. It analyzes the roots of individual participation in social movements and looks at predictors of initial engagement in contentious political activity. Three broad types of factors are considered: ideology (religiosity, strength of partisanship, party identification, and efficacy), biographical availability (age, marital status, child rearing, and working), and resources (income, education, and political knowledge). To determine how these factors influence contentious political engagement, the chapter draws on the Jennings and Stoker panel data for testing competing theories of activism. Using two main panel regression models, a random effects and a fixed effects model, it demonstrates that ideological factors indeed predispose certain individuals to become active in contentious politics, but only those who are biographically available are able to translate this disposition into action over time.
Charles Tilly
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226803500
- eISBN:
- 9780226803531
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226803531.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Comparative and Historical Sociology
This chapter presents a discussion on the repertoires of contention. We can capture some of the recurrent, historically embedded character of contentious politics by means of two related theatrical ...
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This chapter presents a discussion on the repertoires of contention. We can capture some of the recurrent, historically embedded character of contentious politics by means of two related theatrical metaphors: performances and repertoires. Repertoires vary from nonexistent to weak to strong to rigid. Each position on the continuum identifies a different relationship between the familiarity of a previous performance and the likelihood that it will again appear in a similar situation, ranging from no relationship to perfect repetition. Strong or rigid repertoires imply great embedding of contention in previously existing history, culture, and social relations. The effects of incremental changes in repertoires identify intertwined strands of change in contentious repertoires, attributable to the internal history of struggle, transformations of regimes, alterations of social structure and culture outside the government, and their interaction. Tracing causal connections between regimes and repertoires requires a serious historical and comparative effort.Less
This chapter presents a discussion on the repertoires of contention. We can capture some of the recurrent, historically embedded character of contentious politics by means of two related theatrical metaphors: performances and repertoires. Repertoires vary from nonexistent to weak to strong to rigid. Each position on the continuum identifies a different relationship between the familiarity of a previous performance and the likelihood that it will again appear in a similar situation, ranging from no relationship to perfect repetition. Strong or rigid repertoires imply great embedding of contention in previously existing history, culture, and social relations. The effects of incremental changes in repertoires identify intertwined strands of change in contentious repertoires, attributable to the internal history of struggle, transformations of regimes, alterations of social structure and culture outside the government, and their interaction. Tracing causal connections between regimes and repertoires requires a serious historical and comparative effort.
Charles Tilly
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226803500
- eISBN:
- 9780226803531
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226803531.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Comparative and Historical Sociology
The relationship between regime change and contentious politics is complex, contingent, and variable. The book seeks to explain their mutual influence. It also proposes a dynamic causal account of ...
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The relationship between regime change and contentious politics is complex, contingent, and variable. The book seeks to explain their mutual influence. It also proposes a dynamic causal account of regimes and political contention. It reports the struggle that occurred in Peru from 1989 to 2003 as consequences of more general regularities in the interplay between regimes and contentious politics. Struggles to acquire or retain governmental power involve contentious politics. Moreover, the chapter explains how connections between regimes and contention work. Furthermore, it concentrates on asking how and why political contention varies from one regime type to another, and how contention interacts with movement from regime to regime. The chapter addresses how regime variation and change shape the ways in which people make consequential collective claims: their contentious politics. Finally, an overview of the chapters included in this book is given.Less
The relationship between regime change and contentious politics is complex, contingent, and variable. The book seeks to explain their mutual influence. It also proposes a dynamic causal account of regimes and political contention. It reports the struggle that occurred in Peru from 1989 to 2003 as consequences of more general regularities in the interplay between regimes and contentious politics. Struggles to acquire or retain governmental power involve contentious politics. Moreover, the chapter explains how connections between regimes and contention work. Furthermore, it concentrates on asking how and why political contention varies from one regime type to another, and how contention interacts with movement from regime to regime. The chapter addresses how regime variation and change shape the ways in which people make consequential collective claims: their contentious politics. Finally, an overview of the chapters included in this book is given.
Florence Passy and Gian-Andrea Monsch
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- March 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780190078010
- eISBN:
- 9780190078058
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190078010.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change, Social Psychology and Interaction
Why does the mind matter for joint action? Contentious Minds is a comparative study of how cognitive and relational processes allow activists to sustain their commitment. With survey data and ...
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Why does the mind matter for joint action? Contentious Minds is a comparative study of how cognitive and relational processes allow activists to sustain their commitment. With survey data and narratives of activists engaged in three commitment communities, the minds of activists involved in contentious politics are compared with those devoted to institutional and volunteering action. The book’s main argument is that activists of one commitment community have synchronized minds concerning the aim and means of their activism as they perceive common good (aim) and politics (means) through similar cognitive lenses. The book shows the importance of direct conversational contact with individuals in bringing about this synchronization. Assessing the synchronization within communities as well as the variation between them constitutes a major purpose of this book. It shows that activists construct and enact community-specific democratic cultures, thereby entering the public sphere through collective action. The book makes three major contributions. First, it emphasizes the necessity to return the study of the mind to research on activism, Second, it calls for an integrated relational perspective that rests on the structural, instrumental, and interpretative dimensions of social networks. Finally, it advocates a substantial integration of culture in the study of social movements by effectively valuing the role of culture in shaping a person’s mind.Less
Why does the mind matter for joint action? Contentious Minds is a comparative study of how cognitive and relational processes allow activists to sustain their commitment. With survey data and narratives of activists engaged in three commitment communities, the minds of activists involved in contentious politics are compared with those devoted to institutional and volunteering action. The book’s main argument is that activists of one commitment community have synchronized minds concerning the aim and means of their activism as they perceive common good (aim) and politics (means) through similar cognitive lenses. The book shows the importance of direct conversational contact with individuals in bringing about this synchronization. Assessing the synchronization within communities as well as the variation between them constitutes a major purpose of this book. It shows that activists construct and enact community-specific democratic cultures, thereby entering the public sphere through collective action. The book makes three major contributions. First, it emphasizes the necessity to return the study of the mind to research on activism, Second, it calls for an integrated relational perspective that rests on the structural, instrumental, and interpretative dimensions of social networks. Finally, it advocates a substantial integration of culture in the study of social movements by effectively valuing the role of culture in shaping a person’s mind.
Bahgat Korany and Rabab El-Mahdi
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9789774165368
- eISBN:
- 9781617971365
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774165368.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter discusses the failure of comparative politics of the Middle East to foresee the Arab uprisings that swept the region in 2011. It argues that except for few attempts, the field's focus on ...
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This chapter discusses the failure of comparative politics of the Middle East to foresee the Arab uprisings that swept the region in 2011. It argues that except for few attempts, the field's focus on regime-level and formal politics deviated attention from contentious politics that was brewing throughout the region and especially in Egypt. Providing a general synthesis of the literature the chapter introduces key themes in the book that are further developed in other chapters; including the labor movement, women struggles, and the rise of the pro-democracy and anti-war movements. It argues that the Egyptian Revolution as a case in point came as a culmination of a decade of protests and budding social movements. The authors argue for the usefulness of other approaches such as Social Movement Theory, social-anthropology approaches, and political economy to understanding of Middle East politics. The chapter concludes with a synopsis of book and highlighting key aspects of looking at Middle East politics in the post-Arab Spring years.Less
This chapter discusses the failure of comparative politics of the Middle East to foresee the Arab uprisings that swept the region in 2011. It argues that except for few attempts, the field's focus on regime-level and formal politics deviated attention from contentious politics that was brewing throughout the region and especially in Egypt. Providing a general synthesis of the literature the chapter introduces key themes in the book that are further developed in other chapters; including the labor movement, women struggles, and the rise of the pro-democracy and anti-war movements. It argues that the Egyptian Revolution as a case in point came as a culmination of a decade of protests and budding social movements. The authors argue for the usefulness of other approaches such as Social Movement Theory, social-anthropology approaches, and political economy to understanding of Middle East politics. The chapter concludes with a synopsis of book and highlighting key aspects of looking at Middle East politics in the post-Arab Spring years.
Mason W. Moseley
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780190694005
- eISBN:
- 9780190694036
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190694005.003.0002
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization, Comparative Politics
This chapter reviews extant work from the contentious politics literature, relating it to the current state of affairs in Latin American democracies. It then proposes an original explanation of ...
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This chapter reviews extant work from the contentious politics literature, relating it to the current state of affairs in Latin American democracies. It then proposes an original explanation of widespread contention in Latin American democracies. Protest states—or regimes high in citizen engagement, but low in terms of institutional quality—are unique in the degree to which contentious politics has normalized. Whereas protests occur on occasion in virtually any country where public opposition to the government is tolerated, in protest states they spring up daily. In such contexts, where institutions remain weak and ineffective, protest becomes the default option for a wide cross-section of society, encompassing citizens who are actively engaged in their communities. Moreover, political organizations and even elites will utilize protest for their own ends in protest states—i.e., politicians will marshal public support for their policy agenda by recruiting followers to participate in street-based activities.Less
This chapter reviews extant work from the contentious politics literature, relating it to the current state of affairs in Latin American democracies. It then proposes an original explanation of widespread contention in Latin American democracies. Protest states—or regimes high in citizen engagement, but low in terms of institutional quality—are unique in the degree to which contentious politics has normalized. Whereas protests occur on occasion in virtually any country where public opposition to the government is tolerated, in protest states they spring up daily. In such contexts, where institutions remain weak and ineffective, protest becomes the default option for a wide cross-section of society, encompassing citizens who are actively engaged in their communities. Moreover, political organizations and even elites will utilize protest for their own ends in protest states—i.e., politicians will marshal public support for their policy agenda by recruiting followers to participate in street-based activities.
Kate J. Neville
- Published in print:
- 2021
- Published Online:
- February 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780197535585
- eISBN:
- 9780197535615
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780197535585.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
This book explores how and why controversies over liquid biofuels (bioethanol and biodiesel) and hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) unfolded in surprisingly similar ways in the Global North and South. ...
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This book explores how and why controversies over liquid biofuels (bioethanol and biodiesel) and hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) unfolded in surprisingly similar ways in the Global North and South. In the early 2000s the search was on for fuels that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, spur economic development in rural regions, and diversify national energy supplies. Biofuels and fracking took center stage as promising commodities and technologies. But controversy quickly erupted. Global enthusiasm for these fuels and the widespread projections for their production around the world collided with local politics. Rural and remote places, such as coastal east Africa and Canada’s Yukon territory, became hotbeds of contention in these new energy politics. Opponents of biofuels in Kenya and of fracking in the Yukon activated specific identities, embraced scale shifts across transnational networks, brokered relationships between disparate communities and interests, and engaged in contentious performances with symbolic resonance. To explain these convergent dynamics of contention and resistance, the book argues that the emergence of grievances and the mechanisms of mobilization that are used to resist new fuel technologies depend less on the type of energy developed than on intersecting elements of the political economy of energy—specifically finance, ownership, and trade relations. Taken together, the intersecting elements of the political economy of energy shape patterns of resistance in new energy frontiers.Less
This book explores how and why controversies over liquid biofuels (bioethanol and biodiesel) and hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) unfolded in surprisingly similar ways in the Global North and South. In the early 2000s the search was on for fuels that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, spur economic development in rural regions, and diversify national energy supplies. Biofuels and fracking took center stage as promising commodities and technologies. But controversy quickly erupted. Global enthusiasm for these fuels and the widespread projections for their production around the world collided with local politics. Rural and remote places, such as coastal east Africa and Canada’s Yukon territory, became hotbeds of contention in these new energy politics. Opponents of biofuels in Kenya and of fracking in the Yukon activated specific identities, embraced scale shifts across transnational networks, brokered relationships between disparate communities and interests, and engaged in contentious performances with symbolic resonance. To explain these convergent dynamics of contention and resistance, the book argues that the emergence of grievances and the mechanisms of mobilization that are used to resist new fuel technologies depend less on the type of energy developed than on intersecting elements of the political economy of energy—specifically finance, ownership, and trade relations. Taken together, the intersecting elements of the political economy of energy shape patterns of resistance in new energy frontiers.
Charles Tilly
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226803500
- eISBN:
- 9780226803531
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226803531.003.0002
- Subject:
- Sociology, Comparative and Historical Sociology
This chapter begins the adventure of classifying regimes and their changes by laying out first some tools for the description and analysis of contentious politics—government, governmental agents, ...
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This chapter begins the adventure of classifying regimes and their changes by laying out first some tools for the description and analysis of contentious politics—government, governmental agents, political actors, regime, political resources, capital, commitment, contention, public politics, and contentious politics. This is then followed by a review of intersections of regimes with various forms of contentious politics. The chapter discusses regime space as a two-dimensional space: capacity democracy. The four crude types of regime are also addressed: low-capacity, nondemocratic; high-capacity, nondemocratic; high-capacity, democratic; and low-capacity, democratic. By following the leads drawn from Aristotle, Dahl, and Finer and concentrating on two sorts of regime variation: from nondemocratic to democratic regimes, and from low-capacity to high-capacity governments, the chapter then simplifies the work of analyzing regimes and contention.Less
This chapter begins the adventure of classifying regimes and their changes by laying out first some tools for the description and analysis of contentious politics—government, governmental agents, political actors, regime, political resources, capital, commitment, contention, public politics, and contentious politics. This is then followed by a review of intersections of regimes with various forms of contentious politics. The chapter discusses regime space as a two-dimensional space: capacity democracy. The four crude types of regime are also addressed: low-capacity, nondemocratic; high-capacity, nondemocratic; high-capacity, democratic; and low-capacity, democratic. By following the leads drawn from Aristotle, Dahl, and Finer and concentrating on two sorts of regime variation: from nondemocratic to democratic regimes, and from low-capacity to high-capacity governments, the chapter then simplifies the work of analyzing regimes and contention.
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804774109
- eISBN:
- 9780804778190
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804774109.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
Many people join social movements or engage in contentious politics at some point in their lives, but not all of them are transformed by the experience become committed, lifelong activists. Some ...
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Many people join social movements or engage in contentious politics at some point in their lives, but not all of them are transformed by the experience become committed, lifelong activists. Some disengage after just one period or participate in a more episodic way (a behavior known as individual abeyance or transfer). This chapter explores how individuals participate in contentious politics over time and the different trajectories that political participation can take over the life course. An understanding of these trajectories can shed light on the rise and fall of campaigns and movements over time. This chapter looks at four trajectories of activism—persistence, transfer, abeyance, and disengagement—and how they differ in the duration and continuity of engagement over time. Using the Jennings and Stoker panel data, it follows individuals over the course of their lives, from 1965 until 1997. It also analyzes the organizational and relational context of political activity and their significance across a variety of organizations and for individuals who are active in protest but not in organized groups.Less
Many people join social movements or engage in contentious politics at some point in their lives, but not all of them are transformed by the experience become committed, lifelong activists. Some disengage after just one period or participate in a more episodic way (a behavior known as individual abeyance or transfer). This chapter explores how individuals participate in contentious politics over time and the different trajectories that political participation can take over the life course. An understanding of these trajectories can shed light on the rise and fall of campaigns and movements over time. This chapter looks at four trajectories of activism—persistence, transfer, abeyance, and disengagement—and how they differ in the duration and continuity of engagement over time. Using the Jennings and Stoker panel data, it follows individuals over the course of their lives, from 1965 until 1997. It also analyzes the organizational and relational context of political activity and their significance across a variety of organizations and for individuals who are active in protest but not in organized groups.
Donatella della Porta, Lorenzo Cini, and César Guzmán-Concha
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781529208627
- eISBN:
- 9781529208665
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781529208627.003.0001
- Subject:
- Education, Higher and Further Education
This chapter provides an overview of the analysis of transformation in higher education (HE) policies and student politics, linking them to research on the policy outcomes of social movements. HE ...
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This chapter provides an overview of the analysis of transformation in higher education (HE) policies and student politics, linking them to research on the policy outcomes of social movements. HE policies have been shaped by various waves of student mobilization. Students have often been important actors in contentious politics, mobilizing on all main cleavages in society and often stimulating spin-off movements, as well as affecting institutional politics at large. Student protests are therefore affected by public policies at least as much as they affect them. This book focuses on these complex interactions, aiming at understanding the development of student protests within neoliberal universities. It explores four episodes of student contestation over HE reforms, which have recently taken place in Chile, Quebec, England, and Italy.Less
This chapter provides an overview of the analysis of transformation in higher education (HE) policies and student politics, linking them to research on the policy outcomes of social movements. HE policies have been shaped by various waves of student mobilization. Students have often been important actors in contentious politics, mobilizing on all main cleavages in society and often stimulating spin-off movements, as well as affecting institutional politics at large. Student protests are therefore affected by public policies at least as much as they affect them. This book focuses on these complex interactions, aiming at understanding the development of student protests within neoliberal universities. It explores four episodes of student contestation over HE reforms, which have recently taken place in Chile, Quebec, England, and Italy.
Charles Tilly
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226803500
- eISBN:
- 9780226803531
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226803531.003.0009
- Subject:
- Sociology, Comparative and Historical Sociology
This chapter summarizes the key points and conclusions that were discussed previously in this book. The different chapters have shown amply that contentious repertoires differ dramatically from one ...
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This chapter summarizes the key points and conclusions that were discussed previously in this book. The different chapters have shown amply that contentious repertoires differ dramatically from one type of regime to another. Both governmental capacity and extent of democracy strongly affect the ways that people make collective claims on each other and how authorities respond to those claims. It also demonstrated how new arena, with international institutions and multinational corporations, promises to generate new forms of contentious politics. The location of a regime within the capacity-democracy space strongly influences its rulers' approach to generating and controlling contentious politics. Repertoires and episodes are causally coherent in the sense that systematic regularities across time and place govern their existence, change, and variation. In general, this book has concentrated on determining the causes that belong to change and variation in the organization of national regimes.Less
This chapter summarizes the key points and conclusions that were discussed previously in this book. The different chapters have shown amply that contentious repertoires differ dramatically from one type of regime to another. Both governmental capacity and extent of democracy strongly affect the ways that people make collective claims on each other and how authorities respond to those claims. It also demonstrated how new arena, with international institutions and multinational corporations, promises to generate new forms of contentious politics. The location of a regime within the capacity-democracy space strongly influences its rulers' approach to generating and controlling contentious politics. Repertoires and episodes are causally coherent in the sense that systematic regularities across time and place govern their existence, change, and variation. In general, this book has concentrated on determining the causes that belong to change and variation in the organization of national regimes.
Eitan Y. Alimi
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190203573
- eISBN:
- 9780190203597
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190203573.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change, Comparative and Historical Sociology
This introductory chapter lays out the rationale for, and merits of, comparing Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) revolts with cases from other parts of the world by situating the book in the ...
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This introductory chapter lays out the rationale for, and merits of, comparing Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) revolts with cases from other parts of the world by situating the book in the recent trend among scholars of social movements and contentious politics to rethink the boundaries between contention in democracies and nondemocracies. It argues that during cycles of contentious politics, in which political and cultural creativity become concentrated and the processual, interactive, and relational-like features of popular claim-making, regime, and transition take on a more rapid pace, the interplay among the three processes becomes intricate, contingent, and indeterminate, producing similarities in the unfolding, trajectories, and outcomes of cycles of contention across time and space. A comparative framework and an analytical model, suitable for fleshing out similarities while respecting dissimilarities in cycles of contention in MENA and non-MENA countries, are introduced.Less
This introductory chapter lays out the rationale for, and merits of, comparing Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) revolts with cases from other parts of the world by situating the book in the recent trend among scholars of social movements and contentious politics to rethink the boundaries between contention in democracies and nondemocracies. It argues that during cycles of contentious politics, in which political and cultural creativity become concentrated and the processual, interactive, and relational-like features of popular claim-making, regime, and transition take on a more rapid pace, the interplay among the three processes becomes intricate, contingent, and indeterminate, producing similarities in the unfolding, trajectories, and outcomes of cycles of contention across time and space. A comparative framework and an analytical model, suitable for fleshing out similarities while respecting dissimilarities in cycles of contention in MENA and non-MENA countries, are introduced.
Charles Tilly
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226803500
- eISBN:
- 9780226803531
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226803531.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Comparative and Historical Sociology
This chapter explores regime change, change in the forms of contentious politics, and interactions between them. It attempts to answer this query: when regimes and repertoires alter simultaneously, ...
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This chapter explores regime change, change in the forms of contentious politics, and interactions between them. It attempts to answer this query: when regimes and repertoires alter simultaneously, how do those changes interact, and why? Regimes reshape themselves and thereby alter political opportunities, thus transforming repertoires. Trajectories of regimes and repertoires interact. It closely reviews South Africa's mutual mutations of regimes and repertoires before treating interactions of regimes and repertoires much more generally. A scheme is presented that offers a crude but serviceable model of how regime change does affect popular contention, from governmental change to regime realignment to alterations of political opportunity structures (POS) to changes in contention. The scheme also describes processes that commonly occur when a high-capacity, nondemocratic regime moves toward democracy. South Africa's trajectories belong to a larger family of interactions between changes in regimes and repertoires.Less
This chapter explores regime change, change in the forms of contentious politics, and interactions between them. It attempts to answer this query: when regimes and repertoires alter simultaneously, how do those changes interact, and why? Regimes reshape themselves and thereby alter political opportunities, thus transforming repertoires. Trajectories of regimes and repertoires interact. It closely reviews South Africa's mutual mutations of regimes and repertoires before treating interactions of regimes and repertoires much more generally. A scheme is presented that offers a crude but serviceable model of how regime change does affect popular contention, from governmental change to regime realignment to alterations of political opportunity structures (POS) to changes in contention. The scheme also describes processes that commonly occur when a high-capacity, nondemocratic regime moves toward democracy. South Africa's trajectories belong to a larger family of interactions between changes in regimes and repertoires.
Charles Tilly
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226803500
- eISBN:
- 9780226803531
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226803531.003.0008
- Subject:
- Sociology, Comparative and Historical Sociology
This chapter investigates how social movements work. Social movements differ from other forms of contentious politics in their combination of sustained campaigns of claim-making, an exceptional array ...
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This chapter investigates how social movements work. Social movements differ from other forms of contentious politics in their combination of sustained campaigns of claim-making, an exceptional array of claim-making performances, and concerted displays of supporters' worthiness, unity, numbers, and commitment. From their eighteenth-century origins onward, social movements have proceeded not as solo acts but as interactive campaigns that target holders of power, political actors and the general public. They combine three kinds of claims: claims to identity, standing, and specific programs. The relative salience of these claims varies significantly among social movements, among claimants within movements, and among phases of movements. Regimes necessarily shape social movements. They also shape repertoires. Demonstrations best illustrate the synthesis of campaigns, performances, and worthiness, unity, numbers, and commitment (WUNC) displays. Most social-movement activity across the world occurs within local, regional, and national frames.Less
This chapter investigates how social movements work. Social movements differ from other forms of contentious politics in their combination of sustained campaigns of claim-making, an exceptional array of claim-making performances, and concerted displays of supporters' worthiness, unity, numbers, and commitment. From their eighteenth-century origins onward, social movements have proceeded not as solo acts but as interactive campaigns that target holders of power, political actors and the general public. They combine three kinds of claims: claims to identity, standing, and specific programs. The relative salience of these claims varies significantly among social movements, among claimants within movements, and among phases of movements. Regimes necessarily shape social movements. They also shape repertoires. Demonstrations best illustrate the synthesis of campaigns, performances, and worthiness, unity, numbers, and commitment (WUNC) displays. Most social-movement activity across the world occurs within local, regional, and national frames.
Rasmus Alenius Boserup
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190491536
- eISBN:
- 9780190638542
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190491536.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter examines the re-emergence of nonviolent contentious politics under president Bouteflika’s rule. Arising with the exhausting of violent rebel politics of the late 1990s, non-violent ...
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This chapter examines the re-emergence of nonviolent contentious politics under president Bouteflika’s rule. Arising with the exhausting of violent rebel politics of the late 1990s, non-violent contentious politics has evolved into an important channel for citizens to present specific policy claims relating directly to the redistributive nature of Algeria’s rentier-based political economy. The government’s lenient and often accommodating responses to certain socio-economic and welfare-related demands has made this an effective means for achieving quick political results. While revolutionary contention exists on the margins, the majority of contentious events that Algeria has witnessed over the past decade have shied away from challenging the existing political order. Instead the civil society has demanded that the state performed better within the broad policy areas of welfare and identity. The chapter argues that a long-term drop in financial revenue from the petro-export sector, which finances the perpetuation of the current political order, could trigger a transformation of the well-established repertoire of contention from its current system-sustaining nature to a more transgressive or revolutionary one.Less
This chapter examines the re-emergence of nonviolent contentious politics under president Bouteflika’s rule. Arising with the exhausting of violent rebel politics of the late 1990s, non-violent contentious politics has evolved into an important channel for citizens to present specific policy claims relating directly to the redistributive nature of Algeria’s rentier-based political economy. The government’s lenient and often accommodating responses to certain socio-economic and welfare-related demands has made this an effective means for achieving quick political results. While revolutionary contention exists on the margins, the majority of contentious events that Algeria has witnessed over the past decade have shied away from challenging the existing political order. Instead the civil society has demanded that the state performed better within the broad policy areas of welfare and identity. The chapter argues that a long-term drop in financial revenue from the petro-export sector, which finances the perpetuation of the current political order, could trigger a transformation of the well-established repertoire of contention from its current system-sustaining nature to a more transgressive or revolutionary one.
Bahgat Korany and Rabab El-Mahdi (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9789774165368
- eISBN:
- 9781617971365
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774165368.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This book tries to answer three questions: 1) A ‘why’ question: the reason we have been surprised by the arrival of the ‘Arab Spring.’ Do we have the right conceptual lenses to understand the region ...
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This book tries to answer three questions: 1) A ‘why’ question: the reason we have been surprised by the arrival of the ‘Arab Spring.’ Do we have the right conceptual lenses to understand the region and its different political interactions? 2) A ‘who’ question: the number and type of different groups that launched the protests and occupied Al-Tahrir Square. 3) A ‘how’ question: the way these spontaneous groups coalesced together, overpowered police forces and finally forced former President Mubarak to resign after almost 30 years in power. In addition to the introduction, the book's 13 chapters are regrouped into four parts. These deal with the resistance and limits of authoritarian rule, group dynamics in Tahrir, an attempt to go beyond the immediate and looking ahead. The book has a general bibliography and some appendices of several historical documents of the period as well as a sample of Tahrir slogans.Less
This book tries to answer three questions: 1) A ‘why’ question: the reason we have been surprised by the arrival of the ‘Arab Spring.’ Do we have the right conceptual lenses to understand the region and its different political interactions? 2) A ‘who’ question: the number and type of different groups that launched the protests and occupied Al-Tahrir Square. 3) A ‘how’ question: the way these spontaneous groups coalesced together, overpowered police forces and finally forced former President Mubarak to resign after almost 30 years in power. In addition to the introduction, the book's 13 chapters are regrouped into four parts. These deal with the resistance and limits of authoritarian rule, group dynamics in Tahrir, an attempt to go beyond the immediate and looking ahead. The book has a general bibliography and some appendices of several historical documents of the period as well as a sample of Tahrir slogans.
Eitan Y. Alimi, Chares Demetriou, and Lorenzo Bosi
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- March 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199937707
- eISBN:
- 9780190236601
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199937707.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change, Social Movements and Social Change
Why is it that despite the prevalence of extreme ideologies, profound deprivation, and aggressive impulses and motives among opposition movements worldwide, only some of the movements’ member ...
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Why is it that despite the prevalence of extreme ideologies, profound deprivation, and aggressive impulses and motives among opposition movements worldwide, only some of the movements’ member organizations actually engage in political violence? To explore this puzzle, the chapter makes the case for the promise of asking “how” and “when” questions, rather than “why” questions. Instead of focusing on why the shift to political violence occurs, then, the focus is placed on how and when factors such as those mentioned above are activated. To be able to capture the indeterminate, conjunctural, and contingent nature of the radicalization process, the chapter points to the benefits of utilizing conceptual, theoretical, and methodological tools from the study of social movements and contentious politics. It is argued that reliance on the relational approach and the mechanism-based method allows for a nuanced understanding of processes of radicalization across diverse contentious episodes.Less
Why is it that despite the prevalence of extreme ideologies, profound deprivation, and aggressive impulses and motives among opposition movements worldwide, only some of the movements’ member organizations actually engage in political violence? To explore this puzzle, the chapter makes the case for the promise of asking “how” and “when” questions, rather than “why” questions. Instead of focusing on why the shift to political violence occurs, then, the focus is placed on how and when factors such as those mentioned above are activated. To be able to capture the indeterminate, conjunctural, and contingent nature of the radicalization process, the chapter points to the benefits of utilizing conceptual, theoretical, and methodological tools from the study of social movements and contentious politics. It is argued that reliance on the relational approach and the mechanism-based method allows for a nuanced understanding of processes of radicalization across diverse contentious episodes.
Charles Tilly
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226803500
- eISBN:
- 9780226803531
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226803531.003.0006
- Subject:
- Sociology, Comparative and Historical Sociology
This chapter creates a typology of collective violence. It then evaluates how forms and intensities of collective violence vary across regimes. It uses the evaluation to civil war and terror, ...
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This chapter creates a typology of collective violence. It then evaluates how forms and intensities of collective violence vary across regimes. It uses the evaluation to civil war and terror, varieties of contention that combine several different types of collective violence. Analysts of collective violence habitually choose among three descriptive strategies: lumping, everyday cataloging, and singling out. Both civil war and terror include collective violence at several different locations within the coordination-salience space. The terror can be located in relation to regimes and repertoires, as an aspect of collective violence. The public politics of high-capacity, democratic regimes brings together widespread collective claim-making; low salience, coordination, and overall levels of collective violence; and impressively restrained domestic use of the government's enormous coercive power. Less democratic and lower-capacity regimes, however, experience more authoritarian and/or more violent forms of contentious politics.Less
This chapter creates a typology of collective violence. It then evaluates how forms and intensities of collective violence vary across regimes. It uses the evaluation to civil war and terror, varieties of contention that combine several different types of collective violence. Analysts of collective violence habitually choose among three descriptive strategies: lumping, everyday cataloging, and singling out. Both civil war and terror include collective violence at several different locations within the coordination-salience space. The terror can be located in relation to regimes and repertoires, as an aspect of collective violence. The public politics of high-capacity, democratic regimes brings together widespread collective claim-making; low salience, coordination, and overall levels of collective violence; and impressively restrained domestic use of the government's enormous coercive power. Less democratic and lower-capacity regimes, however, experience more authoritarian and/or more violent forms of contentious politics.
Anastasia Kavada and Orsalia Dimitriou
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781447329411
- eISBN:
- 9781447329473
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781447329411.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter explores the relationship between space and contentious politics, focusing on the Indignant movement which occupied Syntagma square in Athens in the summer of 2011. The authors’ analysis ...
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This chapter explores the relationship between space and contentious politics, focusing on the Indignant movement which occupied Syntagma square in Athens in the summer of 2011. The authors’ analysis of the movement’s online/offline spaces shows how they facilitated the production of a heterogeneous movement that employed a diversity of tactics, thus mounting a multifaceted challenge on political authorities and their implementation of austerity. The authors’ inquiry looks at how spaces – online, offline and hybrid – shape patterns of mobilization and social movement activity. The chapter thus demonstrates how space and contentious politics mutually shape each other, as space affects the interactions that give rise to movements, while movements can exercise ‘spatial agency’ as activists manipulate and engineer space to make public claims and achieve their goals.Less
This chapter explores the relationship between space and contentious politics, focusing on the Indignant movement which occupied Syntagma square in Athens in the summer of 2011. The authors’ analysis of the movement’s online/offline spaces shows how they facilitated the production of a heterogeneous movement that employed a diversity of tactics, thus mounting a multifaceted challenge on political authorities and their implementation of austerity. The authors’ inquiry looks at how spaces – online, offline and hybrid – shape patterns of mobilization and social movement activity. The chapter thus demonstrates how space and contentious politics mutually shape each other, as space affects the interactions that give rise to movements, while movements can exercise ‘spatial agency’ as activists manipulate and engineer space to make public claims and achieve their goals.