Border politics: social movements, collective identities, and globalization

Recent developments in social movement research have evidenced a greater underlying consensus in the field than one might have assumed. Efforts have been made to bridge different perspectives and merge them into a new synthesis. Yet, comparative discussion of the concept of ‘social movement’ has been largely neglected so far. This article reviews and contrasts systematically the definitions of ‘social movement’ formulated by some of the most influential authors in the field. A substantial convergence may be detected between otherwise very different approaches on three points at least. Social movements are defined as networks of informal interactions between a plurality of individuals, groups and/or organizations, engaged in political or cultural conflicts, on the basis of shared collective identities. It is argued that the concept is sharp enough a) to differentiate social movements from related concepts such as interest groups, political parties, protest events and coalitions; b) to identify a specific area of investigation and theorising for social movement research.

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Serpica Naro and the Others. The Media Sociali Experience in Italian Struggles Against Precarity

PORTAL Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies ◽

10.5130/portal.v5i2.706 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Alice Mattoni

Keyword(s):

Social Movements ◽

Working Conditions ◽

Political Socialization ◽

Mutual Recognition ◽

Political Conflict ◽

Collective Identities ◽

Symbolic Resources ◽

The Media ◽

Data Source ◽

Work Insecurity

Social movements are also producers of symbolic resources, since they construct new collective identities and provide alternative system of meanings to societies. This was particularly significant with regard to recent struggles against work insecurity in Italy. There, in a discursive context dominated by the so-called ‘flexibility political mantra’, activists raised their voice in order to identify a novel social problem, precarity, and a novel social subject, precarious workers. The paper starts from these premises in order to investigate the so-called media sociali, a particular kind of media practice that had been developed by Italian activists involved in the long protest campaign against precarity, namely the Euro Mayday Parade (EMP). Probably, the media sociali are the most evident attempt to construct a fresh imagery based on precarious workers living and working conditions and to provide an alternative cultural grammar able to speak about precarity. The paper gives back the most important mechanism on which the media sociali rests through the living voices of activists involved in their elaboration: the mechanism of political socialization and social networking as well as the mechanism of diffusion and mutual recognition. Moreover, the paper proposes further reflections about the way in which those activists involved in the EMP perceived the media sociali. In doing so, the paper presents different ways of interpreting political conflict in contemporary Italian social movements and argues that the media sociali are an interesting attempt to overcome both mainstream and independent media in the construction of precarious workers’ imagery and political socialization. Interviews with activists and social movement generated documents are the main data source, investigated according to a qualitative analysis approach.

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Terras tradicionalmente ocupadas: processos de territorialização e movimentos sociais

Revista Brasileira de Estudos Urbanos e Regionais ◽

10.22296/2317-1529.2004v6n1p9 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 9 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Alfredo Wagner Berno de Almeida

Keyword(s):

Social Movements ◽

Social Groups ◽

Amazon Region ◽

Collective Identities ◽

Mutual Help ◽

Self Defense ◽

Brazilian Amazon Region ◽

Domestic Group ◽

And Gender ◽

National Constitution

O texto analisa a relação entre o surgimento, na Amazônia, de movimentos sociais que incorporam fatores étnicos, critérios ecológicos e de gênero na autodefinição coletiva e os processos de territorialização que lhes são correspondentes. Ênfase é atribuída às denominadas “terras tradicionalmente ocupadas”, que expressam uma diversidade de formas de existência coletiva de diferentes povos e grupos sociais em suas relações com os recursos da natureza. Não obstante suas diferentes formações históricas, elas foram instituídas no texto constitucional de 1988 e reafirmadas nos dispositivos infraconstitucionais, como constituições estaduais, legislações municipais e convênios internacionais. Em termos analíticos tais formas designam situações nas quais o controle dos recursos básicos não é exercido livre e individualmente por um determinado grupo doméstico de pequenos produtores diretos ou por um de seus membros. A territorialidade funciona como fator de identificação, defesa e força: laços solidários e de ajuda mútua informam um conjunto de regras firmadas sobre uma base física considerada comum, essencial e inalienável, não obstante disposições sucessórias porventura existentes. Aí a noção de “tradicional” não se reduz à história e incorpora as identidades coletivas redefinidas situacionalmente numa mobilização continuada, assinalando que as unidades sociais em jogo podem ser interpretadas como unidades de mobilização.Palavras-chave: Amazônia; movimentos sociais; territorialidade. Abstract: The article analyzes the relation between the rise, in the Brazilian Amazon region, of social movements that incorporate ethnical, ecological and gender criteria in its self-definition as well as its correspondent territorialization processes. Focus is put on the “traditionally occupied lands” that express diversified forms of collective existence of people and social groups in its relation to natural resources. Despite its different historical formation, these forms has been institutionalized in the 1988 national Constitution as well as in infra-constitutional legal instruments. In analytical terms, these forms indicate situations in which the control over resources is not exercised freely and individually by some domestic group of direct little producers or one of its members. The territoriality operates as a factor of identification, self-defense and strength: solidarity linkages and mutual help practices nourish the creation of a set of rules based on a common physical terrain, seen as essential and inalienable. The notion of traditional is here not reduced to history, but incorporates collective identities defined in a continuous mobilization through social figures interpreted as mobilizing unities.Keywords: Amazon region; social movements; territoriality.

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To Map Contentious Politics

Mobilization An International Quarterly ◽

10.17813/maiq.1.1.y3p544u2j1l536u9 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 17-34 ◽

Cited By ~ 99

Author(s):

Doug McAdam ◽

Sidney Tarrow ◽

Charles Tilly

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Social Movements ◽

Recent Work ◽

Contentious Politics ◽

Collective Identities ◽

Institutional Politics ◽

Cycles Of Protest

Different forms of contentious politics such as social movements, revolutions, ethnic mobilizations, and cycles of protest share a number of causal properties, but disciplinary fragmentation has obscured their similarities. Recent work and this new journal provide opportunities for comparison and synthesis. A network of researchers is undertaking a broad survey of contentious politics in hopes of producing an intelligible map of the field, a synthesis of recent inquiries, a specification of scope conditions for the validity of available theories, and an exploration of worldwide changes in the character of contention. Discussions of 1) social movements, cycles, and revolutions, 2) collective identities and social networks, 3) social movements and institutional politics, 4) globalization and transnational contention illustrate the promise and perils of the enterprise.

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