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6 Anarchism as a “new social movement”? The conception of society just sketched, and the tendency which is its dynamic expression, have always existed in mankind, in opposition to the governing hierarchic conception and tendency – now the one and now the other taking the upper hand at different periods of history. (Peter Kropotkin) The new? Few sociological perspectives excel at summarizing the character of current anarchist movements, with the exception of those grouped under the moniker of “new social movement” (NSM) theories. This chapter presents the
The black flag means negation, anger, outrage, mourning, beauty, hope, and the fostering and sheltering of new forms of human life and relationship on and with the earth. This book aims to destroy many of the assumptions and stereotypes about anarchism, anarchists, and anarchist movements. It introduces Mario Diani's definition of a social movement: networks of individuals and organizations, united by some shared identity, that engage in extra-institutional action with the interest of changing society. Social movements must be composed of individuals. The book provides new insights into individual participants in anarchist movements by investigating what the micro-level characteristics of contemporary anarchists are, and how these characteristics differ from those of anarchists in past movements. The anarchist movement can be interrogated from many vantage points (especially macro- and meso-analyses), in both longitudinal and cross-sectional contexts. The book explores the usefulness (or lack thereof) of social movement theories for understanding anarchist movements. It challenges the assumption that the state is a strategic location of opportunity from the perspective of radical, anti-state movements. The essential dimensions of "new social movement" (NSM) theories are discussed, with highlights on the differences between the contemporary anarchist movement and other NSMs. The book also explores ideas from major social capital theorists, and considers the value of social capital. Whereas most sociological research on anti-authoritarian diffusion and isomorphism has focused on mainstream organizations or reformist social movements, anarchist movements pose a particular challenge to the earlier findings focused on the non-anarchists.
ECC, as a new social movement, symbolised and was premised on this breach from the rest of white society. Objection and peace activism was mediated and resonant by the campaigning of the ECC; objection was therefore often a contingent performance, contingent on the political imperatives and strategies of the ECC. Nash writes of how new social movements are, by their very nature, ‘engaged in cultural politics’ and that, from this basis, ‘they are engaged in contesting identities and redefining the terms within which social life is structured’ (2000: 114). The ECC
New social movement theory defines these movements as ‘new’ for their middle-class support, non-hierarchical organisational structures, direct action tactics and ‘post-materialist’ values, such as self-actualisation, quality of life and moral values. 78 Some argue that these movements ‘challenged old identities and valorised the new ones’, setting up a dichotomy between class and other forms of identity politics. 79 Yet Calhoun rejects this dichotomy, arguing that
and public state for many people. Same-sex marriage disrupts the gendering of marriage and so threatens the familiar social and economic order. However, the twenty-first century has witnessed a major increase in public support for marriage rights for same-sex couples, and this chapter will trace how an apparently isolated court case grew into a new social movement. The focal point of this chapter is the 2004 High Court case taken by Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan (the KAL case) for legal recognition of their marriage as a same-sex couple, which
’ in a general sense: it is ‘a political entity that aims to create social change’ (see Staggenborg, 2008 ; Wilson, 2012b ). More specifically, GAGM can be deemed a ‘new social movement’ – a general form of movement dominant since the 1960s. New social movements are unlike ‘older social movements’ in the sense that older movements are concerned primarily with economic matters, while ‘newer’ ones are generally interested in politics and power in a wider sense. Harvey and Houle offer a useful definition
theory –and in particular Alberto Melucci’s (1985, 1989, 1995a) and other constructivists’ 20 Anarchy in Athens new social movement theory –provides intellectual tools for avoiding these shortcomings. Before exploring the intricacies of that tradition, it is helpful to consider some of the other paradigms against which it developed. In the following discussion, I have taken a rather longitudinal frame, introducing research agendas from as far back as the late 1900s. It is true that some of the theories presented below have been largely discredited. Nonetheless
The Athenian anarchist and anti-authoritarian movement has been reinvigorated in recent years. Its public protests and battles against the Greek state, police and other capitalist institutions are prolific and highly visible, replete with rioting, barricades and Molotov cocktails. This book is concerned not so much with anarchist theory, as with examining the forces that give the Athenian anarchist and anti-authoritarian movement its specific shape. The author draws on Alberto Melucci's (1995a) work on collective identity, while offering a first-hand, ethnographic account of Athenian anarchists and anti-authoritarians in action, based on his time there in 2011 and 2013, living, squatting and protesting within this milieu. In the course of the chapters of the book, the author argues that varying shades of anarchic tendencies, and ensuing ideological and practical disagreements, are overcome for the most part in (often violent) street-protests. Athenian anarchists and antiauthoritarians are a pertinent area of research because of both their politics and their geographical location. There is the whole 'rise of anarchism throughout the activist world' phenomenon, visible from Seattle to Genoa, Quebec City to São Paulo. Anarchist and anti-authoritarian social movements are prominent actors in resistance to the current phase of capitalism in multiple, global locations. Throughout Europe, North and Latin America, Asia and the Antipodes, radical resistance to neo-liberalism often has an anarchist and/ or anti-authoritarian cast.
German philosopher Jürgen Habermas has written extensively on the European Union.
This is the only in-depth account of his project. Published now in a second
edition to coincide with the celebration of his ninetieth birthday, a new
preface considers Habermas’s writings on the eurozone and refugee crises,
populism and Brexit, and the presidency of Emmanuel Macron.
Placing an
emphasis on the conception of the EU that informs Habermas’s political
prescriptions, the book is divided into two main parts. The first considers the
unfolding of 'social modernity' at the level of the EU. Among the
subjects covered are Habermas's concept of juridification, the
latter's affinities with integration theories such as neofunctionalism, and
the application of Habermas's democratic theory to the EU. The second part
addresses 'cultural modernity' in Europe – 'Europessimism'
is argued to be a subset of the broader cultural pessimism that assailed the
project of modernity in the late twentieth century, and with renewed intensity
in the years since 9/11.
Interdisciplinary in approach, this book engages
with European/EU studies, critical theory, political theory, international
relations, intellectual history, comparative literature, and philosophy. Concise
and clearly written, it will be of interest to students, scholars and
professionals with an interest in these disciplines, as well as to a broader
readership concerned with the future of Europe
This book examines moral theories that endeavour to tell us how we ought to treat animals, as well as how individuals and the law actually do treat them. The author gives consideration of the considerable bulk of philosophical literature on the moral status of animals that has appeared in recent years. What has made this philosophical debate so important, of course, has been its impact on the realm of practical politics. The book documents the re-emergence of the animal protection movement and the author makes an attempt at a classification of its key characteristics, and explores a number of explanations for its development. With the rise of a movement to expound the radical philosophy, the debate about the treatment of animals has also fundamentally changed. The book examines the nature of this debate by relating competing moral theories to the variety of uses to which humans put animals. It is the willingness of some elements in the animal protection movement to take direct action that has provoked the greatest publicity for the cause of animal protection in recent years. The author gives attention to the nature of modern pressure group politics and, in particular, it is asked, with the help of various theoretical approaches, to what extent the political system provides for fair competition between the animal protection movement and those with a vested interest in continuing to exploit animals.