School of something
FACULTY OF OTHER
So what is social change?
Social movements, campaigning and
direct action.
School of something
FACULTY OF OTHER
1. Social movements
• What is a social movement?
• ‘collective challenges [to elites, authorities, other groups or
cultural codes] by people with common purposes and
solidarity in sustained interactions with elites, opponents
and authorities’ (Tarrow, 1994)
School of something
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2. The nature of change
• Rethinking cause and effect
• Complex and non linear change
A ≠ B
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2. The nature of change
• Tipping points, chaos points and
junctions:
• Breakdown or breakthrough?
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School of something
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2. The nature of change
• Synchronous failure: what happens
with multiple chaos and failure?
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Different political
positions
Ideological
Representable
Utilitarian
Rational
Modernist
Teleological
Radical/revolutionary
Reformist
Post Ideological
Non Representable
Deliberative Indeterminate
Source: Tormey, 2004
Post modernist Contingent
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2c. The nature of change
• Power in its different forms:
• Power - over
• Power – to
• Power – with
• Power – within
• Power - together
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4b. The Movement Action Plan
‘Social movements need to go beyond immediate reforms to build
toward fundamental structural changes by….
??????
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4b. The Movement Action Plan
(1) creating empowered people who become life-long social
change agents, and not just one issue protesters;
(2) creating ongoing grassroots political organizations and
networks;
(3) broadening the analysis, issues, and goals of movements;
(4) propose new alternatives and worldviews or paradigms that
put forward new political and social systems, not just oppose
symptoms.’
Moyer MAP, 1987, page 38
School
MA
in Activism
of something
and Social Change
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SCHOOL
OF GEOGRAPHY
OTHER
4b. The Movement Action Plan
The spectrum of political engagement
• Remember they overlap and change according to the issue:
• Passive givers (membership, donations)
• Passive supporters (letter writers, online petitions, boycotting)
• Active supporters (organised marches, demos, lobbying)
• Direct actioners (take matters into their own hands - immediacy and
intention)
The deep roots of resistance
Contemporary moments
of direct action
Not just about radicals or the
traditional Left
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What are the differences?
Direct action
Civil Disobedience
Definitions
– Direct action: ‘politically motivated activity undertaken
by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve
political goals outside of normal social/political
channels.’ (Wikipedia)
– Acting directly means not deferring your personal ability,
power and responsibility to pre-existing structures but
doing it yourself. (Trapese)
– “Civil Disobedience is a public, nonviolent,
conscientious yet political act contrary to law usually
done with the aim of bringing about a change in the law
or policies of the government.”
(John Rawls, A theory of Justice. 55-59)
1. Definitions
– What is and is not direct action?
• Making demands / lobbying?
• Waiting for (or deferring to) existing
channels/institutions?
• A last ditch attempt when all else has failed?
• Way of life/philosophy, / a tactic within a larger
structure/campaign?
• The preserve of the radical left?
Why do people take direct action?
• Mobilisation (the push factor – the situation is dire, and
individuals are frustrated)
• Incentives (the pull factor – there’s an opportunity, and
probably collective support and infrastructure)
• Framing (a plausible story exists about how things
could be different – and people will go along with it)
• All three usually have to be met for real and rapid
change to occur
What is too far?
Some questions…
• Which ripples create waves? (or which
actions spark the imagination and wider
movements?)
• How can we weigh up risks with potential
benefits?Are the risks worth it?
• What is role of direct action within longer term
campaigning?
•
(often good to grab the headlines and start a campaign, to show you
are serious, that you are in it for the long term)