Social Movement

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Social Movements and the Ethics of Knowledge Production

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The death of collective identity? Global movement as a parallelogram of forces.

yesThis paper brings together a number of theoretical and political interests we have with the concept of global movements and the alter-globalisation, anticapitalist, and social justice movements in particular (Chesters & Welsh, 2004, 2005, 2006). The argument contained in this paper is that these movements are the emergent outcome of complex processes of interaction, encounter and exchange facilitated and mediated by new technologies of mobility and communication and they suggest the emergence of a post-representational cultural politics qualitatively different from the identity based social movements of the past

Social Unionism and the Framing of Fairness in the Wisconsin Uprising

YesThe concept of ‘fairness’ has been used to frame political struggles by politicians and activists across the political spectrum. This article looks at its use in the US State of Wisconsin during the ‘Uprising’ – a series of occupations, protests, recall elections and militant direct action that began in 2011. These events were a response to a ‘budget repair bill’ that sought to strip public sector union members of their collective bargaining rights and to apply severe austerity measures within the State. This article suggests that although ‘fairness’ has a certain broad-based and intuitive appeal, its mutability means that it is unlikely to be successful in framing a structural critique that can build and sustain social action. Instead, it argues that framing this conflict as an uprising suggested a more explicit form of resistance that enabled a wider mobilization, and this can best be understood as an example of social (movement) unionism – the extension of traditional work place rights approaches to include broader agendas of social justice, civil rights, immigrant rights and economic justice for non-unionized workers

Rebels with a cause, folk devils without a panic: press jingoism, policing tactics and anti-capitalist protests in London and Prague

This paper examines whether anti-capitalist political activists are (mis)constructed as ‘folk devils’, through an examination of media coverage in the UK and Czech Republic. The construction, of such protestors, as violent criminals and dangerous ‘anarchists’ has, it is argued, influenced their treatment at protests by public authorities in London and Prague. The paper also offers, in juxtaposition to this representation of the current anti-capitalism movement, a discussion of the accounts of activists themselves. In particular it examines the activists’ own perceptions of their engagement in the global social movement against capitalism. The paper is based on evidence drawn from the preliminary findings of interdisciplinary research into global social movements, and in particular the protests against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Prague in September 2000

Finding a new folk devil: (mis)constructing anti-capitalist activists

The paper will offer an account of how political activists are (mis)constructed as “folk devils” through an examination of recent media coverage in the UK and Czech Republic. It will seek to show how their construction as violent criminals and dangerous anarchists has influenced the treatment of those involved in protests by public authorities in the UK and Prague. The paper will also offer, in juxtaposition to this representation of the current anti-capitalism movement, a discussion of the accounts of activists themselves. In particular it examines the activists’ own perceptions of their engagement in the global social movement against capitalism. The paper is based on evidence derived from preliminary findings from interdisciplinary research into global social movements, and in particular the protests against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Prague in September 2000

Rebels with a cause, folk devils without a panic: press jingoism, policing tactics and anti-capitalist protests in London and Prague

This paper examines whether anti-capitalist political activists are (mis)constructed as ‘folk devils’, through an examination of media coverage in the UK and Czech Republic. The construction, of such protestors, as violent criminals and dangerous ‘anarchists’ has, it is argued, influenced their treatment at protests by public authorities in London and Prague. The paper also offers, in juxtaposition to this representation of the current anti-capitalism movement, a discussion of the accounts of activists themselves. In particular it examines the activists’ own perceptions of their engagement in the global social movement against capitalism. The paper is based on evidence drawn from the preliminary findings of interdisciplinary research into global social movements, and in particular the protests against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Prague in September 20001.

The rebel colours of S26: social movement ‘frame-work’ during the Prague IMF/WB protests

This paper presents data gathered during and since the protests against the IMF and World Bank meetings in Prague in September 2000. It describes the parallel decision-making processes that occur within the network of social movement organisations that coalesce around these summits and evaluates the implications for social and environmental activism of these newly opened democratic spaces. The paper describes the construction and application by activists, of three separate marches denoted by different colours, which took place on September 26th in Prague during the ‘Global Day of Action’. It examines the process of originating these ‘action frames’ the elaborate negotiation of conflicting ideological and tactical dispositions that lay behind them, and the variety of democratic decision making forums which were instrumental in their design

Analysis: Voices from the movement: What can the Trade Union Act (2016) tell us about trade union organising?

yesIntroduction It is easy to think of the Trade Union Act (2016) as ‘Thatcher Round 2’: the economic strategy of austerity once again pits the haves against the have-nots, creating the potential for a re-invigorated trade union movement to return to its economically disruptive habits, which the government seeks to constrict. Thus, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady condemned the Conservatives for ‘refighting the battles of the 1980s’ instead of taking a more constructive approach (O’Grady, 2016). However, while the trade union legislation of the 1980s followed a decade marked by entrenched union disputes, the Trade Union Act (2016) has been introduced against a very different backdrop. The UK currently has historically low levels of industrial action, stagnating levels of union membership and limited areas of union density (DBIS, 2015; Godard, 2011; Dix et al, 2008). Could it be that the Trade Union Act (TUA) has more to tell us about trade union weakness than their strength? The Act comes at an important moment in the history of the labour move- ment. The Conservative austerity agenda not only attacks living standards, but reduces union membership through extensive job losses. The significance of this for the movement is exacerbated because the public sector is the most heavily unionised sector. This matters for many reasons, not least because the movement’s ability to resist the worst excesses of the austerity agenda rests on its membership and strength. This situation in turn shines a spotlight on what is perhaps the most pressing question facing the movement – the need for a model of unionism which can reach beyond the public sector, and in particular which meets the needs of the ever-growing body of precarious workers

Finding a new folk devil: (mis)constructing anti-capitalist activists

The paper will offer an account of how political activists are (mis)constructed as “folk devils” through an examination of recent media coverage in the UK and Czech Republic. It will seek to show how their construction as violent criminals and dangerous anarchists has influenced the treatment of those involved in protests by public authorities in the UK and Prague. The paper will also offer, in juxtaposition to this representation of the current anti-capitalism movement, a discussion of the accounts of activists themselves. In particular it examines the activists’ own perceptions of their engagement in the global social movement against capitalism. The paper is based on evidence derived from preliminary findings from interdisciplinary research into global social movements, and in particular the protests against the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Prague in September 2000