Conceptualising success and failure for social movements

The paper discusses some of the most significant conceptions of success and failure present in the social movement literature, and highlights the gaps present in these theories. Through a seven-pronged critique, the paper stresses that the prevalent conceptions of movement success or failure are inherently unable to grasp the overall consequences and essence of a social struggle. Moreover, it is argued here that the problem lies not just in these conceptions, but also the concept of success or failure, because in its application to an entity as dynamic and complex as a struggle, it is unable to transcend beyond its black-and-white confines. It trivialises the concept of failure, which is an opportunity for learning from experiences, a chance for error correction and a prospect to rise higher than ever before

Universities, social movements and market forces

Universities have changed drastically over the past few decades. To understand and articulate what has happened, I make a stab at answering, however sketchily, the following questions: What forces have shaped universities over recent decades? What as been the impact of social movements such as socialism, feminism, africanism on the process of the production of knowledge? Why has it been deemed necessary, not only to demand inclusion of the excluded in the domain of higher knowledge, but to challenge the existing canon and to struggle for radically new approaches to curricula? What has been achieved by history from below, gender studies, african studies, postcolonial studies? What has happened to all the passionate debates between contending paradigms? Are market forces marginalising all else? Is it desirable and/or possible to resist? How is the project of academic transformation in South Africa unfolding within this global field of forces

Polarization in social movements on Twitter

Online social networks have become a parallel universe of socialization from which interactive dynamics are generated until recently unknown. From this framework of online communication, different social movements have reached a greater boom and spread. On Twitter these social movements have as a characteristic feature a hashtag (#) that allows cross-cutting the conversation. Although it has become an instrument that makes it possible to agglutinate the conversation in a massive way, we are also emerging voices that warn of the growing manipulation around these forms of socialization. Social workers must pay attention and investigate these means of digital activism in order to understand and avoid these possible manipulations. In this communication we analyze in a longitudinal way different social movements on Twitter. To this end, social movements that have emerged during the last year about phenomena related to the empowerment of women (#metoo, #yositecreo, etc ...), cooperation against natural disasters (#mallorca) and social demands (# pensions). To identify leaderships, detect communities and measure social distances, social network analysis has been used as well as certain algorithms. For the analysis of the conversations, language analysis techniques have been used to optimize the combination of the most common words, giving rise to conversation patterns around certain force ideas. The results achieved show a high level of emotivity in the way of interacting and a significant pattern of polarization in conversations about these movements that is the seed of conflicts and radicalization. The key lies in the way we congregate and converse in networks around those with whom we share our perspectives and opinions about the world. This tendency towards homophily provokes a biased and monolithic vision of reality. In order to counteract these conflicts we must raise the level of self-awareness on the level of homophilia in the way we congregate and converse on online social networks and intervene to increase tolerance for diversity.Online social networks have become a parallel universe of socialization from which interactive dynamics are generated until recently unknown. From this framework of online communication, different social movements have reached a greater boom and spread. On Twitter these social movements have as a characteristic feature a hashtag (#) that allows cross-cutting the conversation. Although it has become an instrument that makes it possible to agglutinate the conversation in a massive way, we are also emerging voices that warn of the growing manipulation around these forms of socialization. Social workers must pay attention and investigate these means of digital activism in order to understand and avoid these possible manipulations. In this communication we analyze in a longitudinal way different social movements on Twitter. To this end, social movements that have emerged during the last year about phenomena related to the empowerment of women (#metoo, #yositecreo, etc ...), cooperation against natural disasters (#mallorca) and social demands (# pensions). To identify leaderships, detect communities and measure social distances, social network analysis has been used as well as certain algorithms. For the analysis of the conversations, language analysis techniques have been used to optimize the combination of the most common words, giving rise to conversation patterns around certain force ideas.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Social movements in world of warcraft

Virtual worlds provide new forms of social interaction. They offer alternative spaces where social functions can be carried out in online three-dimensional virtual environments. In this paper we explore how collective action on a global scale is enabled by these virtual worlds. We used qualitative research to examine the organization of one social movement in World of Warcraft (WoW), the most widely used massively multiplayer online role playing game in the world. Using New Social Movement Theory, our paper suggests that there are a number of differences between real world and virtual world social movements, namely in their (a) locality, (b) issues, (c) periods of activity, (d) hierarchies, and (e) membership

Reassessing Social Movements' Position and Normative Force in Constitutional Settings

The present article examines the new position of social movements in constitutional settings. It argues that social movements-both structured and unstructured-have rearranged themselves both normatively and spatially to create new means to influence law and politics. The article sketches out new forms in which social movements have understood their ways of organizing and the possibilities for advancing legal and political change in constitutional settings. Using Judith Butler's theory of assemblage and Bruno Latour's concept of terrestriality, the article examines how social movements read constitutional settings, such as domestic constitutional apparatuses and international institutions, to advance their political and legal agendas. The article does not limit itself to a pure public law perspective but also incorporates insights from public international law

Literature review on the dynamics of social movements in fragile and conflict-affected states

This literature review assesses the available academic and policy-oriented literature on social movements in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. It examines who becomes involved in collective action and why, the barriers to mobilisation and, where social movements do emerge, how these are able to sustain mobilisation and broaden their membership base to reflect the interests of the wider community. Evidence from this review suggests the importance of considering the interplay of movement activity and state stability, and of taking into account existing state-society relationships. Donors could focus on creating a supportive environment for social movements

Social movements

The contribution presents a critical summary and evaluation of literature on social movements

Social Movements and HR: The Impact of #MeToo

[Excerpt] Considering the increased societal attention given to sexual harassment and assault, and the wide range of reactions to #MeToo, we wanted to know how companies are reacting, whether they are changing their policies and practices, and whether the societal movement is impacting company culture. The highlights of our study show opportunities in culture, leadership, policy and reporting formulation, and training practices. During our study, we also found innovative practices that could be replicated across companies. Lastly, we have included a self-assessment tool to measure progress in addressing sexual harassment and assault within an organizatio