Politics and Social Movement Flashcards
Define Power
The capacity to affect the conduct of others through real or threatened use of rewards and/or punishments
A special form of influence
Relies on various resources – wealth, prestige, education etc.
Never equally distributed (if it is distributed – who distributes it?)
Can be authoritative and coercive, or non-violent and participatory
A relationship among individuals, groups or institutions
“the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his or her own will despite resistance; the ability to control others, even against their will” (Furze et al. 2014).
What are some of the fundamentals behind politics?
How power is used to affect the scope and content of governmental activities
Political sphere may range beyond ‘government’
Government: “The social institution that distributes power, sets a society’s agenda and makes decisions; the State”.
Political sociology -> interested in studying the institutions that specialise in the exercise of power and authority
Governance: “‘the process by which societies and organisations make important decisions, determine whom they involve in the process, and how accountability is ensured”.
How is political power viewed with a functionalist lens?
The state (the nation or territory and its system of politics in which people live) exists because of basic needs of social groups – protection from oppressors, giving governments ultimate control.
To find a balance (so states don’t become oppressive) – need pluralism: “a diffusion of power among many special interest groups”
Pluralist society has many parts – women, men, racial-ethnic groups, farmers, professional workers, labourers, retired, unemployed, etc.
No group dominates. Groups negotiate and compromise to attain their goals.
Political systems therefore responsive to needs and interests of ‘the people’ and no one group ‘rules’
How is political power viewed with a conflict lens?
Conflict theory (adapted from Henslin 2006):
Basically – no way is functionalism correct! Look at the bigger picture:
Who holds the power? Who determines interest
rates? Who creates policies that change the
employment structure for individuals? Who is
behind the decision to go to war?
“the chance of a man [sic] or a number of men [sic] to realize their own will in a communal action even against the resistance of others who are participating in the action” (Max Weber 1948: 180)
C. Wright Mills (1956) – power elite make these decisions (Corporate leaders, political leaders, military)
What are the marxist, feminist and southern theory perspectives of political power?
Marxism - class-based power structures
Feminism - gender as basis for power relations; patriarchy and empowerment
Southern theory (e.g. Connell) – core sociological knowledge generally taken from the white, male, western ‘core’ ignores significant knowledge of ‘southern’ periphery.
What is a social movement and what were the two mentioned variants?
“Enduring collective attempts to change part of or all of the social order by non-institutional channels such as protests, lobbying, advocacy and education”.
Collective action occurs when people act in unison to bring about of resist social, political or economic change.
Some collective actions are routine: non-violent, established patterns of behaviour in existing social structures. E.g. lobbying, voting.
Some are non-routine: take place when usual conventions cease to guide social action and people transcend, bypass or subvert established institutional patterns and structures. E.g. riots and non-violent protest
How do social movements and agency relate?
Social movements provide a core example of the process of people having ‘agency’: shaping their life rather than being constrained by the structures and institutions surrounding the individual
What were the four mentioned reasons social movements happen?
Main cause is perceived inequality
Need to have hope for change to occur
Recognition; identity politics
Redistribution
Long history of sociological theorising of social movements (e.g. Marx on class struggle)
What is and what is a critique of Breakdown theory (1920-70)?
Social movements emerge when traditional norms and patterns of social organisation are disrupted.
Breakdown doesn’t always create collective action (critique).
What is the Solidarity Theory (1960)?
Social movements emerge when potential members can mobilise resources, take advantage of new political opportunities and avoid high levels of social control by authorities
Social movements emerge from collective action only when the discontented succeed in building up a more or less stable membership and organisational base
Once this is established, they move from short-lived actions to more enduring and routine activities
Depends on frame alignment (The process by which individual beliefs values become congruent/complementary of a social movement.)
What are 5 aspects of new social movements?
New issues (e.g. quality of life, global environment, animal welfare, nuclear energy, identity politics such as gay rights, human rights for all).
New organisational forms (e.g. loose networks, rejection of bureaucracy, egalitarian decision making)
New action repertoires (e.g. non-violent symbolic direct action; use of mass media)
New social constituencies (e.g. ‘new’ middle classes; ‘rainbow coalition’)
New potential for globalisation (social media, high-tech, global campaigns, concerns beyond nation-state)
What are some limitations of social movements?
Social movements may be limited by/criticized for:
Lack of solutions offered
Remaining small scale
Lack of institutionalisation (structure?)
Diluted values as movement grows in influence
Limited influence on national/global law/regulation etc
Not always inclusive
Not always peaceful
Eg. World Social Forums, al-Qaeda
When did aboriginals get the right to vote and how did this come about?
1967.
Social movement – began late 1950s (although possibly brewing from as early as late 1800s) – both white and Aboriginal Australians involved in the movement. (Victorian Aborigines Advancement League (VAAL) was formed in 1957 with the purpose of working towards the achievement of full citizens’ rights for Aboriginal people throughout the Commonwealth)
What was the freedom ride?
1965.
1964 protest at Syd Uni against racial discrimination in the US. Lead to questions about what is being done in own backyard.
Draw attention to poor state of Indigenous health, education, housing
Point out and help lessen discrimination
Encourage and support Indigenous people to resist descrimintation.
Lead by Charles Perkins.
What occured after the right to vote was given?
End of the story?
Tent Embassy - 1972 in Canberra - protest against a court decision over mining operations on Aboriginal land.
Now? Focus has morphed - Aboriginals saw that they had no rights in their own land, the protesters argued that they were ‘aliens in [their] own land’, as such, they would need an embassy of their own.
The Embassy is now a heritage-listed landmark for Aboriginal protest.
Social movements can morph and change focus over time.
