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Civil Resistance and the Diversity of Tactics in the Anti-Globalization Movement: Problems of Violence, Silence, and Solidarity in Activist Politics
... Taken together, these studies reveal that procedural justice has strong effects on protesters' violence-related attitudes and behaviors. However, protesters engage in a diversity of tactics, some of which are violent and some of which are nonviolent (Conway 2003). Moreover, some of these tactics are legal and some are illegal. ...
... Protesters have a variety of options available to them when choosing how to express their viewpoints and achieve their objectives. Many protesters subscribe to the idea of a 'diversity of tactics' through which they can seek to influence to the political, economic, and social order (Conway 2003). One of the most important tactical choices is the decision about whether or not to use violence. ...
... But it can also lead to a lack of respect for a diversity of opinion or identity, leading to demonization or the creation of enemy others who do not share the same views. Sameness then becomes an imperative, instead of equality with its inherent possibility of dissent and respect for otherness (Conway, 2003;Levitas, 1995). These problems appeared in the Indonesian situation as well. ...
... Ardent supporters of Jokowi are often called Jokowers, just as Ahokers are supporters of Ahok.18 Though Baswedan was initially in the Jokowi camp, as his Minister of Education, the governor of Jakarta has since been relegated to the opposition. ...
Abstract: In the April 2019 elections in Indonesia, the incumbent president, Mr. Joko Widodo, was pitched against former general Mr. Prabowo Subianto. Mr. Widodo won his first term with a strong human rights agenda that was supported by thousands of human rights activists. In his 2019 campaign, the focus was on the country’s economic development. During this campaign, authoritarian tools were widely used to stifle criticism of the incumbent. The human rights movement became strongly polarized between adherents of the two presidential candidates. Both camps waged a fierce social media war in which hoaxes and slander were spread. The political blocs quickly reconciled after the elections, striving for a politics based on consensus. Army factions and Muslim parties that had supported the different sides also soon closed ranks. However, the fracturing of the human rights movement into two opposing camps remained also after the elections. This led to its enervation in relation to several illiberal immediate post-election reforms. In this article, I focus on four cases to analyse the divisive dynamics within the human rights movement. These are the postOctober 1965 genocide, the weakening of the Anti-Corruption Commission, the revision of the Criminal Code, and the Anti-Sexual Violence Bill. Problems of solidarity politics will be pointed out. I will examine some hoaxes in social media as they are informative of the discourse in this heated period. The human rights debate between the two candidates on 17 January 2019 will also be discussed. Although external factors such as the growing influence of conservative majoritarian Islam played a major role in the inability of the human rights movement to stop the weakening of the Anti-Corruption Commission, and the deliberations on the revision of the Criminal Code, I focus here on the fragmentation and polarization of the movement and the failure of the participants to engage in affinity politics based on shared interests
... Taken together, these studies reveal that procedural justice has strong effects on protesters' violence-related attitudes and behaviors. However, protesters engage in a diversity of tactics, some of which are violent and some of which are nonviolent (Conway 2003). Moreover, some of these tactics are legal and some are illegal. ...
... Protesters have a variety of options available to them when choosing how to express their viewpoints and achieve their objectives. Many protesters subscribe to the idea of a 'diversity of tactics' through which they can seek to influence to the political, economic, and social order (Conway 2003). One of the most important tactical choices is the decision about whether or not to use violence. ...
A large body of research reveals that procedural justice influences compliance with the law and legal authorities in a variety of settings. Recent research in protest settings has found that procedural justice influences protesters’ attitudes toward the use of violence against police as well as their self-reported violent behaviors toward police. Protesters who perceive the police as unjust are more willing to use or support the use of violence against the police. What is not yet known is the extent to which procedural justice might influence non-violent forms of illegal behavior among protesters. Based on data from surveys of protesters in three U.S. cities (Oakland, CA, New York, NY, and Washington, D.C.), we examine the linkages between procedural justice and civil disobedience.
... For example, some organizers believe that the seriousness of the issue (risk of death or injury to innocent populations) could require the escalation of confrontation-related tactics such as the use of civil disobedience (Mondros, 2005). Conway (2003) defines civil disobedience as "a specific form of extra-parliamentary political action involving the deliberate, principled, and public breaking of a law that is perceived to be unjust" (p. 508). ...
... Given that organizing work often involves complex issues and multiple individuals and groups, efforts to resolve ethical dilemmas are often made on a case-by-case or situational basis in consultation with the organization's constituents and coalition partners (Barretti, 2009;Ganz, 2009). However, for an inexperienced organizer, it may be difficult to determine "where to draw the line" in terms of risky tactics, especially when working with groups who may have different perspectives about using methods that may not be either safe or legal (Conway, 2003). ...
Social work curriculum on social action-oriented organizing methods is often devoid of content on the day-to-day role of the organizer in recruiting diverse participants, facilitating group decision-making, and planning and implementing campaigns. Little attention is paid to how tactical decisions are made and how the ethical implications of these decisions are weighed. In this study, professional organizers were interviewed about how they viewed their work, their relationships with their constituents, and the values and ethical principles used to make tactical decisions.
... The choice to engage in violent or nonviolent action may arise contingently, driven by emotional factors or situational dynamics. Yet many movements actively discuss and choose between primarily violent or nonviolent action (Thurber 2019), or debate the question of 'diversity of tactics,' that is acceptance of a range of both violent and nonviolent tactics in movements for social change (Conway 2003). ...
From the Plebeians' refusal to engage in military service in the Roman Republic to the uprisings of the Arab Spring, nonviolent action has been at the centre of social change throughout history. Yet the systematic theoretical understanding and empirical examination of nonviolent action is a relatively recent development. This chapter traces the emergence of this field, identifying the contributions of key thinkers such as Gene Sharp and Mahatma Gandhi and seminal cases such as the Civil Rights Movement in the United States and the anti-Communist uprisings of 1989. The chapter concludes by discussing the relationship between nonviolent action and important areas of social change and presenting some major unanswered questions in the study of nonviolent resistance today.
... CD as a strategy can fail when previously prepared plans do not work or are not adaptable to new circumstances. This can lead to losing diversity of the protest group, to evoking paternalist structures or to provoking (unintended) violence, all of which are important threats from a democratic perspective (Conway, 2003). ...
Energy infrastructure conflicts often reflect fundamental disagreements which cannot be resolved by merely designing better governance processes. They pose complex systemic questions related to justice and do so often with a global reach. This article discusses how social movements using civil disobedience challenge democratic procedures related to energy transitions. We concentrate on justifications of civil disobedience through a case study of Ende Gelände – a climate justice alliance operating mainly in Germany – and its contestation of coal mining. The results reflect the tension between the right to resistance, the demands of liberal democracy and other aspects of democratic legitimation.
... But it can also lead to a lack of respect for a diversity of opinion or identity, leading to demonization or the creation of enemy others who do not share the same views. Sameness then becomes an imperative, instead of equality with its inherent possibility of dissent and respect for otherness (Conway, 2003;Levitas, 1995). These problems appeared in the Indonesian situation as well. ...
... With regards to internal boundaries, the counter-summit's terrain of resistance was divided into areas accommodating the diversity in ideology and tactics (Behan, 2001;Juris, 2005), similar to other counter-summits (see Chesters & Welsh, 2004;Conway, 2003). These different areas in retrospect are used to mark differences between groups of the GJM. ...
The recent wave of occupations highlighted how closely space and social movements are related. While this revived scholarly interest in the role of space during protests, little attention so far has been paid to the role of space in protests' long-term internal effects. Bringing together the literatures on transformative effects and space in social movements, the paper examines the role of protests' spatiality in their transformative effects, drawing on a narrow approach to space. The analysis focuses in particular on effects on collective identity building in social movements. Based on interviews and focus groups with activists in 2011, the paper examines the long-term effects of an incisive protest event of the Global Justice Movement (GJM) in Europe, the protests against the G8 summit in Genoa in 2001. The paper shows that this event's spatiality plays a crucial role in building movement identity several years later: it provides activists with interpretational devices to delineate the GJM's internal and external boundaries. The paper thus underlines that research on transformative effects can considerably profit from considering spatiality.
... violent police confrontation), even movements that are ostensibly nonviolent may begin to justify or rationalise the use of violence. Nonviolent civil disobedience approaches, whether based on principled or strategic motives, are premised on the notion that activists must remain committed to them even if provoked by police (Sharp 1973, Conway 2003). Yet, research has found that activists' commitment to nonviolence sometimes 'breaks down in the face of police provocation: protester violence is primarily the result of police violence' (Kritzer 1977b, p. 638). ...
Social movements often embrace nonviolent civil disobedience strategies. At the same time, social movements sometimes attract participants with different temperaments and different views on the morality or utility of using violence against police. Moreover, the use of force or procedurally unjust tactics by police may influence these views, instigating rebellion and support for the use of violence against police by protesters. This paper examines the nature and correlates of attitudes toward using violence against police among Occupy DC participants in Washington, DC. Data are drawn from a survey of 136 Occupy DC participants. We provide descriptive statistics that summarise Occupiers' attitudes toward the use of violence against police, and test hypotheses about factors that may be associated with these attitudes. Our findings show that a non-trivial subset of participants appears to embrace the use of violence against police, and that these attitudes toward violence are associated with perceptions of the extent to which police treat protesters in a procedurally unjust manner.
Cet article développe une analyse historique des actions directes dans le mouvement de défense des droits des animaux. Après un court passage s’intéressant à l’action directe, il retrace l’histoire des mouvements du Front de libération animale (ALF), de Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) ainsi que de l’Open Rescue et des récentes poursuites contre les activistes pour les animaux.
What would it mean to invite disability into dialogue? Disability in Dialogue attunes us to the dialogues of and about disability. In the pages of this book, we ask readers to consider the dialogic constitution of disability and to imagine its reformulation. We find the voices, bodies, social norms, visceral experiences, discourses, and acts of resistance that materialize disability in all its dialogic and enfleshed complexity: tensions, contradictions, provocations, frustrations and desires. This volume makes a unique contribution, bringing together authors from disciplines as diverse as communication, dialogue studies, psychology, sociology, design, rhetoric and activism. Because we take dialogue seriously, this book is designed to be brave as we examine the ways of being in the world that dialogic practices engender and allow, as well as beckon to continue. By way of a variety of frameworks, such as discourse analysis, dialogue studies, narrative analysis, and critical approaches to discourse, the chapters of this book take us through a polylogue of and about disability, demanding that we consider our own roles in bringing forth disabled ways of being and how we might, instead, choose ways that enable our common existence.
This paper examines Greek protests against economic adjustment programs during the sovereign debt crisis by both the social and labor movements from a perspective of civil resistance theory. While the movements were influential enough to shape the political landscape of the country, by toppling the governing party and helping a previously small party to be elected, they underestimated to what degree economic policy- and decision-making are shielded from democratic pressures and how forcefully its beneficiaries can assert their interests by economic means, for instance via the leverage of debt. Thus a 'people power' strategy to effectively challenge economic policies must be based on an analysis of pressure points and leverage affecting this economic regime. After a brief description of the economic reforms that were protested, some central theoretical concepts of civil resistance are briefly presented, which are then applied to two examples of resistance, concluding with strategic considerations for research, analysis and action
Anti-nuclear civil society activism starting with peace advocacy is considered
to be a process consisting of strategic actions and civic engagement in the
decision-making process. This research examines what made civil society in
Aotearoa New Zealand successful between the mid-1960s and 1980s with a
particular focus on their action repertoire through a goal-oriented approach.
This study highlights the importance of civil society engagement in activism
while identifying the relationship between maximized tactics, strategies and
political environment in the anti-nuclear struggle in New Zealand.
To gain an accurate analysis of success in New Zealand’s anti-nuclear debate,
this research focuses on the extent to which anti-nuclear actors have been able
to achieve their objectives and the degree to which influential activities have
effectively been involved in the process. The results reveal that the political
actors and civil society actively participating in the policy-shaping process
and their involvement signified strong anti-nuclear advocacy under the peace
and security narratives.
La contestation sociale mène souvent à l’agglomération non préméditée de diverses revendications et moyens de contestation, ce qui peut entrainer des conflits au sein d’un mouvement. Au tournant du 21e siècle, une norme organisationnelle émerge du mouvement antimondialisation/altermondialiste; le respect de la diversité des tactiques (RDT). Cette norme se présente comme une alternative aux débats sur l’usage de moyens violents dans la contestation en prônant une solidarité dans la multiplicité des méthodes, qu’elles soient violentes ou non. Suite à son émergence, le RDT s’est popularisé dans certains milieux activistes, plus particulièrement dans les réseaux antiautoritaires, sans toutefois faire l’objet d’une analyse rigoureuse. L’objectif du présent mémoire est d’offrir une interprétation du RDT via un défrichage conceptuel non essentialiste. La recherche effectuée mène à l’identification de trois caractéristiques principales au RDT : il s’agit d’une norme organisationnelle, une norme de regroupements et une norme de transformation. Les résultats de la recherche suggèrent qu’un mouvement de contestation sociale respecte la norme du RDT si et seulement si : 1. l’usage de la violence n’est pas unilatéralement interdit; 2. aucun groupe ou organisation n’impose de ligne de conduite sur l’ensemble des agents contestataires dans les évènements ouverts à toutes et tous; 3. aucun groupe ou organisation ne condamne publiquement les agissements des autres agents contestataires. Cette définition de la norme organisationnelle peut être justifiée en fonction des principes du droit à la révolte, de l’antiautoritarisme et de la solidarité. En conclusion, le RDT n’est pas une solution miracle pour la coordination des mouvement contestataires mais il a le potentiel d’ouvrir des discussions réflexives et critiques concernant les moyens de la contestation sociale.
The paper investigates police perceptions of protesters. Based on group discussions with riot police and interviews with high ranking officers, six domains are analysed as dimensions of a risk constellation contributing to the emergence of an enemy image of the protester. The findings suggest that labels describing the police counterpart often express distance and opposition (1) and depoliticise demonstrations (2). Furthermore, formal (3) and informal (4) categorisations of protesters as well as the perception of indications of threat in policing practice (5) are examined. Bipolar patterns of classification of protesters were found to be influential. Classifications are partly based in the law and partly in particularistic and normative subcultural attributions of legitimacy which police transfer into their organisational interpretive schemata distinguishing between legality/illegality. For explanatory means the study utilises perspectives of organisational sociology as well as the cultural distance between the police and the protesters (6). This is further elaborated using the social figure of the normal citizen, in which specific police conceptions of normality are condensed and which serves as a threshold for the perception of deviant protesters. Besides the implications for theory of democracy of the analysed clichés and enemy images the findings conclusively suggest that the distanced to hostile relationship between the police and some protesters does not merely represent a pedagogical or practical problem of the police, but is the expression of a certain conflict structure. In this structure organisational and individual factors on the side of the police as well as their actual conflict experience at demonstrations converge.
The confrontations between anti-World Trade Organization (WTO) protestors and Hong Kong police proved that their earlier encounters brought about uncompromising attitudes and escalating activities on both sides. As a result, riots on the penultimate day of the WTO meeting were inevitable. Applying David Waddington’s flashpoint model, this article shows that other factors at the structural, political/ideological, cultural, contextual and situational levels were at play, creating an environment conducive to violence. Waddington’s model provides a useful framework for us to comprehend the interactional dynamics of the anti-WTO protests in Hong Kong. However, it has neglected the possibility of an interactive bond between protestors and the public. The contextual uniqueness of forging a dynamic relationship between protestors and the public can enrich Waddington’s analytical framework. A slightly revised version of this article appears in one of the chapters in The Politics of Policing in Greater China.
Even if nonviolence and civil resistance have not been central within International Security Studies and have not been given as much attention by scholars as armed conflicts, nonviolent civil resistance
processes are gaining importance and visibility, and research in this field of study has also increased. This working paper analyses the theoretical and political development of nonviolent civil resistance processes
through the different conceptualisations and characteristics of nonviolence and civil resistance, as well as its potential as a conflict transformation tool.
Keywords: Nonviolence, Civil Resistance, Peacebuilding, Resistance Studies, International Security Studies.
This book increases the awareness of youth political agency and how it relates to adults, governments, communities, and local and global discourse. It reveals the complexity of youth’s political lives as it intersects with social identifiers such as location, gender, and political status, and interacts with neoliberal discourse embedded in media, local politics, education, and religious idioms. This book fills a gap in existing research to provide a body of literature on the political socialization and its manifestation in youth political agency. The research findings aid in understanding the abilities of youth to reason, reflect upon, articulate, and act upon their political views. This research is not only pertinent to children in Palestine, but can also be applied to children living everywhere as global discourse of oppression is not limited to a location, age or a group.
The conventional views of political socialization of youth have been largely limited to the impact of immediate family and what is learned within school curriculum (Gordon & Taft, 2011; van Deth, Abendschön, & Vollmar, 2011). Traditionally, it was held that children will almost always duplicate their parents’ or caregivers’ political views, especially as related to political party affiliation, voting patterns, and political involvement (Allen & Bang, 2015; McDevitt & Chaffee, 2002; Schulman & DeAndrea, 2014). However, this conventional or “traditional” model of youth political socialization is antiquated, as research has shown that there are several other factors at play. Political socialization is in fact a dynamic process and youth respond to it by forming their agency. Youth are part of multiple realities and influenced by a variety of factors, including family, community, and location in which they live; education, schools, and peers; gender; religious elements; and media (all of these are discussed more in depth in subsequent chapters). Youth are not passive recipients of political stimuli but play an active role in shaping their own political perspectives as they are “reflective agents growing up within specific and historical contexts…” (Yates & Youniss, 1998, p. 496). This chapter will deconstruct the traditional model of political socialization that mutes youth political agency and illustrate the different ways youth are politically socialized, with particular focus on the multiple agents, realities, and relationship between local and global discourses that assist in forming youth’s perspectives and actions, keeping in mind that all of these elements are closely interrelated.
As an outcome of political socialization, political activity is dependent on a wealth of factors. Gender, educational factors, location, religion, education, and local/global socio-political landscape all influence individuals’ political activity. According to McFarland and Thomas (2006), youth’s extracurricular activities can influence later political activity. This is one example of political socialization having a significant effect on political activity, as extracurricular activities are part of youth political socialization within the educational and peer interaction sphere. In addition, political activity takes different forms among youth, such as writing in journals, coordinating community activities, and protesting or rallying. This chapter discusses the political activity of youth as an agent of their political socialization. For youth living in conflicted regions, political activity as a result of political socialization can be demonstrated as resistance, activism, and solidarity, as is clear from the narratives of Palestinian youth. Thus, much of the political activity of the Palestinian youth is a direct response to the Israeli occupation.
While unstructured educational systems are pervasive in all aspects of daily life, this chapter will concentrate on structured educational systems because they are an important influential factor on children’s and youth’s political socialization; however, it is imperative to note that this concentration on structured education does not negate the importance of unstructured education; in fact, both are intertwined and affect children’s and youth’s socialization. For example, impacts made by schools, and/or civic education programs, typically spearhead the structured educational systems. On the other hand, unstructured education in schools such as dialogue among peers also impacts children’s and youth’s political socialization. One 14-year-old male journal study participant from a village mentioned, “I’m in ninth grade [and] a member of the daily school podcasting. I talked about Saddam’s execution and if you are with or against it, the land day, occasions and feasts, massacres, the external conditions, political and internal conditions.” This podcast takes place in a school setting; however, this participant makes it clear that the dialogue and discussion come directly from him rather than the school authority. To understand this interaction of youth political socialization, this chapter analyzes the structured educational systems, civic curricula, and programs to engage youth in the community.
As part of reconstructing political socialization methods, it is important to analyze the effect of religion. Traditionally, children and youth were thought to gain the majority of their political viewpoints through their parents or caregivers whose perspectives could be influenced by religious beliefs and affiliations. Along the same lines, religious socialization of children and youth has largely focused on the same top-down methodology; that is, a child or youth becomes affiliated with the same religion as that of his or her parents/caregivers. It has been argued that an individual’s religious beliefs will affect his or her political affiliation and ideology; hence, if a youth’s political socialization is dependent on his or her parent/caregiver, then he or she would also share the same religious belief system. While this is sometimes the case, religion plays a much more pervasive role within the system of political socialization for youth. Moving beyond only a parent/caregiver’s religious beliefs, youth are influenced by the way they perceive religion in the community at large. In addition, the politicization of religion cannot be ignored and its relation to the practice of religion is as important to youth as political socialization. As part of reconstructing the traditional methodology of political socialization, one of the most important processes is to unpack the politicization of religion and religious affiliation since global politics do not distinguish between religion and political affiliation of youth. In the case of Palestine, youth take religious courses at school and many of the political parties endorse religious idioms, while the local/global political reality is affected by the politics of religion. Hence, youth demonstrated their political agency by integrating the politicization of religion. Due to this interaction, religion and its politicization are significant factors in the political socialization of Palestinian youth, as a 14-year-old male journal participant from a village simply stated, “I became one of Hamas supporters because it is [an] Islamic party.”
The family is considered a primary source of political socialization for youth—although research has shown that it is not the only source of political socialization. Youth political socialization is complex and influenced by a variety of factors, including youth agency. Traditionally, the family was the primary resource to understand political socialization, and this linear analysis neglected to capture the dynamic interaction between family, community, and the state. While the family can be an important contributor to youth’s political development, for the purpose of the book, more attention will be given to other community interactions of youth political socialization in an attempt to reconceptualize the discussion of youth political agency. Given this, the community structure where youth live is an influential element of political socialization that is (at times) closely related to immediate family. This chapter discusses the political socialization elements of the community structure as they pertain to the living reality of youth.
The contextualization of the social and political conditions of the environment in social studies has been a tradition that necessitates the understanding of the issue at hand. Demographic factors such as ethnicity, religion, race, education level, geographic location, participant age, gender, sexuality, and cognitive ability are social identifiers significant to describing the research subjects. Providing information about individual identifiers is considered a standard exercise that serves in framing the research. Data on social identifiers is no longer part of any specific academic field; rather, they are also incorporated in hard science. The information on social identifiers is included because an individual and his or her agency has multiple social identifiers that shape the interaction and relationship with events and social issues. Linkedin and O’Loughin (2015) emphasized that “Political behaviors such as voting decisions, conflict about territorial control, political boundary delineation and demarcation, and public good provision and allocation are a function of constellation of influences and mix aggregate and individual factors at scale ranging from the locality to the national and international” (pp. 189–190). Therefore, the contextualization of the mutable environment characteristics perceived in poverty, war, school safety, access to nutrition, health, education, geopolitics, and others is to recognize how participants experience the local and global environmental conditions according to their social identifiers (Caughy et al., 2013; Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, 2013; Habashi & Worley, 2014; Marshall, 2014; Netland, 2012). The different layers in an individual’s environment coupled with the unique, varied social identifiers particular to that individual create a diversity of experiences that can lead to multiple reactions and ways in which that individual uses his or her agency. Social identifiers embedded in the intersectionality of the nature of age make us who we are while interacting with the environment, events, and intergenerationality (Hopkins & Pain, 2007). Political agency is predicated on the interaction between different social identifiers with the diverse environments/events settings and with different age groups in each context. The ecological theory suggests that youth political agency is shaped by the environment, by which youth are subjugated (Hörschelmann, 2008); however, the relationship is contingent on individual social identifiers (Habashi, 2013). The interaction between the environment and who we are is dynamic and dialectic in nature, as one shapes the other. Social identifiers interact with events and create meaning dependent on responses of environment and the connotation associated with each social identifier. For example, political agency of minority youth differs in accessing the power structure compared to youth belonging to mainstream culture (Allen & Bang, 2015; Gordon & Taft, 2011; Lay, 2005). However, the outcome might also be different if the youth is a minority that belongs to upper middle class. Each youth constitutes multiple social identifiers that provide nuances of meaning to the subject and subjugated political agency. Alternatively, the dynamic relationship between social identifiers, intergenerationality, and events in the ecological theory creates a complex meaning of youth political socialization; thus, social identifiers and the interactions in the ecological theory challenges homogeneity of youth political agency. Therefore, this chapter focuses on several social identifiers (gender, social class, location, and culture/ethnicity) as they help to define the evolution of youth agency and its interaction with the environment. It is critical to show the multiple layers of social identifiers to understand how youth interact with their socio/political/cultural environments and how this impacts their agency. This would decode political socialization and provide an alternative view of youth political agency.
Youth in general and youth in specific who are living in politically unstable, war-like areas are acutely aware of the local and global situations regarding the conflict. It is clear in reading the narratives of Palestinian youth that they are not passive recipients of the top-down model of political socialization. Given that youth agency is in fact active of their own perspective, it is imperative to discuss the fact that even though they are growing up and living in an area that is being occupied, they are still able to experience daily life with its complexity and (im)possibilities just like any other youth. Such “normality” is constructed according to their local/global discourse and youth agency interaction and intersectionality. Palestinian children’s and youth’s experiences have some similar interactions as other individuals not living in a conflicted area. A 12-year-old female Palestinian youth from a refugee camp wrote, “We took our midterm certifications; I felt so happy because I got high marks, then I went home and when my mother saw my marks she felt happy and wished for me continued success.” Another participant, a 12-year-old male from a city, wrote about worries at school, “I was so stressed because I am awaiting the results of the exam to see if I passed, I tried to calm down but it was in vain.” While the political situation of the Occupied Palestine Territories and the living reality of youth is one of political conflict, it is clear that this reality does not negate the everyday living experience and the right to live in stability within unstable circumstances.
The presentation of media, both in formal and informal manner, affects youth political socialization and agency. Media can include a wide range of elements, such as television, the Internet, social media, graffiti, and literature. Media can be very influential in the way youth view and perceive their world and reality. Historically, media has been discussed in a linear way, such as including only dominant news sources, without considering alternative media in the community. The multiple narratives of media have been ignored, especially when considering youth agency and political socialization. This chapter will focus on the interaction of the effect of media, both formal and informal, that is shaping the national narrative, community political discourse, and the interaction of youth political socialization. For example, one 12-year-old female participant from a city wrote about watching TV with her father and seeing children crying. The youth asked her father why the children were crying and her father responded, “the occupation expelled them from their own country, and now they don’t have water, food, or homes to sleep in.” Media as a source of political information can impact Palestinian youth’s political socialization interactions and communications.
Political socialization of youth can have a significant effect on the formation of national identity. In some homogenous countries, national identity has not been a widely studied phenomenon, while in other cosmopolitan, multi-cultural, and conflicted places, such as Israel, it is a “more common political socialization theme” (Sapiro, 2004, p. 6). It should be noted that national identity is not static and has multiple dimensions and presentations over time. It is the notion of immutable national identity that posits a constant analysis and examination of its construct and processes. In communities where national identity is complicated by socio-political realities, political socialization, top-down model, or trickle-up model, it has a powerful effect on the processes (Muldoon, McLaughlin, & Trew, 2007). McGlynn, Niens, Cairns, and Hewstone (2004) discussed the political socialization approach of integrated schools other than the Catholic- and Protestant-segregated educational structure. This attempt is to forge an alternative national identity, and to reconcile and build a united collective narrative in Northern Ireland. Also, in conflicted regions, national identity has significant implications to individuals and groups, as it is a shield of resistance to the occupier/oppressor whereby individuals have an agency within such constructs (Habashi, 2008). In Palestine, for example, national identity is at the forefront of a collective narrative that challenges Israeli military occupation and is a reflection of Palestinian youth’s ecological interaction, as they form political agency within the local/global political reality. While Palestinian youth may hold allegiance to different political ideologies for liberating Palestine, their political socialization lays the foundation for the formation of national identity as Palestinian. Indeed, there is a dialectic interface between youth political socialization and national identity. It is this interlacing that provides insight, as a 12-year-old female journal participant from a city described national identity as a form of unity of the Palestinian people, “safety and love can be achieved in unity among our people.” This chapter analyzes the formation and nuances of national identity as it is related to political socialization.
Nonviolence is often confused with pacifism, misnamed ‘passive resistance’ or thought to consist only of principled nonviolence. It is widely misconstrued as consisting only of appeals to the conscience of its opponents — a simple type of ineffective, non-threatening action, like holding hands and singing ‘We Shall Not Be Moved’, before being swept aside by violent opponents. It is considered a nice idea but ineffective in the real world, an unchanging, outmoded philosophy rooted in past actions such as those of Gandhi or Martin Luther King.
Given the huge impact of militarism on the climate, it is clear that drastically reducing or even eliminating militarism is a vital ingredient in environmental sustainability. The inevitable questions, however, which arise from this proposal are: How should countries defend themselves? How can dictators be removed from power, or repressive regimes ended? After examining the rhetorical underpinnings of those questions, this chapter argues that nonviolence can fill both those needs.
The story of Australian nonviolence is not widely-known, despite its many pioneering developments. This chapter describes chronologically a selection of significant campaigns which have radicalised nonviolence, including early direct actions against climate change, and anti-nuclear blockades which had both environmental and anti-militarism aspects.
The confrontations between anti-World Trade Organisation (WTO) protestors and Hong Kong police proved that their earlier encounters brought about uncompromising attitudes and escalating activities on both sides. As a result, riots on the penultimate day of the WTO meeting were inevitable. Applying David Waddington's flashpoint model, this article shows that other factors at the structural, political/ideological, cultural, contextual and situational levels were at play, creating an environment conducive to violence. Waddington's model provides a useful framework for us to comprehend the interactional dynamics of the anti-WTO protests in Hong Kong. However, it has neglected the possibility of an interactive bond between protestors and the public. The contextual uniqueness of forging a dynamic relationship between protestors and the public can enrich Waddington's analytical framework.
Social action-organizing requires the use of confrontation-related skills that are substantially different from collaborative and problem-solving strategies commonly used in community development and social planning. Consequently, field instructors must use training strategies for community organizers that are unique to this type of practice. In this paper, the authors develop a conceptual model that can be used in supervising students in social justice-related field placements that require the use of confrontation tactics. The model includes eight skill areas that will help students develop engagement and communication skills needed to work in partnership with constituents to fight for social justice.
Cette recherche porte sur les formes et pratiques de l'engagement au sein du mouvement de justice globale. Basée sur une série d'entrevues effectuées auprès de seize personnes engagées dans des collectifs montréalais, elle se donne pour objectif d'interroger directement les militant-e-s afin de comprendre qui s'engage, comment, pourquoi et dans quel but. On a questionné les personnes sur leur milieu d'origine, leur parcours d'engagement, leur conception du changement social, leur rapport aux idéologies et à l'utopie, les actions posées, l'imbrication entre vie privée et vie militante...Ceci afin de tenter de mieux comprendre qui sont ceux et celles qui participent à un mouvement présent sur la scène politique depuis une dizaine d'années et pourtant souvent encore méconnu. On constate dans un premier temps des différences entre le militantisme «traditionnel», notamment celui au sein des partis politiques et des syndicats, et l'engagement au sein des collectifs du mouvement de justice globale : différences dans la composition sociale du mouvement, mais aussi ses objectifs, ses thématiques, ses analyses de la réalité sociale, ses modes d'organisation, les types d'actions posées...Différences aussi par rapport à la conception de ce qu'est la politique et les champs possibles de la contestation: il y a chez les personnes interrogées un rejet des formes traditionnelles du politique qui ne semble pas tant lié à une apolitisation qu'à un désir de faire une autre politique. Comment expliquer ces changements ? Par la modification du contexte social, politique et économique certainement, mais aussi par une modification de l'imaginaire politique des militant-e-s que l'on constate au cours de la recherche. Tou-te-s conçoivent leur action politique résolument au présent, sans espoir de révolution ou de changement social radical à court-moyen terme. De cette modification de l'imaginaire militant par rapport aux modèles passés, de la perte de l'idéal révolutionnaire découlent de nouvelles façon de s'engager, de s'organiser, de vivre sa politique. L'engagement apparaît comme un moyen de créer dès maintenant un monde différent, de dépasser la tristesse et la colère dans l'action collective, de se réapproprier le présent, et ce faisant d'inventer d'autres futurs possibles. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Action collective, Activisme, Engagement, Militantisme, Mouvement altermondialiste, Mouvement de justice globale, Révolution, Utopie.
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Kent State University, 2004. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 341-348) Appendices include open-ended questions, research instrument: Political socialization of Palestinian children, and correlation table. Microfiche.
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