1010 POLITICS, GOV ERNMENT AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Supporters of the EU argue that it has delivered possible to the citizens. In the increasingly
half a century of stabili~ peace and prosperity It interdependent world of the twenty-first century, it
has helped to raise living standards, built a single will be even more necessary for every European
Europe-wide market, launched the single citizen to cooperate with people from other
European currency, the euro, and strengthened countries in a spirit of curiosity, tolerance and
Europe's voice in the world. The EU fosters solidarity
cooperation among the peoples of Europe,
promoting unity while preserving diversity and Sources: European Union 2005; The Economist
ensuring that decisions are taken as close as 2005b

Former Secretary-General of the UN, Kofi

Annan, has been highly influential in inter-
What are social movements?
national politics, for example. Held also The most dramatic and far-reaching exam-
argues that non-governmental organiza- ple of non -orthodox political action is revo-
tions, such as Oxfam and Amnesty Interna- lution - the overthrow of an existing politi-
tional, as well as social movements can also cal order by means of a mass movement,
play an important role in the creation of using violence. Revolutions are tense, excit-
global social democracy. Below, we look in ing and fascin ating events; understandably,
more detail at the increasing significance of they attract great attention. Yet for all of
social movements in society and how soci- their high d rama, revolutions occur rela-
ologists have understood their emergence tively infrequently.
and growth.
See chapter 2, 'Asking and Answering
SOCiological Questions', for a discussion
Social movements and ofTheda Skocpol's work on social
revolutions .
social change
Political life, as our discussion above shows, The most common type of non-orthodox
is by no means carried on only within the political activity takes place through social
orthodox framework of political parties, movements - collective attempts to further
voting systems and representation in legisla- a common interest or secure a common
tive and governmental bodies. It often goal through action outside the sphere of
happens that groups find that their objec- established institutions, A wide variety of
tives or ideals cannot be achieved within, or social movements besides those leading to
are actively blocked by, this framework. revolution have existed in modern soci-
Despite the spread of democracy we eties, some enduring and some transient.
explored earlier, the persistence of authori- Social movements come in all shapes and
tarian regimes in many countries - such as sizes, Some are very small, numbering no
China, Turkmenistan and Cuba - reminds us more than a few dozen members; others
that effecting change within existing politi- may include thousands or even millions of
cal structures is not always possible. Some- people. While some social movements
times political and social change can only be carry on their activitles within the laws of
brought about through recourse to non- the society in which they exist, others oper-
orthodox forms of political action such as ate as illegal or underground groups. It is
revolutions or social movements. characteristic of protest movem ents,
however, that they operate near the
 Politics, Government and Social Movements 1011

margins of what is defined as legall y Social movements are as evident a feature

permissible by governments at any particu- of the contemporary world as are the
lar time or place. formal, bureaucratic organizations they
Social movements often arise with the often oppose, and some scholars suggest
aim of bringing about change on a public that we may be moving towards a global
issue, such as expanding civil rights for a 'social movement society', which provides
segment of the population. In response to fertile ground for this type of collective
social movements, counter-movements action. For this reason, we need to explore
sometimes arise in defence of the status sociological theories of social movements.
quo. The campaign for women's right to
abortion, for example, has been vocifer- Theories of social movements
ously challenged by anti-abortion ('pro-
life') activists, who argue that abortion For most of the twentieth century, social
should be illegal. movements were seen as rather unusual
Often, laws or policies are altered as a phenomena by sociologists. As with other
result of the action of social movements. forms of collective behaviour, such as the
These changes in legislation can have far- study of riots, crowds and revolutions, they
reaching effects. For example, it used to be seemed to be marginal to the practice of
illegal for groups of workers to call their mainstream sociology (Tarrow 1998). This
members out on strike, and striking was began to change with the emergence of a
punished with varying degrees of severity in new wave of movements from the 1960s,
different countries. Eventually, however, the which attracted a fresh generation of sociol-
laws were amended, making the strike a ogists looking to understand and explain
permissible tactic of industrial conflict. them. When they did so, they found the
Similarly, lesbian and gay movements have existing theories of social movements to be
been largely successful in raising the issue inadequate for the task. To see why, we must
of equal rights and many countries around take a brief tour through some of the earlier
the wo rld have equalized their laws on the social movement theories.
legal age of sexual activity for heterosexuals
and homosexuals. Collective behaviour and social unrest
Social movements are among the most The Chicago School of Sociology is often
powerful forms of collective action. Well- seen as the first to systematically chart
organized, persistent campaigns can bring forms of collective behaviour and to turn
about dramatic results. The American civil these into a specialist field of inquiry in soci-
rights movement, for example, succeeded ology from the 1920s (Della Porta and Diani
in pushing through important pieces of 2006). Scholars in the Chicago tradition,
legislation outlaWing racial segregation in including Robert E. Park, Ernest W. Burgess
schools and public places. The feminist and Herbert Blumer, saw social movements
movement scored important gains for as agents of social change, not merely as
women in terms of economic and political products of it. In this sense, they began to
equality. In recent years, environmental theorize social movements in more produc-
movements have campaigned in highly tiveways.
unconventional ways to promote sustain- Herbert Blumer (1969) was the foremost
able forms of development and change atti- social movement analyst in the Chicago
tudes towards the natural environment. tradition of symbolic interactionism. He
devised a theory of social unrest to
See chapter 5, 'The Environment', for a account for the unconventional protest
much wider discussion of environmental activities of social movements outside the
issues. sphere of form al parry politics and interest
1012 POLITICS, GOVERNMENT AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

representation. Essentially, Blumer saw Blumer also argued that social move-
social movements of all kinds as motivated ments have a 'life-cycle', many of which
by dissatisfaction with some aspects of involve four consecutive stages. First. there
current society, which they sought to rectify. is 'social ferment', when people are agitated
In doing so, they were trying to build a 'new about some issue but this is relatively unfo-
order of life'. Blumer argued: cused and disorganized. This develops into
a stage of'popular excitement' during which
Social movements can be viewed as
the sources of people's dissatisfaction are
collective enterprises to establish a new
order of life. They have their inception in a
more clearly defined and understood. In the
condition of unrest, and derive their motive third stage, formal organizations are
power on the one hand from dissatisfaction normally created which are able to bring
with the current form of Hfe, and on the about a higher level of coordination to the
other hand , from wishes and hopes for a emerging movement and a more effective
new scheme of living. The career ofa social campaigning structure is put in place.
movement depicts the emergence of a new Finally comes 'institutionalization', in which
order of life. In its beginning, a social
the movement, which was originally outside
movement is amorphous, poorly
organized. and without form; the collective
mainstream politics, comes to be accepted
behavior is on the primitive level. ... As a as part of the wider society and political life.
social movement develops. it takes on the Of course, some movements partly succeed,
character of a society. It acquires while others completely fail. Some endure
organization and form, a body of customs over quite long periods oftime, while others
and traditions, established leadership, an simply run out of finances or enthusiasm,
enduring division of Jabor. social rules and
thus ending their life-cycle. This idea of a
social values - in short, a culture. a social
organization. and a new scheme of life.
life-cycle has proved to be extremely
(1969: 8) productive and has been central to many
more recent studies, particularly in the USA,
Blumer's theory of social movements as which shows that Blumer's work continues
social unrest makes some i.mportant points. to have an influence in social movement
For example, he saw that movements can be studies (Goodwin and Jasper 2002).
'active' or outwardly directed, aiming to One problem with this interactionist
transform society, or they can be 'expressive' approach is that, although it treats move-
or inwardly directed, trying to change the ments as meaningful phenomena - which
people who become involved. An example of was a clear breakthrough at the time - its
the former would be the labour movement, studies tended not to explore the rational
which aimed to radically change capitalist decisions and strategies of movement
societies in egalitarian ways, while the latter activists. This aspect was left for later schol-
would include 'New Age' movements, which ars to pursue. Second, although the
encourage people to transform their inner approach produced some very detailed case
selves. In practice. most social movements studies of particular movements, critics
involve both active and expressive elements argued that these were largely descriptive
as movement activists and supporters accounts that did not really pay enough
undergo changes in their self-identity as a attention to explanations that were able to
result of campaigns to change society. Many connect social movement activity to
environmental campaigns. for example, are changes in the social structure (Della Porta
explicitly aimed at preventing environmen- and Diani 2006).
tal damage, but in the process they often
generate an increasing self-identification Resource mobilization
with the natural world, thereby transform- Traditions of social movement research in
ing people's perception of self. the USA and Europe have tended to be quite
 Politics, Government and Social Movements 1013

Classic Studies 22 .2 Neil Smelser on understanding social movem ents

The research problem opponents of the regime may have to find

Social movements have b ecome very common other, less open, ways to pursue change. The
and you yourself may well be part of one, if not situation is not structurally conducive to social
more than one. They often appear unannounced, movement activity. In recent years , social
taking sociologists by surprise. But they can also movement scholars have used the concept of
collapse in much the same way. Does this mean 'political opportunity structure' to describe
that their emergence is entirely random, the the ways in which political systems create or
product of chance and unpredictable deny opportunities for movements to develop
circumstances? How might they be linked to (Tarrow 1998) and this concept clearly owes
wider social changes? Can we develop a much to Smelser's earlier idea (Crossley
general theory of movement emergence and 2002).
development that would help us to understand 2 Structural strain. If the social structure is
the process better? Sociologist, Neil J Smelser, conducive to collective behaviour, then there
worked with Talcott Parsons and studied needs to be a strain between people's
collective behaviour from a structural expectations and social reality. When people
functionalist perspective, aiming for just such a expect or have been led to expect certain
theory of social movements. things from society and these expectations
are not met, frustrations arise and people look
Smelser's explanation for other ways to meet them. Robert Merton
Smelser (1962) devised a theory of structural made use of strain theory in his account of
strallJ to account for the emergence of social high levels of working-class acquisitive crime,
movements, though one thing that marks out his which, he argued, was the product of a
perspective is that it amounts to a 'value-added mismatch between the cultural goal of
model' of movement emergence. This idea is material success and the limited means to
taken from economic theory and suggests that achieve this legtitimately (see chapter 21 ,
social movements emerge through a process 'Crime and Deviance').
with identifiable stages, with each successive 3 Generalized beliefs. Smelser argues that if the
stage 'adding value' to the emerging movement. first two conditions are met, then it is
In the case of social movements, this model sees necessary for generalized beliefs about the
each stage making an addition to the probability causes of strain to develop and spread in
that collective behaviour or a social movement order to convince people of the need to join
will be created. In this sense, Smelser's or form a social movement. He sees such
argument is multi-causal, rejecting all notions of generalized beliefs as often quite primitive
a single cause of social movements. This was a and based on wish fulfilment. rather than
very important moment in the study of social rationally thought through.
movements. 4 PreClpi tating factors. These are essentially
Smelser argued that six 'value-added' events that act as sparks to ignite the flame of
elements are necessary for a social movement to protest action. A good example of this would
develop: be the removal ofRosa Parks from a racially
segregated bus in the USA in 1955, which
Structural conduciveness. All social triggered protests and became a key event in
movements take place within a wider social the black civil rights movement. Precipitating
context and this structural context has to be factors help to make social strains more
conducive to movement formation. For immecliately visible for potential supporters.
example, in authoritarian societies there may Without them, the process of movement
be very little scope for people to gather formation may be stalled for a long period.
together in large groups or to demonstrate 5 Mobiilzation for action. Having witnessed a
legally against things they oppose. Therefore, precipitating event, the next value-added
[014 POUTlCS, GOVERNMENT AND SOC IAL MOV E MENTS

The response of governments and authorities to social movement protests can be instrumental in
encouraging or discouraging further activism.

element is effective comrm.U1ication via the confrontation that attracted many onto the side
formation of an active social network whICh of the underdog. However, severe repressive
allows activists to perform some of the measures can sometimes bring emergent
functions necessary for successful protest and social networking to a halt if people perceive
organization-building; writing and distributing the risks of continuing to be too great.
pamphlets. organizing demonstrations, taking
membership fees and so on. All of this activity Critical points
requires a higher level of networking and Smelser's theory was subjected to critical
social networking. attacks. In focusing attention on generalized
6 Failure ofsocial control. The final causal factor beliefS, Smelser's model implied that individuals
in Smelser's model is the response of the are motivated to start social movements for
forces of social control. The response of irrational reasons, rooted in misleading ideas
authorities can be crucial in closing down an about their situation. This fell back into an older
emerg ent soCial movement or creating tradition that saw movements as unusual or
opportunities for it to develop. Sometimes an marginal phenomena. Social movement studies
over-reaction by authorities can encourage since Smelser have moved towards seeing
others to support the movement, especially in activists as rational actors who weigh the costs
our media-dommated age. For example, the and benefits of their actions (see Olson 1965)
widespread media reports of heavy-handed and social movements are seen as part and
treatment of Greenpeace activists aboard the parcel of social life rather than marginal to it.
Greenpeace lllin 1972, served to create the Smelser's theory was also structural functionalist
impression of a David and Goliath in orientation, setting social movements in the
 Politics, Government and Social Movements 1015

context of their adaptive function during periods resurgence. It still offers a multi-causal model of
of rapid social change. Movements reassure movement formation and even critics have
people that something is being done to deal with extracted elements from it - such as ideas within
their concerns. But the theory suffered indirectly resource mobilization theory, political
from attacks on Parsonian functionalism and, opportunity structures and frame analysis -
probably unfairly, was not built on until quite which have proved very productive (Crossley
recently 2002). Similarly, his model connects movement
activism to social structures and may provide
Contemporary significance insights into the rise of new social movements.
Smelser's work on social movements has Revisiting these stimulating ideas is long
deservedly received more attention in recent overdue.
years and is undergoing something of a

different. In the USA, social movements always present and movements therefore
have been studied using some form of cannot be explained by reference to it. What
rational choice theory, which assumes that turns this chronic discontent into effective
individuals make rational decisions, based mobilizations and social movements, they
on weighing up the choices facing them at argue, is the availability of the necessary
any particular time. In Europe, though, as resources to mount effective campaigns that
we will see later, the focus has tended to be challenge the established order. This point
much more on the cOImections between is nicely illustrated by Merl Storr:
social movements and social classes within
theories of broad social change. It has been The central insight ofresource
sugges ted that American approaches mobilization theory is actually very bas ic:
mainly (though by no means exclusively) social move ments need resources.
Suppose you and I are members of a social
focus on the question of how movements
movement. If we want to call a meeting,
b eco me organi ze d, while European we need to have somewhere to hold it. If
approaches focus on why social movements we wan t to publicize a protest action such
emerge when they do (Melucci 1989). as a demonstration, we need to be able to
One of the most influential American make leaflets. posters or fli ers and to
perspectives in social movement studies is reproduce large numbers of them, and to
resource mobilization theory (RMT) . RMT distribute them widely. If we want to book
developed in the late 1960s and 1970s, our meeting space or contact our printer.
we are probably going to need a telephone
partly as a reaction to social unrest theories, - and some money to pay for it all. As well
which appeared to portray social move- as these material resources, we are more
ments as 'irrational' phenomena. Against likel y to be successful if we can call on
this view, advocates of RMT argued that other, less tangible reso urces - an address
movement participants behaved in rational book full of useful contacts, practical
ways and movements themselves were know- how in poster design or web-s ite
purposeful, not chaotic (Oberschall 1973; construct ion, and even just the time and
energy to devote to our activis m.
Tilly 1978; Zald and McCarthy 1987). RMT
According to resource mobilization theory,
theorists argued that capitalist societies the more of these resources we can
produce chronic discontent amongst mobilize, the more likely we are to be
sections of the public, which renders social successful in our pursuit of social change.
unrest theories problematic. Social unrest is (2002: 182)
1016 POLITICS , GOVERNMENT AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

In RMT, political dissatisfaction is not were very enthusiastic and took part in
enough, in itself, to bring about social many direct actions such as strikes and sit-
change. Without resources, such dissatisfac- ins. But once they became more effectively
tion does not become an active force in organized, direct actions became fewer and
society. RMT does have something of an the 'dead hand of bureaucracy', as described
economistic feel, drawing similarities by Max Weber and Robert Michels, took over
between social movements and the compet- as the movements lost momentum and
itive market economy. That is, the theory impact. This is quite the reverse of what we
pictures social movements as operating would expect according to RMT and shows
within a competitive field of movements - a that, sometimes, a lack of resources can be
'social movement industry' (SMI) - within turned to a movement's advantage.
which they compete for scarce resources,
not least members and activists. Social See chapter 18, 'Organizations and
movement organizations (SMOs) therefore Networks', for discussions about Weber's
find themselves in competition with other and Michels's work on bureaucracy.
SMOs, some of which may appear to share
their aims. THINKING CRITICALLY
Although RMT has helped to fill the gap Choose a social movement from the
left by social unrest theories, by producing ones discussed so far in the chapter
very detailed studies of how movements and research its history, development
and movement organizations acquire and successes. Analyse this material
resources and mobilize their campaigns, using RMT, showing what the theory can
critics still see these as partial accounts. In tell us about how the movement
particular, RMT underplays the effects on became organized and why it
social movements of broad social changes succeeded or failed in its aims. What
such as the trend towards post-industrial- aspects of the movement, if any, does
ism or globalization processes. These may RMT not address?
change the context of movement struggles.
For example, the increasingly global politi-
cal context has meant that traditional UK New social movements
conservation organizations such as the Since the late 1960s there has been an
National Trust have come under pressure explosion of social movements in many
from the new international environmental countries around the globe. These new
organizations such as Greenpeace, whose movements include student movements in
ideology and campaigns seem to fit the the 1960s, civil rights and feminist move-
changing context more closely. ments of the 1960s and '70s, anti-nuclear
It may also be objected that RMThas little and ecological movements of the 1980s,
explanation for social movements that gay rights campaigns of the 1990s - and
achieve success with very limited access to many more. Collectively, this group of
resources. Piven and Cloward (1977) movements is often referred to by Euro-
analysed 'poor people's movements' in the pean scholars as new social movements
USA, such as unemployed workers in the (NSMs). This is because the late 1960s is
1930s, black civil rights in the 1950s and seen as ushering in a new type of social
welfare movements of the late 1960s and movement that diverges from previous
'70s. Surprisingly, they found that the main forms (Touraine 1971 , 1981). Sociological
successes of these movements were theories of NSMs try to address the ques-
achieved during their formative stage, tion of why this has happened when it did
before they became properly organized. and, in some ways, this approach comple-
This was because activists in the early stages ments the general focus of RMT on how
 Politics, Government and Social Movements 101
movements garner resources and make use way to a 'new', post-industrial form of
of them. politics.
However, 'new' in this context means
~e\\' organizational forms
more than just 'contemporary'. There are
four main ways in which NSMs are said to NSMs also appeared to be different in the
differ from 'old' movements, which we will way they organized. Many of them adopted
now outline. a loose organizational form that rejected the
formal organization that earlier social
:'\('\"\' i~Mlcs
movement theorists argued was necessary
NSMs have introduced some new issues into for success. NSMs looked much more like
political systems, many of which are rela- loose networks of people. In addition, they
tively unrelated to simple material self-inter- seemed to have no single centre or head-
ests. Instead, these issues are concerned with quarters, preferring a polycephalous, or
the 'quality of life', including the state of the 'many-headed', structure. This meant that
global environment, animal welfare and should one local group break the law and
animal rights, peaceful (non-nuclear) energy face prosecution, the rest of the network
production and the 'identity politics' associ- could carry on, but this structure also suited
ated with gay rights and disabled people's the emotional needs of activists, who
movements. tended to be younger and imbued with
For NSM theorists, these movements postmaterial values and identities.
reflect a very broad social transformation A1berto Melucci (1989) saw that this orga-
from an industrial to a post-industrial soci- nizational form itself carried a message,
ety. While industrial politics centred on namely the symbolic rejection of the aggres-
wealth creation and its distribution, post- sively masculine, bureaucratic power poli-
industrial politics centres on postmaterial tics of the industrial age, typified by some
issues. Ronald Inglehart (1977, 1990) trade unions and party politics. The first
conducted surveys of social values in more President of the Czech Republic, Vaclav
than 25 industrialized countries and found Havel (1988) described this as a form of anti-
that younger generations exhibited postma- hierarchical and 'anti-political politics',
terial values. That is, they took for granted a insofar as it opposed mainstream party
certain material standard of well-being and politics, but was itself a new type of cultural
were more likely to be concerned with the politics rooted in social movements. What
quality rather than the quantity of life. This marked out this new form of politics was a
'glacial', generational shift in values, Ingle- self-imposed limitation. NSMs did not seek
hart argued, could be explained by several to take over the state and use the levers of
factors. The post-1945 generation did not state power to change society; instead, they
experience the depression and hardship of looked to appeal directly to the public by
their parents' generation, nor did they have working at the cultural level. This strategy
personal experience of war. Rather, they has been described as a 'self-limiting radi-
became used to post-war peace and calism' that contrasts sharply with the state-
affluence, being raised in the context of a centred politics of socialism and the labour
'post-scarcity socialization', in which the movement (Papadakis 1988).
historic obstacle of food scarcity at least
appeared to have been solved for good. This !\;ew action repertoires
generation also had a different experience Like all other social movements, NSMs use a
of work as a growing service sector took over range of protest actions, from political
from the old industrial workplaces. These lobbying, to sit-ins and alternative festivals,
enormous social changes led to the demise but one thing that characterizes their 'action
of an 'old' politics, which was rapidly giving repertoire' is non-violent, symbolic direct
_018 POLITICS, GOVERNMENT AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

actions. Like the rejection of bureaucratic traditional conservatives and many more.
organization, the adoption of non-violence However, it seems that the working classes
is an attempt by NSMs to practise in the are not involved in significant numbers in
present the changes they would like to see NSM politics. Again, this marks a significant
within society in the future. In this way, non- change from the industrial period with its
violent protest allows NSMs to take a high working-cl ass-based movements.
moral stance in relation to the forces of the Some have argued that the postmaterial
state, such as the military and police. Many politics of the NSMs is not a self-interested
NSM actions aim to present aspects of soci- politics on behalf of middle-class interests,
ety to the public that were previously but seeks to improve the quality of life for
un see n and unknown. For example, everyone (Eckersley 1989).
campaigns against nuclear and toxic waste
dumping in the UK, the culling of seal pups
THINKING CRITICALLY
in Newfo undland , animal cruelty, the
destruction of woodlands for road-building What evidence is there in Peter Tatchell's
or the presence of disabling environments account (opposite) of his experiences
all showed people things of which they may with the UK Gay Liberation Front, which
suggests that this organization was part
not previously have been aware. Of course,
of a NSM? How did the GLP learn from
these issues are presented in ways that
and adapt some of the tactics and
support the campaigners. We always know
campaigning methods of other social
whose side we should be on: the plucky,
movements? Thinking back to Blurner's
defenceless underdog against the violence distinction between 'active' and
of big business and the state. expressive movements, how would you
NSMs tend to make extensive use of the characterize the gay and lesbian
mass media to generate support - filming movement?
their own protests, showing videos on the
Internet, organizing campaigns using text
messaging and ema il and creating a As should be clear from this characteriza-
perspective on politics that encourages tion, many observers argue that NSMs are a
ordinary people to become empowered to unique product of late modern society and
participate. Such efforts illustrate well the are profoundly different in their methods,
point made byMelucci (1985) that NSMs are motivations and orientations from forms of
forms of communication: 'messages' to collective action in earlier times. We can
society which present symbolic challenges view new social movements in terms of a
to the existing political system. 'paradox of democracy'. While faith in tradi-
tional politics seems to be waning, the
growth of NSMs is evidence that citizens in
Finally, many studies of NSM activists have late modern societies are not apathetic or
shown a predominance of the 'new' middle uninterested in politics, as is sometimes
class that works in the post-1945 welfare claimed. Rather, there is a belief that direct
state bureaucracies, creative and artistic action and participation is more useful
fields and education (includ ing many than reliance on politicians and political
students). This finding led some to describe systems. More than ever before, people are
NSM activism as a form of 'middle-class supporting social movements as a way of
radicalism' (Cotgrove and Duff 1980). Many highlighting complex moral issues and
of the large demon strations - against putting them at the centre of social life. In
nuclear weapons, or in favour of animal this respect, NSMs are helping to revitalize
welfare, and so on - attract a 'rainbow coali- democracy in many countries. They are at
tion' of retired people, students, first-time the heart of a strong civic culture or civil
protesters, feminists, anarchists, socialists, society - the sphere between the state and
 Politics, Government and Social Movements 1019

22.3 The birth of gay liberation

The formation of the Gay Liberation Front jobs, arrested for kissing in the street, denied
(GLF) in London in 1970 was the defining custody of their children, portrayed in films and
watershed moment in queer history For the plays as limp-wristed figures ofridicuJe, and only
first time ever. thousands of lesbians and gays ever appeared in the news as murderers, traitors
stopped hiding in the closet and suffering in and child molesters.
silence. We came out and marched in the Straights vilified, scapegoated and mvisibilised
streets, proclaiming that we were proud to be us - with impunity And very few gay people dared
gay and demanding nothing less than total question heterosexual supremacy
equality Indeed, prior to GLl' most gay rights
That had never happened before. Lots of campaigners masqueraded as straight, and
gay people in 1970 were ashamed of their pleaded for 'tolerance' rather than acceptance.
homosexuality and kept it hidden. They Some argued that we needed 'help', not
wished they were straight. Some went to criminalisation. They urged heterosexuals to show
quack doctors to get' cured' . Many accepted 'compassion' for those' aillicted' by the
the bigot's view that being 'queer' was second 'homosexual condition'.
rate. This apologetic. defensive mentality was shot to
Until the 1970s. the state branded gay sex as pieces by CLl' It transformed attitudes towards
'unnatural, indecent and criminal', the Church homosexuality - among both gay and straight
condemned homosexuality as 'iminoral and people.
sinful' and the medical profession classified us Inspired by the Black Power slogan 'Black is
as 'sick' and in need of 'treatment'. Beautiful', GLF came up with a little slogan of its own,
Queers were routinely sacked from their which also had a huge impact: 'Gay Is Good!'. Back

GLF
[020 POLITICS, GOVERNMENT AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

then, it was absolutely outrageous to suggest there A 12 foot papier-mache cucumber was delivered
was anything good about being gay. to the offices of Pan Books in protest at the
Even liberal-minded heterosexuals mostly publication of Dr David Reuben's homophobic sex
supported us out of 'sympathy' and 'pity'. Many manual, Everything You Always Wanted To Know
reacted with revulsion and horror when GLF About Sex, which implied that gay men were
proclaimed: '3-4-6-8 1 Gay is just as good as obsessed with shoving vegetables up their arses.
straight: Those words - which were so empowering Christian morality campaigner Mary Whitehouse
to queers everywhere - frightened the life out of had her Festival of Light rally in Central Hall
smug, arrogant straight people who had always Westminster invaded by a posse of gay nuns, who
assumed they were superior, proceeded to kiss each other when one of the
This challenge to heterosexual supremacism speakers, Malcolin Muggeridge, disparaged
kick-started a still ongoing revolution in cultural homosexuals, saying 'I just don't like them' (the
values. GLF overturned the conventional wisdom feeling was mutual) .
on matters of sex and human rights. Its joyous On the night of the Miss World contest at the
celebration of gayness contradicted the straight Royal Albert Hall, GIFs legendary street theatre
morality that had ruled the world for centuries. group staged an alternative pageant on the
The COlllll1on-sense, unquestioned assumption pavement outside, starring 'Miss Used', 'Miss
had always been that queers were bad, mad and Conceived' and Miss Represented' , plus a starving
sad. 'Miss Bangladesh' and a bloody bandaged 'Miss
All that prejudiced nonsense was turned upside Ulster' .
down in 1970. While politicians, doctors, priests and There were also more serious acts of civil
journalists saw homosexuality as a social problem disobedience to confront the perpetrators of
GLF said the real problem was society's discrimination. We organised freedom rides and
homophobia. instead of us having to justify our sit-ins at pubs that refused to serve 'poofs' and
existence, we forced the gay-haters to justify their 'dykes' . A lecture by the psychiatrist, Professor
bigotry. Hans Eysenck, was disrupted after he advocated
Like many others of my generation, GLF electric-shock aversion therapy to 'cure'
changed me for the better - and forever. When I homosexuality.
heard about the formation of the Gay Liberation As well as its feisty protests, GLF pioneered
Front, I could not wait to get involved. many of the gay community institutions that we now
Within five days of my arrival in London from take for granted. It set up the first help-line run by
Australia, I was at my first GLF meeting. A month and for gay people (which later became Gay
later I was helping organise many of its witty. Switchboard); the first pro-gay psychiatric
irreverent, defiant protests. Being part of GLF was a counselling service (Icebreakers), and the first gay
profound personal liberation - arguably the most newspaper (Gay News). These and many other
exciting, influential period of my life. trail-blazing institutions helped shape the gay
GLF's unique style of 'protest as performance' cOlllll1unity as we know it today. making a huge
was not only incredibly effective, but also a lot of positive difference to the lives of lesbians and gay
fun. We had a fabulous collection of zany props and men.
costwnes, including a whole wardrobe of police Thirty years on, we've come a long way babyl As
uniforms and bishop's cassocks and mitres. we look back at the giant strides for freedom that
Imaginative, daring, humorous, stylish and lesbian and gay people have made since 1970, let
provocative, our demonstrations were both us also remeruber with pride that GLF was where it
educative and entertaining. We mocked and all started.
ridiculed homophobes with wicked satire, which
made even the most hard-faced straight people Source: Peter Tatchell, QX Mardi Gras Day Guide,
realise the stupidity of bigotry. I July 2000; www.petertatchell.neti
 Politics, Government and Social Movements 1021
the marketplace occupied by family, now operate in a very different set of histor-
community associations and other non- ical circumstances from those of earlier
economic institutions (Habermas 1981). movements. In particular. processes of
However, NSM theory has come in for globalization mean that systematic and
some sharp criticism. All the supposedly much more immediate connections across
'new' features identified above have been national boundaries become possible and,
found in 'old' social movements. For exam- with this, the possibility of genuinely global
ple, postmaterial values were evident in social movements.
some small-scale communes in the nine- The rise of NSMs also reflects some of the
teenth century (D'Anieri et al. 1990). A focus changing risks now facing human societies.
on identity creation was also a crucial, The conditions are ripe for social move-
perhaps defining, aspect of all nationalist ments, as increasingly traditional political
movements and early women's movements. institutions find it harder to cope with the
Such historical evidence led Craig Calhoun challenges before them. They find it impos-
(1993) to describe these old movements, sible to respond creatively to the negative
ironically, as 'new social movements of the risks facing the natural environment from
early nineteenth century'. nuclear energy, the burning of fossil fuels or
Others saw NSM theorists as too quick to experimentation in bio- or nanotechnology.
draw radical conclusions from little empiri- These new problems and challenges are
cal evidence. Over time, some NSMs have ones that existing democratic political insti-
developed formal organizations and these tutions cannot hope to fix, and as a result
have become more bureaucratic than the they are frequently ignored or avoided until
theory allows for. Greenpeace is the most it is too late and a full-blown crisis is at
notable example. Originally a loose network hand.
of like-minded individuals involved in The cumulative effect of these new chal-
numerous direct actions, over time Green- lenges and risks may be a growing sense that
peace has become a very large business-like people are 'losing control' of their lives in
organization with a mass membership and the midst of rapid change. Individuals feel
huge financial resources. Indeed, it seems to less secure and more isolated - a combina-
conform much more to the long-term tion that leads to a sense of powerlessness.
process of change identified by Blumer and By contrast, corporations, governments and
RM theorists which Claus Offe called, 'the tlle media appear to be dominating more
institutional self-transformation' of the and more aspects of people's lives, height-
NSMs. Finally, even some of the apparently ening the sensation of a runaway world
'new' issues have been seen as rather older. (Giddens 2002). There is a growing sense
Environmental politics, for instance, can be that, left to its own logic, globalization will
traced back to the European and North present ever greater risks to citizens' lives.
Alnerican nature defence organizations of In our current information age, social
the mid-nineteenth century and is perhaps movements around the globe are able to join
best understood as an enduring social together in huge regional and international
movement which has passed through vari- networks comprising non-governmental
ous stages of growth and decay (Lowe and organizations, religious and humanitarian
Goyder 1983; Paehlke 1989). groups, human rights associations,
consumer protection advocates, environ-
Globalization and the 'social mental activists and others who campaign
movement society' in the public interest. These electronic
networks now have the unprecedented abil-
Despite the critical barrage aimed at NSM ity to respond immediately to events as
theory, it is apparent that social movements they occur, to access and share sources of
1022 POLITICS, GOVER NMENT AN D SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

information, and to put pressure on (Sutton and Vertigans 2006). There is no

corporations, governments and interna - certainty that an emerging movement soci-
tional bodies as part of their campaigning ety will see the widespread adoption of the
strategies. The enormous protests against non-violence that characterized the wave of
the war in Iraq in cities around the world in NSMs in the 1960s and '70s in the industri-
February 2003, for example, were organized alized world. Indeed, the more ready access
in large part through In ternet - based to weapons and the information needed to
networks, as were the protests outside the build them holds out the more terrifying
meeting of world leaders in Genoa in 2001, prospect of a more violent social movement
and the protests that took place in Seattle in society.
1999 against the World Trade Organization.
See chapter 23, 'Nations, War and
Similarly, the emergence of the World Terrorism', for a wider discussion of
Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil in 2001 violence in human affairs.
was one element of an 'even newer social
movement' (Crossley 2003) that aims to
provide a global space for debates on what THINIUNG CRITICALLY
progressive politics really means and can [n 'Global Society 22.2', the World
offer in the twenty-first century (see 'Global Social Forums (WSFs) are said to have
Society 22.2'). been more successful in protesting and
The Internet has been at the forefront of networking than proposing solutions.
these changes, although mobile phones, fax Why should this be the case? What
machines and satellite broadcasting have obstacles do such global forums face
also hastened their evolution. With the press when trying to bring new voices into
of a button, local stories are disseminated democratic debates? What evidence is
internationally. Grass -roots activists from there that WSFs may be early
Japan to Bolivia can meet online to share harbingers of a more global form of
informational resources, exchange experi- democracy beyond national state
ences and coordinate joint action. systems?
While rejecting some of the claims to
novelty of the NSMs, Sidney Tarrow argues:
'What is new is that they have greater discre- The last dimension discussed above -
tionary resources, enjoy easier access to the the ability to coordinate international
media, have cheaper and faster geographic political campaigns - is the one that is the
mobility and cultural interaction, and can most worrying for governments and the
call upon the collaboration of different most inspiring to participants in social
types of movement -linked organizations for movements. In the last two decades, the
rapidly organized issue campaigns' (1998: number of 'international social move-
207- 8) . Acknowledging these changes raises ments' has grown steadily with the spread
the possibility that we may be moving of the Internet. From global protests in
towards a 'social movement society' (Meyer favour of cancelling Third World debt to the
and Tarrow 1997) in which the nationally international campaign to ban landmines
bounded social movements of the past give (which culminated in a Nobel Peace Prize),
way to movements without borders. The the Internet has proved its ability to unite
World Social Forums with their democratic campaigners across national and cultural
principles (see 'Global Society 22.2') give us borders. Some observers argue that the
one example of such a prospect, though it is information age is witnessing a 'migration'
important to recognize that the global of power away from nation-states into new
networks of al-Qaeda - a social movement non -governmental alliances and coali-
terrorist organization - give us another tions.
 Politics, Government and Social Movements 1023

Global Society 22.2 The three faces of the World Social Forum

The World Social Forum (liVSF) is about three Networking Africa

things, a young Frenchman told me. We were In its second role, as an event for networking, I was
coming back from Kenya together. He had been to impressed. In his account of his disappointment
most of them since they first began in Porto AJegre with what he felt was a lack of politics, Firoze Manji
111 Brazil in January 200 I . They are, he said, about in Pambazuka News considers whether Nairobi's
protesting, networking and proposing. WSF was 'just another NGO fair'. But where else
can the far-flung universe of all those who are
Protesting power working for a better world come together? In
When they began, before 9111, the protest was advance, the organisers boasted that 150,000
against the World Economic Forum (llVEF) at would attend. When it opened, they claimed
Davos, which appeared to celebrate the end of 50,000. I doubt if more than 20 ,000 participated,
government and the triumph of market-driven, including Kenyans (but not including the water-
'neoliberal' capitalism and its rampant inequality: It vendors).
was in the wake of the battle of Seattle in November But still, to get 20,000 people from around the
1999 that disrupted the world trade talks. The world to equatonal Africa is an achievement. A
creation of the WSF as anti-Davos ensured that the wonderful, friendly variety of views, arguments,
new century began with a multinational stand in the dress, interests, beliefs and backgrounds came
name of the peoples of the world against the together in many conversations - such as Susan
presumptions of the world economic order. Richards and Solana Larsen described in their
S1I1ce 2001 , until this year [2007] , the WSFs have openDemocracy reports and blogs from previous
grown and, undoubtedly, shifted the agenda, WSFs.
making sure that the big battalions have not had it Below the radar of the public platforms, from the
all their own way It has been a remarkable Habitat International Coalition to the network on
achievement. In 2004 the WSF was held in Murnbai water resources, and women's rights to human
with an enormous mobilisation of Indian rights, new connections were being made and a
organisations. In 2005 it returned to Porto AJegre. younger generation was assessing the
In 2006 it went regional or 'polycentric': to Caracas intercontinental scene. Patricia Daniel in her blog
111 Venezuela, Karachi in Pakistan and Bamako in described this energy and intensity among the
Mali. One reason for this was that the decision had women's networks that were a large part of the
been taken to hold the next full world forum in forum.
Kenya, giv1l1g the organisers plenty of time to
prepare against the backdrop of poor Thinking beyond
mfrastructure. This brings us to the third role of the WSF After the
Thus, this year, global civil society and Africa protests and the networking, what does it propose?
were plarmed to come together for the seventh Thomas Ponniah (who gave an interview to
World Social Forum in Nairobi (20-25 January openDemocracy on the nature of the WSF in
2007) , close to the great rift valley from which the February 2003) put this question to a small session
human species first emerged in triumph on its own on the future of politics: 'For seven years we have
two legs. The hope was that in 2007 the social built a global consciousness. The question is, what
movements of the world would inspire African civil next?'
society to stand up and show its strength, wisdom The last meeting I attended was a gathering of
and the music of its needs. all the social movements, organised by Christophe
For, unlike the mere protest mobilisations such Aguiton of Attac. Trevor Ngwane of the South
as Seattle in 1999 (or the one being plarmed for the African anti-pnvatisation forum led the
G8 meeting in June 2007 in Germany's remote proceedings. About a thousand people initially
Baltic resort of Heiligendamm) , WSFs are designed thronged the spacious double tent. Being of the
as a form of positive protest, exemplary sites of greying dreadlocks generation, I enjoyed chanting
solidarity with the struggles of the poor, to give 'Down with Bush' (but drew the line at 'Viva
voice to the 'have-nots'. Chavez '). There was much conderrmation of the
l024 POLITICS, GOVERNMENT AND SOC IAL MOVEMENTS

commercialisation of the forum , about which a As a result, tlus year Davos won. Since that first
Brazilian speaker said: '[It] is not enough that our WSF in 2001 China has doubled its wealth and
cause be pure and just, purity and justice must also output; India, and Thrkey, have grown theirs by
be within us'. more than half. Then, Google had only recently got
But an answer to Ponniah's question came there its initial funding. Today, the argument on climate
none. In the different specialist areas there was change is over. For all the glitz and its versions of
strategic thinking. In smaller sessions there hot air, these huge changes are being seriously
were arguments for engagement. Emira Woods mapped and assessed at Davos. In Nairobi they
of the Institute for Policy Studies in Waslungton, were addressed only peripherally, if at all.
DC insisted that 'grassroots campaigns, national Larry Elliott, the economics editor of the
campaigns and global campaigns can influence Guardian, sensed at Davos 'more than a lunt of a
government' . In a dedicated session on return to the future: a scramble for Africa, a
implementing United Nations resolution 1325 to sidelining of civil society; and geopolitical concerns
enhance the role of women (which I blogged), trumping human rights' . If so, there needs to be a
Cora Weiss called for 'participation, critical World Social Forum that continues to set out its
thinking and a holistic approach that engages with different claim on the global future in a way the
the issues'. world notices. Its international committee should
There was participation in Nairobi The be very concerned that this is slipping away
holistic approach was often just knee-jerk,
'oppose all forms of exploitation' . At that overall, Source: Anthony Barnett, 30 January 2007;
movement level, there was little if any strategic www.opendemocracynetlglobalization-
thinking. protestlwsUaces_ 4297 .jsp

Policy advisers in think-tanks such as the Are such fears misp laced? Th ere are
RAND Corporation (in the United States) reasons to think that social movements
have spoken of 'netwars' - large-scale inter- have indeed been radically transformed in
national conflicts in which it is information recent years. In The Power ofIdentity (1997),
and public opinion that are the stakes in the Manuel Castells examined the cases of three
contest, rather than resources or te rritory. social movements which, while completely
Participants in netwars use the media and dissimilar in their concerns and objectives,
online resources to shape what certain all attracted international attention to their
populations know about the social world, cause through the effective use of informa-
These on line movements are often aimed at tion technology. The Mexican Za patista
spreading information about corporations, rebels, the American 'militia' moveme nt and
government policies or the effects of inter- the Japanese Aum Shinrikyo cult have all
national agreements to audiences who may used media skills in order to spread their
otherwise be unaware of them, For many message of opposition to the effects of glob-
governments - even democratic ones - alization and to express their anger at lOSing
netwars are a fri ghtening and elusive threat. control over their own destinies.
As a US Army report has warned: 'A new According to Castells, each of th ese move-
generation of revolutionaries, radicals and ments relies on informa tion technologies as
activists are beginning to create informa- its organizational infrastructure. Without
tion age ideologies in which identities and the Internet, for example, the Zapatis ta
loyalties may shift from the nation state to rebels would have remained an isolated
the transnationallevel of global civic soci- guerrilla movement in southern Mexico.
ety' (quoted in the Guardian, 19 January Instead, within hours of their armed upris-
2000). ing in January 1994, local, national and
 Politics, Government and Social Movements 1025
international support groups had emerged participants. On the other hand, social
online to promote the cause of the rebels movements are thriving, bringing new
and to condemn the Mexican government's issues and campaigning methods into the
brutal repression of the rebellion. The mainstream. The conventional left- right
Zapatistas used telecommunications, political division now looks much less clear-
videos and media interviews to voice their cut. Is opposing road-building on environ-
objections to trade pol icies, such as the mental grounds a right-wing or left-wing
North American Free Trade Agreement position? Are those who propose th at
(NAFTA), which further exclude impover- an im als h ave rights that should be
ished Indians of the Oaxaca and Chiapas protected on the political left or right? Such
areas from the benefits of globalization. issues seem to cut across the old political
Because their cause was thrust to the fore - distinctions, but, particularly in the case of
front of the online ne tworks of social environmentalism, they are becoming m ore
campaigners, the Zapatistas were able to relevant to younger generations than the
force negotiations with the Mexican govern- older materialist politics rooted in the work-
m ent and to draw international attention to place.
the harmful effects of free trade on indige- For political sociologists, understanding
nous populations. political systems now means getting to grips
with social movements, which increasingly
organize internationally, can mount large
Conclusion protests anywhere in the world and link the
central issues of the industrialized nations
Political life has clearly been undergoing w ith those that exercise activism in develop-
some major changes in recent decades. ing countries. In this century, sociologists
Democracy has become much more wide- may have to work across discipli nary
spread aro und the world, but in many of the boundaries and specialist subjects if they
estab lished representative democracies are to better understand where the 'new'
voters seem to be less than enthusiastic politics is taking us.

Summary points 3 . Power, according to Max Weber, is the

capacity to achieve one's aims even against
1. The term 'government' refers to a political the resistance of others, and often involves the
apparatus in which officials enact policies and use of force. Steven Lukes devised a three-
make decisions. 'Politics' is the means by dimensional view of power which sees power
which power is used and contested to affect as re siding in non-decisions and agenda-
the scope and conte nt of government setting as well as meeting self-intere sts
activitie s. against others. A government is said to have
2. A state exists where there is a political authority when its use of power is legitimate;
apparatus, ruling ove r a given territory, whose legitimacy derives from the consent of those
authority is backed by a legal system and by being governed. The most common form of
the ability to use force to implement its legitimate gove rnment is democratic, but
policies. Modern states are nation-state s , other legitimate forms are also possible.
characterized by the idea of citize nship, a 4. In authoritarian states, popular participation
recognition that people have common rights is denied or severely curtailed. The needs
and duties and belong to a broader, unifying and interests of the state are prioritized over
political community. those of average citizens and there are no