Navigating Politics and Social Movements
POLITICS
The processes by which individuals and groups act to promote their interests
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
Organized groups of people with an agenda or plan for social change, to be achieved through agitation and political pressure
IDEOLOGY
A system of ideas and ideals forming the basis of a social, political, or economic policy or protest
Dominant Ideology
Supports the status quo and the interests of the ruling class
Counter-Ideology
An ideology that supports alternative social values and challenges the dominant ideology
Reformist ideologies
Call for minor changes to the degree of inequality, but do not challenge the basic ground rules that underlie that inequality
Radical ideologies
Call for radical change (change from the roots up)
Tied to Hegemony
The power of a group or class to translate its worldview (ideology) into dominance (Gramsci)
Political Sociology
Deals with relations between political and social institutions
Political Science
Deals with the machinery of government and public administration
Power
The capacity to compel people to act in certain ways, obtained and wielded through the political process
Political Power
Control over the legitimate use of violence (e.g. control over the state, police, or military)
Economic Power
Control over material production and/or resources (capital, technology, labour, materials, money, etc.)
Ideological Power
Ability to spread symbols and ideologies through social institutions (schools, churches, the media, etc.)
State
Set of institutions with the authority to make the rules that govern a society
Types of Modern States
Authoritarian
Forbid public opposition and use force to ensure compliance with written laws
Totalitarian
More extreme, and often more stable, versions of authoritarian states that intervene in both public and private life, controlling the activities of citizens
Liberal-Democratic
Governed by their citizens through free elections that reflect majority interests
Civil Liberties
Freedoms that protect the individual against government, including freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of movement, and freedom of the press
Civil Rights
Rights all people deserve under all circumstances, without regard to race, ethnicity, age, sex, or other personal qualities
Civil Society
Linked to peaceful protest— offers a way of organizing peacefully and nearly invisibly to direct the way society is changing
Political Violence
Representatives of one political or national group inflict violence to perpetuate or change the relative political status of another political or national group
Authority
Power that is considered legitimate by the people who are subject to it
Types of Authority (Weber)
Traditional
The power-holder is supported by ancient traditions and can expect obedience as long as he/she upholds these traditions
Charismatic
Based on the power-holder’s exceptional qualities, especially the force of his/her personality
Rational-Legal
Based on formally established rules and procedures (the most common form of power found in modern societies today)
Types of social movements
Riots
Collective protests against authority that are undirected, emotional, and violent, with outcomes that are unplanned and unpredictable
Revolutions
Overthrow of the prevailing elite by a new elite who fundamentally change the social structure and structure of authority
Rebellions
Armed opposition by a portion of citizenry to an established government / authority
Populist
Movements
Aimed at moving power back to individual voters, rather than their representatives, elites, or backroom brokers
Social movements arise when people gain access to at least one of these resources
Social movements succeed when protesters gain access to more of these resources than the forces opposing them
NAMES WORTH KNOWING
Gustave Le Bon (1841–1931) argued that crowds are sets of people with a single, fixed thought, driven by unconscious motives, and are as easily driven to criminal acts as to heroic acts.
Barrington Moore (1913–2005) proposed that class power determines the kind of role played by the state in modernization, linking upper-class domination to fascism, middle-class domination to liberal democracy, and peasant domination to communism.
Seymour Martin Lipset (1922–2006) compared American society to other developed nations, observing that American authority is grounded in revolution, while Canadian authority is grounded in tradition.
Charles Tilly (1929–2008) showed how social protest is inevitably linked to the politics, society, and economics of its time and place.
Sylvia Bashevkin proposes that the underrepresentation of women in Canadian politics is not a result of women’s reluctance to become politically involved but rather that voters are uncomfortable with the idea of putting women in positions of political power.
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