Elections,Repertoires of Contention and Habitus in Four Civil Society Engagements in Malaysia's 2008 General Elections |
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Authors: | Julian C H Lee Wong Chin Huat Melissa Wong Yeoh Seng Guan |
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Institution: | 1. School of Arts and Social Sciences, Monash University , Malaysia julian.lee@sass.monash.edu.my;3. School of Arts and Social Sciences, Monash University , Malaysia |
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Abstract: | The general elections in Malaysia in 2008 saw the ruling coalition, which has ruled Malaysia uninterrupted since independence in 1957, lose control of a number of states and become significantly weakened at the federal level. Amongst the reasons often cited for this was significant and diverse civil society participation in these elections which was often critical of the incumbent government. This article examines four different engagements in the 2008 elections by civil society actors. Through this examination, it is demonstrated that distinctions between types of collective action, from social movements to political parties, are especially likely to be blurred in the context of repressive states such as Malaysia. This examination in turn sees Charles Tilly's concept of repertoires of contention defended against both Nick Crossley's criticisms of it and his preference of Pierre Bourdieu's concept of habitus. |
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Keywords: | Malaysia elections habitus repertoires of contention civil society |
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