从“策略”到“伦理”:对“依法抗争”的批评性讨论

受“依法抗争”概念的影响,当前的农民抗争研究过于强调抗争过程中的策略,忽略了抗争中伦理的重要性。笔者在概括“依法抗争”洞察力基础上,指出了其局限性,并试图引入伦理视角以弥补这一缺陷。本文继而评述了伦理视角的研究进展,在田野研究的基础上,探讨了伦理视角在研究农民抗争中的独到解释力。     

当代中国底层社会“以身抗争”的效度和限度分析:一个“艾滋村民”抗争维权的启示

通过对鄂豫两省艾滋疫情高发区“艾滋村民”抗争的考察,笔者提出了当代中国底层社会抗争的两种社会学逻辑：求助于外的“合法抗争”和求助于内的“以身抗争”,一起形成了当代中国底层社会抗争的具有解释力、却又不同逻辑的社会学分析框架。本文考察了“以身抗争”模式的形成机理和运转规则,发现中国底层农民抗争的“非政治性”、“弱组织性”和“具体利益性”取向,“有组织”的政治抗争乃至革命性转化是不太可能的。     

自我组织与遵纪守法：工人依法维权的集体行动策略——以上海SNS企业工人抗争为例

在中国的制度环境下,对于底层工人来说,争取合法权益的同时还要计算在这个过程中的经济成本与政治风险,因此“安全”、“有效”而又“可持续存在”的抗争方式是工人在采取行动时不得不考虑的问题。本文以上海某制造企业工人两次依法维权的行动为例,提出在这种逻辑下工人抗争所采取的“自我组织”与“遵纪守法”的策略,既为抗争提供了组织保障,又提供了行动的合法性。最后,文章将这种抗争策略放在中国宏观社会变迁的背景下进行了讨论。     

群体性事件中的原始抵抗——以浙东海村环境抗争事件为例

在农民维权事件愈加复杂的背景下,抵抗的组织性、政治性研究也随之深化。在现实层面上,此种取向有其必要性。然而,抗争是一个过程,在复杂的抗争之前,往往存在着原始的、简单的、农民自发产生的抗争方式。这些抗争手段是过往经验在农民记忆中的映射,出于自卫的本能,如自发形成的打砸、拦路、跪拜等等。作为行动上的表达,村民们通过最直接的方式保护自己,尽管杂乱但也显现了一定的效用,如若处理不当,则会形成极端抗争事件;作为心理上的表达,村民以过往经验躲避灾祸,重构他们对行为的认知和意义。原始抗争方式的实施包涵了抵抗、延续和反思。     

抗争、民主与治理:全球治理下的抗争政治研究

随着20世纪60年代西方社会运动的兴起,西方国家的国内政治由此发展出有别于常规制度、正式政治的独特政治形态——抗争政治。诸多的理论认为,这一政治形态对其国内政治的民主和治理都具有积极的促进作用。本文通过对抗争政治历程的研究,指出:一方面,全球化及反全球化运动、全球风险社会都使得全球政治和治理发生大转型,由此引发全球社会运动,抗争从国内走向国际;而另一方面,抗争功能也具有局限性。同时认为,国内和国际层面上的抗争政治,关注全球抗争与民主、治理的关系,呈现出与常规政治不同的性质、特点和功能,具有重大的理论和实践价值。     

从在线到离线：基于互联网的集体行动的形成及其影响因素——以反建X餐厨垃圾站运动为例

本文以反对垃圾站选址的社区集体抗争为例,采用虚拟民族志方法,展现了业主利用互联网进行抗争的行动图景,揭示了基于互联网的集体行动从线上走向线下的过程和影响因素。研究发现,对于浅层行动,在线动员能够实现广泛的离线参与;对于深层行动,在政治弱控制、参与热情高涨的运动初期,在线动员效果较好,但在政治控制介入、行动力弱化的运动维持阶段,则需要通过离线的二次动员或现实网络及组织的生成来保证行动参与并支撑运动的持续性。文章指出,互联网的动员潜力、行动特性及运动历程综合影响着从在线到离线的转换,而控制因素产生的政治风险塑造着网络动员的方式和策略,型构着网民群体的行动逻辑,并最终呈现为对在线动员效果的约制。     

脆弱的团结:对台兴工厂连锁骚乱事件的分析

全球化正在改变中国的产业结构和劳资关系，在华南地区兴起的大量代工企业中，数以千万计的外来打工者面临外来资本和本地政府的双重压迫，他们基于生存而进行的抗争是一种脆弱的抗争。本文从微观机理上剖析了抗争发生的原因及骚乱升级的机会结构，指出了抗争走向失败或沉寂的社会根源，并以此回应海内外其他学者的观察。     

循环式国家：转型中国的符号式劳动治理机制探析

抗争政治与国家建设之间的关系是社会运动研究中的一个经典问题。本文通过对一组国有企业退休工人为维护退休金权益所展开的十年抗争进行过程事件分析,来勾勒国家在劳动治理过程中逐步形成的官僚场域。这个官僚场域由三个相互交叉的圈子所构成：信访办圈子、信访办与法院之间的圈子、中央与地方之间的圈子。这些交叉的圈子所构成的国家场域一方面通过对抗争的制度化循环而拉长了工人的斗争时间,分散了抗争的空间,从而有效遏止了抗争的激进化,另一方面则通过抗争工人与国家代理人之间的叙事化互动促进了国家资本的激活与流通,从而实现了对抗争者的象征性支配。     

消散式遏制：中国劳工政治的比较个案研究

中国激烈的劳工抗争为何未能得到持续的扩展而被国家逐步平息,笔者试图通过对正式国有工人和长期临时工人的比较研究来回答此问题。本文聚焦这两组工人具体的斗争过程和机制,考察他们如何通过在街头抗议、集体上访和法律仲裁等不同斗争路线之间的穿梭,从而实现与国家代理人的互动。研究发现,这两类工人在斗争过程中获得了不同的象征性满足而不是物质上的让步;他们的满足方式的差异是国家代理人依据两类工人各自不同的历史轨迹和社会身份所做出的有差别的策略性回应与引导的结果。与强调工人内部分化导致集体无行动的“工人分化论”不同,本文所谓的“消散式遏制”强调分化的工人同地方国家代理人之间的互动,正是在这个过程中,工人们未能实现抗争可能带来的阶级认同,而是丧失了最初的激进动力和挑战性,逐步屈从于国家的和平驯化过程 。     

互联网与抗争行动：理论模型、中国经验及研究进展

互联网的出现对抗争行动产生了显著的影响,关于互联网与抗争行动的研究也逐年增多。由于这些研究分散于不同学科,不同研究之间缺乏相对统一的理论框架,从而妨碍了研究的进一步发展。笔者对相关的文献进行回顾与梳理,归纳了互联网影响抗争行动的三种不同的理论模型。此外,本文还回顾了在中国情景下的研究成果,包括互联网与抗争行动、市民社会发育等议题。在此基础上,作者最后对今后可能的研究方向进行了简要的讨论。     

从制度性底层到结构性底层——由威尔逊《真正的穷人》思考中国底层群体管理问题

美国在急剧的社会转型过程中,形成了以往的社会分层概念体系所不能准确把握的一类群体,即底层群体,他们的本质特征在于与主流社会的就业体系和行为规范体系相断裂。威尔逊敏锐地把握住了这一特征,将聚居区底层群体的形成归因为经济社会体系的结构性转型,颠覆了制度性底层的传统观点,并提出通过形成政治联盟,制定普遍性政策,运用隐秘议程的政治策略建构对底层群体有效的管理机制。本文在借鉴威尔逊理论分析的基础上,结合孙立平的“断裂”论,探析中国底层管理问题。     

Disobedience and support for democracy: Evidences from the World Values Survey

For some time, social movement research and political science have studied protests and activists. However, little empirical research attempts to relate movements to the type of social change they endeavour to achieve. In this paper, we suggest that different psychosocial processes may distinguish between different types of movement and protest. In particular, we cross lines between classical social psychology studies on the individual–authority relationship and studies on protest and social movements. We focus attention on the psychological processes triggered in obedience/disobedience. Our results show that when disobedience is associated with attitudes of inclusiveness, it is also positively linked to prodemocratic individual attitudes and to the enhancement of democracy at institutional levels.     

Camping,climbing trees and marching to Parliament: spatial dimensions of environmental protest in New Zealand

Environmental movements are key actors in challenging social and political constructions of the physical environment. A wide variety of protest campaigns have been undertaken in New Zealand, from local issues of pollution and road building through to national opposition to native forest logging and genetic engineering (GE). The aim of this paper is to examine the scales at which environmental protest in New Zealand have taken place and the impact upon the actions and durability of environmental campaigns. Through an analysis of a catalogue of protest events over the period 1997–2013, this paper describes patterns of actions, before examining the campaigns against GE field trials and mineral extraction in more detail. The findings point to the importance of cross-scale operations in enabling campaigns to capitalise on and respond to changes in the external environment including governance structures, resources and countermovement actors.     

How does newspaper coverage of collective action vary?: Protest by Indigenous people in Canada

Newspapers are a widely used source of data about collective action and social movements. In this study, we build upon a growing body of literature that critically assesses the coverage that newspapers provide of protest. We consider coverage in relation to a set of protest events that have yet to be considered in the literature (protest by Indigenous people in Canada); we consider multiple years (1985 and 1995); and finally, we measure coverage differently than has been done in previous studies (multiple articles and type of coverage as opposed to yes/no assessments). Using data on forty-three protest events, covered in seven Canadian newspapers, we find that while some events are covered by a similar number of newspapers, the volume of articles and type of coverage can be very different. We also find that for most newspapers, coverage rates improved over time. Scholars must be careful to assess whether increases in protest are real or merely reflect increases in coverage.     

Spinning the Rural Agenda: The Countryside Alliance, Fox Hunting and Social Policy

This paper investigates the ways in which the UK hunting lobby has historically sought to widen its appeal by wrapping the hunting debate up in broader countryside issues in an attempt to present it as an integral part of rural life. It is based upon a detailed analysis of the re‐branding of the hunting lobby and the subsequent framing of the Countryside Alliance's Liberty and Livelihood March in the British newspaper press in September 2002. This illustrates how the hunting lobby has fed upon and promoted the perception of a growing urban–rural divide in the UK. The analysis suggests that there is a long history of symbiotic relationships between campaigning organizations promoting a ‘countryside agenda’ and the politically partisan UK press. Gaining extensive newspaper access, however, does not guarantee that a protest group is successful in its aims. This case study suggests that it is important to consider the less visible processes of news production within their historical context, and in relation to the broader policy‐making arena, to adequately assess whether there has been a fundamental shift in the relationship between protest movements and the press in recent years.     

Neoliberalism and Austerity in Spain,Portugal and South Africa: The Revolution of Older Persons

ABSTRACT

In Portugal, Spain, and South Africa, there has been a noted anti-neoliberal resistance, marked by the significant participation of the older generation in protest movements. Changing demographics, the global financial crisis, unemployment, poverty, and the reliance of the family nucleus on the pensioner, coupled with neoliberal and austerity-based reductions to welfare programs, pensions, health, and social care, has caused the “silver revolution.” As a population group that is often considered to be less politically active and robust members of society, such resistance is a noteworthy moment in society that needs to be considered and responded to.     

The stages of mass mobilization: separate phenomena and distinct causal mechanisms

The notion that mass mobilization has analytically important stages is underappreciated in the literature. This paper proposes an approach that decomposes mass mobilization into three main phenomena: origins, protest and outcome. Each stage is characterized by unique factors and mechanisms. Accordingly, the research questions pertaining to each stage are dealt with by multiple levels of analysis and alternative explanations, allowing theory testing and theory development. The paper highlights separate causal mechanisms that operate in the emergence of grievances and protest motivation during the origins stage; mechanisms involving different forms of pressure, organization, psychological processes, and external forces during the protest stage; and mechanisms pertaining to key players and strategies that determine outcomes of mass mobilization. We illustrate that certain factors and mechanisms which are key in one stage have little or no causal relevance in the other stages. Other factors and mechanisms may also dramatically change in content, meaning or configuration between the stages. This theoretical approach facilitates the integration of a large and diverse body of scholarship into a structured analysis of mass mobilization that allows for both a detailed case study as well as comparison of stages across mass protests. The analysis of stages and causal mechanisms is illustrated across cases of democratization, revolution, and protest within democracy.     

Down and Down We Go: Trust and Compliance in South Korea*

Objective Sociopolitical value orientations in South Korea have changed dramatically throughout the post‐World War II period, primarily as a function of intergenerational change and rising levels of education. This article investigates the impact of value change on political cynicism and noncompliance. Methods This research analyzes data from the three waves of the World Values Surveys from 1982 to 1995. Results The findings indicate that there had been a general pattern of spreading public distrust of both social and political institutions between Koreans and that more elite‐challenging forms of political participation showed the predicted increase as well. Also found are different predictors of our two dependent variables: for political cynicism, those with a higher education and/or more libertarian values were more cynical of political institutions; for protest potential, citizens who are better educated, young, more libertarian, and more active in the political process were more likely to exhibit a greater potential to involve themselves in protest activities. Conclusions The research findings conclude that value change has played a central role in interpreting the sociopolitical world, and thus in minimizing the public's faith in key political and private institutions in Korea.     

Protest Suicide: A Systematic Model with Heuristic Archetypes

Suicide as a form of political protest is a little studied social phenomenon that cannot be dismissed simply as being irrational or patholognomic. We consider protest suicide to be a meaningful social action as purposive political act intended to change oppressive policies or practices. This paper synthesizes theoretical propositions associated with suicide in general, and protest suicide in particular, so as to construct a general explanatory model of protest suicide as a social phenomenon. Then, it analyzes protest suicide as a meaningful social action. People considering protest suicide have to discern the logic of the situation in which such action is to take place. This involves answering two fundamental questions: Is suicide an acceptable course of social action? Is the envisaged protest suicide likely to achieve their hopes, aspirations and goals? How these questions are answered gives rise to a set of protest suicide archetypes. Our analysis generates a more sophisticated understanding of the potential reasons for, and motivations behind, protest suicide as a social phenomenon.     

Pathways to Collective Protest: Calculation, Identification, or Emotion? A Critical Analysis of the Role of Group-Based Anger in Social Movement Participation

The dual-pathway model of collective action proposes two motivational pathways to collective protest, one is based on cost–benefit calculations and another is based on collective identification . The present research examined the role of feelings of group-based anger as an additional path. Study 1, a field study in the context of students' protest in Germany ( N = 201), provided evidence for a unique effect of anger. Study 2, a laboratory experiment ( N = 182), examined the desire to release aggressive tension as a psychological process underlying this effect. As hypothesized, analyses confirmed that anger affected participants' willingness to protest only to the extent that this behavior provided the opportunity of cathartic reduction in aggressive tensions. Moreover, an experimental manipulation providing an alternative means to release tension reduced the relationship between anger and willingness to protest to nonsignificance. The implications of these findings for reconceptualizing the role of anger in collective protest are discussed.