Mobilising and organising in precarious times

Purpose The paper argues that the field of social movement studies has been dominated by a movement organisation-centric approach. This organisational bias has constrained the analysis of collective action, especially in the Global South. The purpose of this paper is to contribute towards a reconcep...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of sociology and social policy 2016-09, Vol.36 (9/10), p.613-628
Main Author: Runciman, Carin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bias
Case studies
Collective action
Congress of South African Trade Unions
Ethnography
Everyday life
Farmworkers
Labor unions
North and South
Political activism
Politics
Praxis
Privatization
Qualitative analysis
Qualitative research
Quantitative analysis
Research methodology
Scholars
Social activism
Social change
Social movements
South Africa
Trade unions
Travel
Workers
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Summary:Purpose The paper argues that the field of social movement studies has been dominated by a movement organisation-centric approach. This organisational bias has constrained the analysis of collective action, especially in the Global South. The purpose of this paper is to contribute towards a reconceptualization of social movements which links them not to organisations but understanding social movements as a praxis linked to the material experiences of everyday life. Furthermore, the paper uses this expanded definition of social movements to revisit debates about mobilising and organising through reference to the contemporary South African context. Design/methodology/approach The empirical findings of the paper are based on ethnographic, qualitative and quantitative research on collective action in South Africa that has been carried out by the author since 2009. Findings The paper presents three case studies of collective action which demonstrate the variability, strengths and weaknesses of different forms organising and mobilising in contemporary South Africa. Originality/value The paper contributes to re-conceptualising social movements in a way in which the concept is better able to travel across the Global North and South as a heuristic device. Furthermore, the paper situates debates about the strengths of mobilising with and without organisations within the South African context.
ISSN:0144-333X
1758-6720
DOI:10.1108/IJSSP-12-2015-0138