Social Movements and the Legal Field: Becoming-Constituent

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 376-393 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xenia Chiaramonte

The relationship between social movements and the legal field is controversial and complex. This paper begins by recognizing that the concept of social movement does not belong to legal doctrine and then synthetically reconstruct the relevance of it for a legal understanding. In fact, even if this concept is not formally taken into account by constitutions or by legal codes, a socio-legal approach underscores the need for the comprehension and inclusion of collective phenomena into legal theory. First, the paper explores the way in which ‘social movement’ has been taken up and translated in the legal field through the concept of social change and constitutional change. Second, this research goes through various cases in which social movements use law strategically, from the phenomenon of cause lawyering to the litigation strategy. Finally, it stands for a theoretical understanding of the role of social movements in legal theory as a lively expression of ‘becoming-constituent’.

Author(s):  
ANASTASIA KORZHENYAK ◽  
◽  
ANTON MIKHAILOV

The purpose of the research. This article analyses the main points of the legal teaching of the Australian jurist William Jethro Brown (1868-1930), which the authors of this study regard as forming one of the significant stages in the evolution of Anglo-American legal positivism. Along with his contemporaries, a New Zealand lawyer John William Salmond (1862-1924) and British jurists Thomas Erskine Holland (1835-1926) and John Mason Lightwood (1852-1947), Brown was among the first critics of the «command theory of law» of the founder of the analytical school of jurisprudence John Austin (1790-1859). The authors of this article prove that the ideas, including those of W. Brown, play the role of a link between the founders of the analytical school of law (J. Bentham, J. Austin), the teachings of William Markby, Sheldon Amos, and subsequent generations of English legal scholars of both positivist and neo-positivist direction. Many provisions of Brown's legal doctrine became the basis for criticism of Austin's command concept and legal understanding in the teachings of H. L. A. Hart, the central figure of English neopositivism of the 20th century. As a result of the research the authors conclude that there are comparative similarities between W. J. Brown's conception of «rules of external action», J. W. Salmond's idea of «ultimate legal principles» and H. L. A. Hart's legal doctrine on the «rule of recognition».


2014 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Suaedy

The changes that occurred in the Jakarta 2012 election may be seen as a change in Indonesia's social movements and election tradition. They marked a social movement with special characteristics; specifically, a ‘partisan’ movement, led by the successful Jokowi–Ahok ticket. The partisan social movement also changed the tradition of money politics, which has always coloured general and local elections in Indonesia. This paper found four main factors in Jokowi–Ahok's victory. The first was their reputations and track records of leadership and consistency, which, secondly, encouraged unpaid volunteers to motivate the public to participate in the election and vote for the pair. Thirdly, in contrast to previous social movements in Indonesia, the volunteers did not just work to overthrow the current leadership and replace it, and then distance themselves, but instead continued to monitor the candidates; some managed government directly, while others took watch dog position. Fourthly, the relationship between volunteers and local government was not necessarily oppositional. As such, they were partisan not only in that they were supporters of a pair of candidates, but also in their promotion and support of openness, anti-corruption efforts and provision of maximum public services.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 179-194
Author(s):  
Joanne Dono ◽  
Caroline Miller ◽  
Kerry Ettridge ◽  
Carlene Wilson

Abstract A systematic scoping review of anti-smoking mass media campaign literature provided opportunity to explore how social normative theories and constructs are used to influence smoking cessation. Synthesis of findings was constrained by significant heterogeneity. Nevertheless, the results indicate that a broader conceptualization of social norm is worthy of further exploration. Perceptions of what others think and do contributed in multiple ways to the relationship between anti-smoking messaging and quitting outcomes. Furthermore, integrating research on social norms, social identity and communication may improve understanding of why quitting intentions are enhanced in some circumstances but reactance and counter-arguing responses corresponding to lower quitting intentions occur in others. Integrating a broader theoretical understanding of normative influences into campaign development and evaluation may prove useful in demonstrating the effectiveness of this approach in behaviour change campaigns.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-223
Author(s):  
Nadir N. Budhwani ◽  
Gary N. McLean

The Problem There is a growing need to explore the role of the centuries-old tradition of Sufism and its teachings which, through social movements, have contributed to, and continue to influence, human resource development (HRD) at various levels—individual, group, organization, community, nation, and international. The Solution To address this need, we present cases of social movements inspired by Sufi teachings in selected parts of the world. We discuss, using literature and personal experiences, links among Sufi teachings, social movements, and HRD, and provide a framework for understanding Sufi teachings within the context of the social movement phenomenon. We end with recommendations for practice and research. The Stakeholders We target broadening the horizons of HRD researchers, practitioners, civil society members, and social movement activists, encouraging them to address long-term changes and collective learning through the quest for unconditional love and liberation, which represent the core of Sufi teachings.


2021 ◽  
pp. 97-132
Author(s):  
Frank W. Munger ◽  
Peerawich Thoviriyavej ◽  
Vorapitchaya Rabiablok

Women lawyers are increasing seen among the leading legal defenders of human rights and social movements in Thailand. Increasing visibility is partly a result of news coverage and social media, but women lawyers activism has far older roots. In this article, we examine two related processes of change that contribute to women’s emergence as leading social cause practitioners. First, we discuss the relationship between Thailand’s legal system and its social and political development since the end of the nineteenth century. Second, we employ career narratives of three women lawyers with innovative practices for social causes as a lens through which to examine how lawyers transform available resources into an identity, law practice, and law. We discuss not only the role of prior generations of women lawyers, connections between influential elites and social cause lawyers, and the founding of a few key organizations within the NGO community, but also the role of the women as architects of their own careers. We conclude that they have become successful by aligning their practices with emerging social movements and progressive bureaucrats, unexpectedly creating professional identities with somewhat different relationships to the rule of law.


2012 ◽  
Vol 19 (1, 2 & 3) ◽  
pp. 2011
Author(s):  
Benjamin L. Berger

There is perhaps no more important access point into the key issues of modern political and legal theory than the questions raised by the interaction of law and religion in contemporary constitutional democracies. Of course, much classical political and moral theory was forged on the issue of the relationship between religious difference and state authority. John Locke’s work was directly influenced by this issue, writing as he did about the just configuration of state authority and moral difference in the wake of the Thirty Years’ War. Yet debates about the appropriate role of religion in public life and the challenges posed by religious difference also cut an important figure, in a variety of ways, in the writings of Hobbes, Rousseau, Spinoza, Hegel, and much of the work that we now view as being at the centre of the development of modern political philosophy.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Elizabete David Novaes

<p><strong>Resumo:</strong> O presente artigo busca evidenciar o papel social das mulheres nos movimentos sociais promovidos no decorrer da história. Para cumprir com tal propósito, discute o caráter patriarcal da ciência cartesiana; apresenta uma reflexão acerca da articulação entre o público e privado; elabora uma revisão teórica acerca da historiografia da mulher, ressaltando a ação da mulher em diferentes momentos da história, buscando evidenciá-la como sujeito ativo, capaz de integrar o público e o privado, participando da conquista de direitos. Para enfatizar as articulações existentes entre as dimensões pública e privada, este artigo defende que historicamente a mulher politiza vias não políticas do cotidiano, atuando em movimentos sociais promotores de reivindicações e manifestações sociais, de modo a superar limites ideologicamente traçados pelo viés patriarcal da ciência moderna, de base cartesiana, atuando na luta por direitos e participação política na história.</p><p><strong>Palavras-chave:</strong> gênero; historiografia; público e privado; movimentos sociais; direitos.</p><p><strong>Abstract:</strong> This paper describes evidences of the social role of the women inside different social movements occurred during our history. It began with a discussion the patriarchal character of Cartesian science, presents reflections about the public and private articulation, a theoretical review of the women´s historiography, emphasizing their action at different times in history and trying to emphazise them as active subject which is capable to integrate the public and private, participating of the conquer their rights. To emphasize all the previous articulations between the public and private dimensions, this manuscript argues that historically women politicize daily non-political pathways. Their actuations in social movements promote the demands and social manifestations in order to ideologically overcome the limitations set by the the patriarchal bias of modern science, acting in the the fight (ou struggle) for rights and political participation in history.</p><p><strong>Keywords:</strong> gender, historiography, public and private; social movement; rights.</p>


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murad Nasibov

This article tries to conceptually lay down the troubled relations between civil society and social movements within authoritarian regimes. This is done by, first, bringing clarity to the conceptual relationship between civil society and social movement and, then, applying it to the authoritarian context, still theoretically. Following the “hints” of the Eastern European intellectuals of the late 1970s and the 1980s and building on the appropriation of Durkheim’s differentiation between mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity, the article distinguishes two types of solidarity: associative solidarity and action and collective solidarity and action. Civil society is proposed to emerge on associative solidarities (and their actions), while social movements build on collective solidarities (and their actions). Furthermore, associative and collective actions are identified to be progressive and transgressive, respectively. Consequently, the proposed theoretical account is applied theoretically to the authoritarian context and several hypotheses are proposed on the relationship between civil society and pro-democracy movement within authoritarian regimes.


Author(s):  
Cristiano Gianolla

Representative democracy is currenty facing strong social criticism for its incapacity to envolve people in a way that makes them part of the decision-making process. An existing gap between the representatives and the represented is hereby emphasized. In this space, the role of political parties is central in order to bridge society with institutions. How much are parties concerned about this issue? How and in which context do they interact more with their electorate and the wider society? Participatory democracy is emerging throughout the world in different forms and with different results, but the dominant pattern of democracy remains the liberal western democratic paradigm in which people can contribute barely through electing candidates. In order to achieve what Boaventura de Sousa Santos calls ‘democratisation of democracy’ the role of political parties is therefore fundamental in particular to achieve a more participative democracy within the representative model. This article approaches this theme through a bibliographic review comparing social movements and political parties with a focus on the innovation of the Five Star Movement in Italy. Finally, it provides a reading of the relationship between political parties andparticipation, including good practice and perspectives.KEYWORDS: Participation, political parties, social movements, political movements, representative democracy, participatory democracy.


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