The Organizing Moment

La Terza Via

Dominant literature on social movements and extreme right politics assumes that participation in electoral politics is incompatible with utilization of political violence. This elections-violence dualism has recently been challenged by the rise of far right political movements and parties that utilize political violence and electoral politics in various countries, such as the BJP in India, the Golden Dawn in Greece and the MHP in Turkey. This paper examines the negative case of the extreme right in Turkey, led by the MHP (Nationalist Action Party) to explain how far right movements can utilize political violence and avoid both marginalization and state repression. The paper utilizes mixed methods using original quantitative data on extreme right violence in Turkey compiled from historical newspaper archives and in-depth interviews conducted by the author. Through a combination of historical and quantitative analysis, the paper shows that political violence used by ülkücü movement has not declined but further increased with extreme right votes. Qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews explains how extreme right was able to escape marginalization and state repression due to the political context marked by Kurdish conflict as well as movement's strategic utilization and framing of political violence in response to this political context.

In Latin America, it is possible to identify three basic modalities of social change and political power: electoral politics, the construction of social movements, and social action in the direction of local development. But radical politics of mass mobilisation remains the indispensable condition for advancing the struggle for social change towards a new world of social justice and real development based on popular power. An analysis of events over recent years shows that the regional scene has become punctuated with new dynamics of change. This change is based on the advance of an alternative social or non-political approach associated with the rise of grassroots, community forms of social organisation and local development. This phenomenon constitutes a central issue in political developments across Latin America today. The authors have come to this conclusion on the basis of a systematic comparative analysis of the relationship between the state and social movements in four countries: Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia and Ecuador.

Netroots organizations are re-defining political struggle by providing the resources and environment necessary for political mobilizing, and are affecting the ways that parties and traditional groups now campaign, recruit, and fundraise. While there is no clear consensus in the social movement literature regarding information communication technology's (ICT's) influence on participation on political participation, campaigns, and parties, or on social movement participation more broadly, there is substantial agreement that the Net has increased information available for citizens and has changed the capacity for mobilization. The key question is if (and if so how) the increasing availability of information and more efficient mobilizing tactics enabled by the Internet translates into motivation, interest, and participation. As an electronic social movement organization (SMO), MoveOn has become one of the most successful advocacy operations in the digital era. This paper examines ways in which MoveOn has used the Internet and alternative forms of grassroots mobilization to fuse contentious politics with institutional means of reform via the electoral process. A case study of MoveOn is relevant to broader arguments regarding how the Internet is re-defining our understanding of mobilization and participatory politics, and demonstrates a shift in contentious politics and protest. The findings support the arguments in the literature that information sharing electronically can lead to a more informed citizenry, yet goes beyond previous research by suggesting that this refers not only to those that are initially politically aware, but also to otherwise uninformed or disengaged citizens (who have access to the Internet). This analysis also challenges previous research that asserts that there is little or no relationship between Internet use to obtain political information and political participation.

The political history of south India since the late nineteenth century has been signified with the construction of Dravidian ideology and its subsequent social and political movements. The construction of ideology was not only confined to theory but also driven towards the realization of its objectives in social, economic and political spheres. Apart from ideology and movements, electoral politics and public policies facilitated to realize its objectives. The Dravidian ascendency is precisely achieved by these developments. In the process of development of the ideology, it incorporates few revisions with a view to establishing solid foundations for the coming generations. Thus, the Dravidian ascendency can be identified at four subsequent levels, viz, ideology, movement, electoral politics and public policy. This paper explores these developments amidst competing as well as accommodating tendencies created by the historical necessity.

Wired and mobilizing: social movements, new technology, and electoral politics

This chapter explores the politics of social status hierarchies in the Sahel (freeborn, “castes,” slaves) and the rich literature devoted to this theme. It looks specifically at two themes. First, the paradoxical relationship between Islam and social status stratification. The doctrinal equality of the believers before God has often been negated in practice, as “freeborn” lineages have taken over positions of Islamic leadership. But recently some religious movements (Islamism, Sufism, perhaps some jihadism as well) and social movements have challenged the hierarchy of status differences, some in words only, others in deeds as well. The second theme covers the relationship between the construction of colonial and postcolonial states and status hierarchies. Officially, in postcolonial states all citizens are equal under the law. But informally, little is done to counter practices that perpetuate status discrimination such as slavery. Also, electoral politics can both crystalize social status differences and trigger mobilization against status inequalities.

100 Years of the Nineteenth Amendment looks back at the century since the amendment giving women in the United States the right to vote was ratified. The volume asks: how has women’s political engagement unfolded over the last one hundred years? The chapters consider women’s participation in electoral politics as well as their efforts in social movement activism. They reveal that, while women have made substantial strides in the political realm—for example, voting at higher rates than men and gaining greater leadership roles in politics and social movements—barriers to gender equality remain. The book explores the diverse experiences of women from a variety of backgrounds, including women from different racial, ethnic, class, and gender identities and with differing sexual orientations and educational and political backgrounds. As the volume traces women’s presence in politics, it also helps readers look forward, to consider possibilities for the next one hundred years of women’s political engagement.

This chapter reviews existing research about women's political recruitment focusing on women's participation in electoral politics and social movements and civic organizations. Githens proposes an agenda for future research on women's political recruitment that includes attention to the importance of identity politics, reference groups, perceptions of opportunity structures, political role styles, and role models.

: The aim of this study was to analyze the experiences of primary healthcare workers in the public health systems in Colombia and Brazil in relation to the neoliberal logic. These two cases are relevant to public health research, as examples of health systems that emerged from opposing guidelines: the Colombian system was created at the government level with a marked private-sector influence, while the Brazilian system was an important conquest by social movements. Based on the Social Psychology of Work, this was a qualitative and empirical study. In-depth reflexive interviews were conducted with two groups of primary healthcare and administrative workers: one in Bucaramanga, Colombia, and the other in Campinas (São Paulo State), Brazil. Content analysis was used in the analytical process. According to the study, in both countries the main experiences of healthcare workers involve the changes in working conditions, relations, and organization. In the Colombian context, we identified the central problems in the transition induced by the reform that established the country's current health system. These problems are expressed in the deterioration of relations with health system users, as well as in the configuration of healthcare teams, marked by conflicting employment arrangements in the healthcare staff. The latter condition also appears in the Brazilian context, as a result of outsourcing, which appears to have become an effective mechanism for undermining the Brazilian Unified National Health System (SUS), facilitating its dismantlement and pointing it in the same direction as the Colombian system.

Recent events such as the Black Lives Matter movement, COVID-19, and political elections have highlighted the power of a socially and politically engaged society. One under-researched cultural pillar at the core of sociopolitical resistance for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) people of color (POC) has been the House Ball Community, a dynamic subculture made up of intricate social networks. This study uses data collected for the Social Justice Sexuality Project (N = 246) to examine LGBTQ+ community connection and House Ball Community involvement as predictors of LGBTQ+ and intersectional LGBTQ+ sociopolitical engagement. Two continuous variables, community connection and sociopolitical engagement (consisting of separate scales about LGBTQ+ individuals and LGBTQ+ POC), were included in the analysis. Multivariate linear regression analyses were performed to examine the relationships between these variables. While community connection was significantly associated with both scales of sociopolitical engagement, House Ball involvement was only associated with intersectional LGBTQ+ sociopolitical engagement. Relative to community connection, House Ball involvement was more strongly associated with intersectional LGBTQ+ sociopolitical engagement. Findings suggest that House Ball involvement may influence behavior for LGBTQ+ POC. Authors discuss implications for intersectionality in social movements and culturally responsive direct, community, and systems-level social work practice within the current U.S. sociopolitical landscape.

Three Labour politicians with experience in government and backgrounds in social work spoke on a conference panel about politics and social work. All had moved into electoral politics with the view that there were limits to the radical change that social work could achieve. They discussed how social work has influenced their political work and how constituency casework illuminates the impact of policies on individuals. This article examines the themes of the discussion.

ObjectivesDental technicians are exposed to methyl methacrylate(MMA) and hard metal dusts while working, and several cases of hypersensitivity pneumonitis caused by the exposure have been reported. The authors experienced a case of hypersensitivity pneumonitis in a female dental technician who had 10 years’ work experience and report the case with clinical evidence.MethodThe patient’s work, personal, social, and past and present medical histories were investigated based on patient questioning and medical records. Furthermore, the workplace conditions and tools and materials the patient worked with were also evaluated. Next, the pathophysiology and risk factors of pneumonitis were studied, and studies on the relationship between hypersensitivity pneumonitis and a dental technician’s exposure to dust were reviewed. Any changes in the clinical course of her disease were noted for evaluation of the work-relatedness of the disease.ResultsThe patient complained of cough and sputum for 1 year. In addition, while walking up the stairs, the patient was not able to ascend without resting due to dyspnea. She visited our emergency department due to epistaxis, and secondary hypertension was incidentally suspected. Laboratory tests including serologic, electrolyte, and endocrinologic tests and a simple chest radiograph showed no specific findings, but chest computed tomography revealed a centrilobular ground-glass pattern in both lung fields. A transbronchial biopsy was performed, and bronchoalveolar washing fluid was obtained. Among the findings of the laboratory tests, microcalcification, noncaseating granuloma containing foreign body-type giant cells, and metal particles within macrophages were identified histologically. Based on these results, hypersensitivity pneumonitis was diagnosed. The patient stopped working due to admission, and she completely quit her job within 2 months of restarting work due to reappearance of the symptoms.ConclusionIn this study, the patient did not have typical radiologic findings, but pathological evaluation of the lung biopsy from the bronchoscope led to the suspicion of pneumonitis. Under the microscope, the sample contained fibrotic changes in the lung, multinucleated giant cells, and particles in macrophages and was diagnosed as dental technician pneumoconiosis by the pathology. Working as a dental technician had directly exposed her to light metal dust and MMA, and her clinical symptoms and radiologic findings subsided after withdrawal from exposure to the workplace. These outcomes led to the diagnosis of hypersensitity pneumonitis due to MMA exposure and strong work-relatedness.

African states in general are particularly vulnerable to external pressures of various sorts in Africa. The international human-rights discourse has provided inspiration and moral legitimation for a range of causes, including the campaign against slavery in Mauritania and that against blood diamonds in Sierra Leone. Many social movements in Africa are dependent on funding from external donors. Related but distinct is the relationship between social movements in Africa and African diaspora communities in the rest of the world. The most extreme example in Africa today is Somalia, and Jon Abbink?s chapter on the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia raises the interesting question of whether it is actually permissible to speak of social movements in the effective absence of a state. By the 1990s, it had become received wisdom in social movement theory that an earlier generation of social movements had been succeeded by a generation of so-called ?new social movements?. Keywords: Africa; African diaspora; human-rights; Sierra Leone; social movements; Somalia

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Framing Latina/o Immigration, Education, and Activism