Violence and Social Movements

Abstract

The study of the intersection of social movements and violence is diverse. This is so, principally, because the forms of violence under study are all encompassing, ranging from police arrest of peaceful protesters, to protest by throwing food at politicians, to protest by lethal, indiscriminate violence on civilians. Nevertheless, in the social movement literature, the mainstream approach to the study of these phenomena takes the position—sometimes by default—that neither the various forms of violence nor the various types of the groups engaging in violence need to correspond to particular theories, but rather both action and groups should be studied through the more general conceptual frameworks and theoretical presuppositions characterizing the literature. This position is partly a consequence of the fact that the study of these phenomena developed within the broader study of social movements. Thus, for example, research on the American civil rights movement of the 1960s covered not only the peaceful tactics of this movement but also state violence in response to these tactics, as well as the violence wielded by the radical branches of the movement, most notably the Black Panthers. The conceptualizations and theories pertaining to the study of the phenomena connecting social movements to violence, therefore, have not claimed autonomy within the general literature on social movements, but rather have relied heavily and approvingly on this literature.

Exploring the concept of non-violent resistance amongst healthcare workers

“…This again mirrors discussions in the literature which have called into question the violent-non-violent dichotomy. 28 Beyond the nature of non-violent resistance itself, participants were also asked if they felt non-violent resistance when carried out by healthcare workers was distinct in any way. We are unaware of any studies that have asked this or similar questions.…”

“…This again mirrors discussions in the literature which have called into question the violent-non-violent dichotomy. 28…”

Violence expressive, e-participation et mouvements sociaux: le caractère identitaire des revendications politiques

“…A l'instar de ce que montre l'exemple de l'étude du mouvement pour la reconnaissance des droits civiques aux États-Unis, l'approche principale consiste à mettre en miroir différents excès : les sit-in pacifiques et autres protestations civiques sont rapportés aux exactions policières d'une part et à la brutalité des branches les plus radicales du mouvement comme celles des Black Panthers d'autre part (della Porta 2008). En cela, la littérature tend à traiter de la violence à partir du phénomène étudié dans un espace situé (Demetriou 2013), la plaçant sous le signe de rapports sociaux asymétriques et conflictuels. Bien que la violence doive être entendue comme le produit des relations sociales, elle gagne à être saisie en tant que modalité d'action singulière.…”