Politics, Government and Social Movements

1. Politics, Government and Social Movements

2. Basic Concepts in Political Sociology • Politics – the means whereby power is used to affect the scope and content of governmental activities • Government – the sphere of political power • State – political apparatus ruling a given territory, with authority backed by a legal system and the capacity for force

3. Asia, Africa • Most got independence after 1945 through transfer of power to new elites • South Asia in 1947 • Most African countries in 1960s and later (West Africa, East Africa) • Independence after wars of national liberation : Indonesia, Algeria, Viet-Nam, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Namibia, South Africa (all faced counter revolutionary violence: UNITA led by Savimbi in Angola e.g.,)

4. Conflicts in Asia & Africa • Countries want independence, nations want liberation and people want revolution- Chairman Mao • People’s wars in Philippine, Vietnam, Malaya, Cambodia, Laos, Korea, Indonesia • Indo-Pak wars-1947, 65, 71 • Civil war in East Pakistan/BanglaDesh, Biafra-Nigeria • National Liberation movements: Masqat-Oman, Yemen, Eritrea, Palestine, Kurdistan (Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Iran), East Timor

5. Armed Conflicts in the DCs • Since the end of the second World War there have been no armed conflicts in Europe*. However there have been as many as one hundred twenty five armed conflicts involving developing countries. Nearly twenty two million people have been killed in these conflicts between 1945 and 1989. These included over thirteen million civilians. Since then continued fighting in Afghanistan, Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Southern Sudan, Chad, Liberia, Bosnia, Chechnya has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands more. Invasion of Iraq in 2002 has added another million dead & several million refugees to the list. New conflicts continue to emerge in new places. *Conflict in former Yugoslavia being the exception

6. Conflicts • The borders of most countries have been drawn arbitrarily more for the convenience of the older colonial administrators than a true reflection of physical boundaries between various nationalities. In most countries ethnic, tribal or sectarian conflicts have been exacerbated due the dominance of one tribe/nationality. Somehow such inter ethnic, inter tribal, inter sectarian conflicts will have to be resolved.

7. State and Power in Post-Colonial Countries • Inherited state and institutions (civil and military bureaucracy, judiciary, education, official language) • Over-determined state (Hamza Alavi) • Transfer of power to a dominant nationality leading to inter-ethnic, inter-tribal or sectarian conflicts. • Integration in global economy as producers of primary commodities (agricultural, mineral, fossil fuels) • Arbitrarily drawn borders dividing tribes across many a country.

8. Armed Conflicts in the DCs • Since the end of the second World War there have been no armed conflicts in Europe*. However there have been as many as one hundred twenty five armed conflicts involving developing countries. Nearly twenty two million people have been killed in these conflicts between 1945 and 1989. These included over thirteen million civilians. Since then continued fighting in Afghanistan, Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Southern Sudan, Chad, Liberia, Bosnia, Chechnya has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands more. Invasion of Iraq in 2002 has added another million dead & several million refugees to the list. New conflicts continue to emerge in new places. *Conflict in former Yugoslavia being the exception.

9. Models of Power Power is perhaps the key concept in political sociology • Marx- Dictatorship of the bourgeoisie • Lenin- Dictatorship of the proletariat • Weber – ‘the chance of a man or a number of men to realise their own will in a command action even against the resistance of others who are participating in the action.’ Three sources of authority: Traditional, Charismatic, Rational-legal. • Rule by bureaucracy in large industralise/urbanized societies - Rational-legal • Lukes – a 3-dimensional view of power: ‘to secure the compliance of others by controlling their thoughts and desires’, includes setting the agenda / keeping some issues off the agenda • Foucault – Power is not ‘held’ by people or institutions, but flows throughout society. Power, knowledge and their instantiation in discourses are key concepts in the study of power’s operation in society.

10. Authoritarianism and Democracy • Authoritarianism curtails or denies popular participation: ranges from dictators and monarchies to ‘soft authoritarians’ like the Singapore PAP • Participatory (direct) democracy: communal decision-making by citizens (not necessarily all the people) • Representative democracy: decisions taken not by whole people but by those elected for that purpose

11. Violence in 20th Century • Overview by Ruth Sivard • The 20th century stands out as the most productive and destructive century on record. No other comes close to it in terms of social progress- in the education, health and wealth it has provided for the population. Yet it is also evident that no other century on record equals the 20th in uncivilized civil violence, in the number of conflicts waged, the hordes of refugees created, the millions of people killed in wars, and the vast expenditures for “defense”.

12. This modern century has already been responsible for 250 wars and over109,746,000 war-related deaths, a number somewhat larger than the total current population of France, Belgium, Netherlands, and the four Scandinavian countries, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Since mid-century, wars have become more frequent and much more deadly. There have been six times as many deaths per war in the 20th century as in the 19th.Ruth LegardSivardPreface to WMSE Report 1996

13. Militarization • The world's top 10 military spenders and the approximate amounts each country currently budgets for its military establishment are: • 1. United States (FY08 budget), $623 billion; • 2. China (2004), $65 billion3. Russia, $50 billion; 4. France (2005), $45 billion5. UK, $42.8 billion; 6. Japan (2007), $41.75 billion7. Germany (2003), $35.1 billion; • 8. Italy (2003), $28.2 billion; • 9. South Korea (2003), $21.1 billion; • 10. India (2005 est.), $19 billion

14. Global Arms Producers &Traders

15. The Biggest Recipients of U.S. Weapons and Training FY 2006-07

16. US Military • US military deploys well over half a million soldiers, spies, technicians, teachers, dependents, and civilian contractors in other nations. To dominate the oceans and seas of the world, we are creating some thirteen naval task forces built around aircraft carriers. We operate numerous secret bases outside our territory to monitor what the people of the world, including our own citizens, are saying, faxing, or e-mailing to one another. (Chalmer Johnson) • Defense Department's annual "Base Structure Report" for fiscal year 2003, which itemizes foreign and domestic U.S. military real estate, the Pentagon currently owns or rents 702 overseas bases in about 130 countries and has another 6,000 bases in the United States and its territories If there were an honest count, the actual size of our military empire would probably top 1,000 different bases in other people's countries. America's Empire of Bases: Chalmers Johnson – Nemesis, ch.4, Holt, NY (2006)

17. Social Movements • Definition – ‘collective attempts to further common interest or secure a common goal through action outside the sphere of established institutions’ • Includes: • Labour movements • Women’s movements • Disabled people’s movements • Gay and lesbian rights movements • Environmental movements

18. Theories of Social Movements 1 • Blumer’s interactionist ‘social unrest’ theory – movements are the product of dissatisfaction with life. • Can be ‘active’ or ‘expressive’ and have a life cycle often ending in institutionalization • Smelser’s functionalist account – 6 value-added elements needed to activate a movement: • Structural conduciveness • Structural strain • Generalized beliefs • Precipitating factors • Mobilization for action • Failure of social control

19. Theories of Social Movements 2 • Resource Mobilization Theory – USA origins, sees movements as the product of rational actors • Key idea – no social movement can be mobilized or succeed without resources • Resources = members, activists, supporters, money, skills, social networks, etc. • Dissatisfaction with aspects of society is ubiquitous, resource gathering success turns this into social movement activity • BUT, is it too ‘economistic’? • What about ‘poor people’s movements’ such as the unemployed worker’s movements?

20. Theories of Social Movements 3 • New Social Movement Theory – emerged to understand and explain the rise of 1960s postmaterial politics and movements such as: • Environmentalism, animal rights, gay and lesbian rights, students, etc. • NSMs exhibit 4 features: • new issues, new (loose) organizational forms, new social constituencies, new (direct) action repertoires • BUT how ‘new’ are these elements? • Is the distinctiveness of NSMs just a stage in movement development?

21. Conclusion • Much dissatisfaction with formal, established political systems and parties • Some suggest the shift to a ‘movement society’ in a globalizing age rooted in rapid communication via ICT “Another World is Possible” Since late 1990s, World Social Forums have been held in many locations round the world, shows how alternative forms of global political interest representation may develop in the future.