The Palgrave Handbook of Social Movements, Revolution, and Social Transformation

485 Pages·2019·5.42 MB·English

by  Berch Berberoglu

THE PALGRAVE HANDBOOK
OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS,
REVOLUTION, AND SOCIAL
TRANSFORMATION
Edited by
Berch Berberoglu
The Palgrave Handbook of Social Movements,
Revolution, and Social Transformation
Berch Berberoglu
Editor
The Palgrave
Handbook of Social
Movements,
Revolution, and Social
Transformation
Editor
Berch Berberoglu
Department of Sociology
University of Nevada, Reno
Reno, NV, USA
ISBN 978-3-319-92353-6 ISBN 978-3-319-92354-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92354-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018954416
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher,
whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation,
reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any
other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation,
computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt
from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in
this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor
the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained
herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with
regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Cover image © manopjk
This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature
Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
P a
reface and cknowledgments
This Handbook addresses some of the key issues related to the nature and
dynamics of social movements and revolutions as the basis for the transforma-
tion of society. The project that we have undertaken here with colleagues who
are experts in their areas of study provide the latest research and analysis on a
variety of social movements on a global scale, with focus on major social move-
ments and revolutions of the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
Moreover, the social movements selected for study in this Handbook are for
their historical significance and impact on struggles around the world. Thus,
this work is an inquiry into the nature and dynamics of social movements,
revolutions, and social transformations that have had a major impact on society
and social structure, so we can better understand the sources of political power
and the process of social transformations to affect change.
The thread that runs through each of the contributions that make up this
Handbook, especially in the analysis of the major social movements that are
taken up for study, is the class nature of the state and the class forces involved in
the various social movements confronting the state. Applying class analysis to the
study of social movements and revolutions provides us with a clear understand-
ing of the nature and dynamics of the process that has been unfolding in societies
experiencing conditions that lead to social change. Here of special importance
is the class basis of the various social movements and the class identity and ide-
ology of the organizations and leadership of these movements, as well as the
level of class consciousness and political awareness of the social forces that have
been mobilizing and fighting for their liberation.
Social movements cannot succeed merely through their mobilization against
the forces that keep them down. In assessing the balance of class forces in the
class struggle, one needs to know the nature and degree of cohesion and dis-
sention among the dominant classes, the state’s response to the deteriorating
social and economic conditions, and the political options the ruling class is
prepared to exercise through the state to control the unfolding revolutionary
situation. These factors are extremely important in understanding the nature
v
vi PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
and direction of social movements and revolutions in the making, and also in
discerning the nature and complexities of the new post-revolutionary order
after the taking of state power. This is especially important for working-class
movements fighting for socialist revolution.
After an introductory essay providing the context and background to the
formation and dynamics of social movements and revolutions in the twentieth
and early twenty-first centuries, the Handbook provides a critical analysis of
major classical and contemporary theories of social movements and revolu-
tions, counterposing the Marxist perspective to mainstream conventional theo-
ries on these topics. Against this theoretical background, the Handbook
provides a methodological approach to the study of movement waves in the
making of history and a set of historical case studies on social movements,
rebellions, and revolutions from the turn of the twentieth to the early twenty-
first centuries, focusing on varieties of social movements and revolutions that
have had and continue to have a major impact on societies across the world.
The Handbook concludes by providing competing trajectories on the future
course of development of social movements and revolutions in the twenty-first
century, assessing the contradictory dynamics of social movements, revolu-
tions, and counterrevolutions that we will be confronting in the future.
Organizing and carrying out a project of this nature involves the coopera-
tion of many people who are passionately dedicated to it and want it to suc-
ceed. While I have assumed primary responsibility to lead the effort as editor of
this important Handbook to guide it toward its completion, the project would
not have succeeded without the seminal contributions of experts who have
provided an impressive set of articles that comprise the various chapters of this
important Handbook. I would like to thank all the contributors to this volume
for their participation in this project by providing cutting-edge research and
scholarship in their respective areas of study.
I would also like to thank my former editor Alexis Nelson for commission-
ing this project to me as editor of my Palgrave Series on Social Movements and
Transformation, and my current editor Mary Al-Sayed for her confidence in me
to complete the project in a timely manner. It is through the wisdom and per-
sistence of both of my editors at Palgrave that I embraced this project and car-
ried it through to its successful completion.
Finally, this Handbook is dedicated to all revolutionary social movements
that have struggled and continue to struggle together with and on behalf of the
great masses of the people the world over to bring about a just and equitable
society free of oppression and exploitation. It is thanks to their selfless struggles
throughout history that humanity has a chance to free itself from all forms of
domination and injustice. The future belongs to all those who have engaged in
these protracted struggles for human liberation, so that in the end people shall
be free!
Reno, NV Berch Berberoglu
c
ontents
1 Introduction: Dynamics of Social Movements, Revolution,
and Social Transformation 1
Berch Berberoglu
Historical Background 2
Factors Leading to the Emergence of Social Movements 3
Movement Organization, Strategy, and Tactics 6
Social Movements in the Twentieth and Early Twenty- First Centuries 7
Conclusion 11
References 13
Part I Theoretical, Methodological, and Historical Approaches to
Social Movements, Revolutions, and Social Transformation 15
2 Classical and Contemporary Conventional Theories of Social
Movements 17
Clayton D. Peoples
Classical Conventional Theories of Social Movements 18
Contemporary Conventional Theories of Social Movements 22
Conclusion 30
References 33
3 Methodological Approaches to Movement Waves and the Making
of History 35
Ben Manski
Conceptualizing Movement Building in Dimensions of Struggle 37
How to Conduct a Movement Building Analysis 46
The Method in Action: The Wisconsin Uprising and Beyond 48
Conclusions 52
References 58
vii
viii CONTENTS
4 The Marxist Theory of Social Movements, Revolution, and
Social Transformation 65
Berch Berberoglu
Social Movements, the State, and Class Struggle 66
The Capitalist State and Class Struggle 70
The State, Class Struggle, and Revolution 72
Social Movements, Revolution, and Social Transformation 74
Globalization and the Future of Social Movements and Revolution 76
Conclusion 79
References 82
5 Twentieth-Century Socialist Revolutions and Their Class
Components: Russia, China, Cuba, and Vietnam 85
James F. Petras
The Origins of Revolutionary Organization 86
Periodization and Ideology 87
Class Participants in Socialist Revolution 90
The Social Identity of the Intellectuals 91
Rural Labor and Socialist Revolution 91
Rural Labor and Political Organization 94
The Role of Urban Workers 97
The Myth of Working-Class Privilege 99
The Revolutionary Alliance 101
The Revolutionary Party and the Working Class 103
The Primacy of Politics 106
Conclusion 108
References 112
Part II Social Movements and Social Change: Varieties of Social
Movements in the Twentieth and Early Twenty-First
Century 115
6 Repression, Resistance, and Development of the Labor
Movement in the United States 117
Andrew Kolin
Institutional Exclusion and Labor’s Response to Repression 121
Social Divisions and the Role of Labor Anti-Communism 129
The Decline of Organized Labor and the Rise of Finance Capital 135
The Future of Organized Labor 137
References 146
CONTENT S ix
7 Decade of Turbulence: Social Movements and Rebellion in
the 1960s 151
Alan J. Spector
Background to the Social Movements of the 1960s 152
The Civil Rights/Black Liberation Movement 153
The Urban Rebellions 155
The Campus Anti-War Movement 160
Students for a Democratic Society 161
The Women’s Rights Movement 167
Labor Insurgency 168
The Counter Cultural Movement 170
Conclusion 171
References 176
8 Neoliberalism and Social Movements in Latin America:
Mobilizing the Resistance 177
James F. Petras and Henry Veltmeyer
Historical Background 178
The Resurgence of the Latin American Left 179
The Political Left in the Neoliberal World Order 180
The Political Context for the Resurgence of Popular Movements 183
The Left Social Movements: Mobilizing the Anti- Neoliberal
Resistance and Social Revolution 184
A Third Wave of Anti-Neoliberal Social Movements: The Rural
Landless Workers of Brazil Take Center Stage 186
Regime Change and Capitalist Development in the New
Millennium 189
The Resistance, Class Struggle, and Social Movements on the
Expanding Frontier of Extractive Capital 191
The Class Struggle and Social Movement Dynamics of the Resistance 193
Social Movement Dynamics in the Post-Neoliberal Era 199
Conclusion 202
References 208
9 Neoliberalism, State Repression and the Rise of Social Protest
in Africa 213
Patrick Bond
Bottom-Up Resistance Rises 216
Protest, Repression, and Resistance in South Africa 220
Continental Bottom-Up Protests in Search of an Overarching
Ideology 224
References 229
x CONTENTS
10 The Naxalite Movement, the Oppressive State, and the
Revolutionary Struggle in India 233
Ashok Kumbamu
The Adivasis and the Naxalite Movement 235
Neoliberalism, Extractive Capital, and the Oppressive State 238
Conclusion 242
References 246
11 Neoliberalism, Contentious Politics, and the Rise of
Authoritarianism in Southeast Asia 249
Walden Bello
Cambodia: Toward a Personalist Dictatorship 250
Thailand: Revolution and Counterrevolution 253
Duterte and the Revolt Against Liberal Democracy in the 
Philippines 258
Conclusion 262
References 266
12 Nationalism and Nationalist Movements in the Age of
Neoliberal Globalization 269
Berch Berberoglu
The Class Nature of Nationalism and Nationalist Movements 270
Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict on a World Scale 274
The Rise of Right-Wing Ultranationalist Movements in the
Twentieth and Early Twenty-First Century 282
Conclusion 291
References 298
Part III Social Movements, Revolution, and Social
Transformation in the Twenty-First Century 299
13 Global Justice Movements: Past, Present, and Future 301
Lauren Langman and Tova Benski
Globalization and Neoliberalism 306
Mobilizations from Below 307
Global Justice Movements 310
Social Movements in the New Millennium 312
The Prospects for Change 318
References 323