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The Centre on Social Movement Studies

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Advances in the visual analysis of social movements

Nicole Doerr; Alice Mattoni; Simon Teune

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Type: Edited Volume
Year: 2013

This special issue of Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change highlights the importance of visuals in the current study of social movements. It is indispensable reading as it introduces new analytical concepts and methodological frameworks for understanding visuals in social movements; combining cultural and political analysis in a fresh, unique and interdisciplinary way. The articles featured in this special issue examine visual expressions of social movements through case studies from across the globe; including: injustice symbols in the Egyptian uprising; contested images from anti-surveillance protests in Germany; gendered visualization of local activism; commemorative videos of activists in recent European protests; and images used in Australian movements against abortion. In the open section of the volume articles examine the work of renowned political science scholar Charles Tilly, and discuss classic concepts in social movement studies. Firstly, considering the concept of repertoire of contention in order to understand the use of distinct contentious performances in Latin America. Secondly, analyzing the role of storytelling in the construction of trust and blame in social movements.
Table of Contents:
• Foreword • Toward a Visual Analysis of Social Movements, Conflict, and Political Mobilization, Nicole Doerr, Alice Mattoni, Simon Teune (pp. xi – xxvi) • Part I: Special Topic: Advances in the Visual Analysis of Social Movements • “We are all Khaled Said”: Visual Injustice Symbols in the Egyptian Revolution, 2010–2011, Thomas Olesen (pp. 3 – 25) • Bodies Keying Politics:A Visual Frame Analysis of Gendered Local Activism in France and Finland, Eeva Luhtakallio (pp. 27 – 54) • Images of Surveillance: The Contested and Embedded Visual Language of Anti-Surveillance Protests, Priska Daphi, Anja Lê, Peter Ullrich (pp. 55 – 80) • The Emotional Imperative of the Visual: Images of the Fetus in Contemporary Australian Pro-Life Politics, Kirsty McLaren (pp. 81 – 103) • Protest Movements and Spectacles of Death: From Urban Places to Video Spaces, Tina Askanius (pp. 105 – 133) • Part II: Comments on Advances in the Visual Analysis of Social Movements • What we can do with Visual Analysis in Social Movement Studies: Some (Self) Reflections, Donatella della Porta (pp. 137 – 144) • Part III: General Theme: Narratives and Repertoires of Contention • The Work Stories do: Charles Tilly’s Legacy on the Provision of Reasons, Storytelling, and Trust in Contentious Performances, Marc W. Steinberg, Patricia Ewick (pp. 147 – 173) • Repertoires of Contention and Tactical Choice in Latin America, 1981–1995, James C. Franklin (pp. 175 – 208) • About the Contributors, pp. 209 – 212)
Research in Social Movements, Conflict and Change, 2013, Vol. 35, Special issue. ISBN: 9781781906354; 9781781906361 ISSN: 0163-786X

News

22/02/2023

15 fully funded PhD positions

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The Faculty of Political and Social Sciences at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence, Italy is pleased to announce 15 PhD fellowships beginning on November 1, 2023. The deadline for applications is April 13, 2023.

16/02/2023

Applications now open! Fourth Edition of the ECPR-COSMOS Summer School on Methods for the Study of Political Participation and Mobilisation

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Applicants must send their application materials no later than March the 17th 2023.

10/01/2022

SNS announces 14 fully-funded PhD positions

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The Faculty of Political and Social Sciences at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence, Italy is pleased to announce 14 PhD fellowships beginning on November 1, 2022.

16/07/2021

Prof. della Porta to lead VolkswagenStiftung-funded ECSEuro project

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Reflecting the European challenge of transnational cooperation and multiple crises, this project asks how local political initiatives across Europe enact citizenship and solidarity and contribute to the vision of a more democratic Europe from below.

09/07/2021

SNS announces 7 fully-funded PhD positions

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The Faculty of Political and Social Sciences at the Scuola Normale Superiore announces 7 fully-funded PhD positions. Deadline for applications: 21 August 2021.

28/09/2020

Four post-doctoral research positions on the pandemic

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The Scuola Normale Superiore announces four post-doctoral positions to be activated as part of the research project “After the coronavirus pandemic: The effects of the health emergency on society and knowledge.” 

Publications

Journal Article - 2023

Reflective Inclusion: Learning from Activists What Taking a Deliberative Stance Means.

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Monograph - 2022

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Drawing interview material, together with extensive data from the authors’ original social movement database, this book examines the development of social movements in resistance to perceived political "regression" and a growing right-wing backlash.

Journal Article - 2022

Populists in power and conspiracy theories

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Journal Article - 2022

The mobilization for spatial justice in divided societies. Urban commons, trust reconstruction and socialist memory in Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Journal Article - 2022

(Water) Bottles and (Street) Barricades: The Politicisation of Lifestyle-Centred Action in Youth Climate Strike Participation

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This article explores the forms of action adopted by participants in two Fridays For Future (FFF) strikes, focusing on the repertoires of action of (young) climate justice protesters. Drawing on protest survey data, it shows demonstrated that young protesters do not participate less in claim-based action than older cohorts. Furthermore, a process of politicisation can be seen to be unfolding that leads to increased commitment in both lifestyle and political forms of participation – at least among active milieus.

Journal Article - 2022

Performing (during) the Coronavirus crisis: The Italian populist radical right between national opposition and subnational government

Andrea Pirro
The first year of COVID-19 confirmed the standing of the populist radical right in Italy. While sitting in opposition at the national level, Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy and Matteo Salvini's League shared common criticism of the Conte II government but experienced diverging trajectories in terms of popularity. These changes can be partly attributed to the different agency of their leaderships. Overall and collectively considered, the Italian populist radical right broke even during the first year of COVID-19, but the crisis exposed the first cracks in Salvini's leadership.

Journal Article - 2021

Far-right protest mobilisation in Europe: Grievances, opportunities and resources

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In this article, we bridge previous research on the far right and social movements to advance hypotheses on the drivers of far-right protest mobilisation based on grievances, opportunities and resource mobilisation models. We use an original dataset combining novel data on 4,845 far-right protest events in 11 East and West European countries (2008–2018), with existing measures accounting for the (political, economic and cultural) context of mobilisation.

Monograph - 2021

Migrant Protest. Interactive Dynamics in Precarious Mobilizations

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This book explores the interactions and spaces shaping the emergence, trajectory, and fragmentation of migrant protest in unfavorable contexts of marginalization.

Edited Volume - 2021

Contentious Migrant Solidarity. Shrinking Spaces and Civil Society Contestation

Donatella della Porta & Elias Steinhilper
Building upon social movement and migration studies, this book maps the two sides of ‘contentious solidarity’: a shrinking civic space and its contestation by civil society.

Journal Article - 2021

Learning from Democratic Practices: New Perspectives in Institutional Design

Andrea Felicetti
Drawing from literature on democratic practices in social movements and democratic innovations, the article illustrates three ways to advance institutional design in the wake of the systemic turn.