OBJECTIVES AND THEME

In the recent evolution of contemporary social movements three phases can be identified.

The first phase is marked both by the labour movement and the systemic importance attributed to the labour conflict in industrial society. A conflict interpreted by Emile Durkheim as a shortcoming of social integration, by Max Weber as a rational conflict by entrepreneurs and workers interests, and a central class struggle for society transformation by the view of Karl Marx.

The second phase of development of social movements takes on new social movements of the sixties and seventies of the XX century, such as students, women and environmentalists movements of post-industrial society. Actions whose sense and meaning are explained mainly by two new analytical perspectives : resource mobilization theory (McAdam and Tilly) that focuses on the study of rational attitudes of these actions and conflicts ; and actionalist sociology, which aims to identify new central actors of the conflicts in the postindustrial society, as labour movement was in industrial society.

The third phase emerges in a world framed by the ascendancy of markets, the prominent role of financial capital flows, communitarian closure and fundamentalism, and refers to movements of affirmation of human rights and democracy as alternatives to global domination and systemic conditioning of individual and groups.

The objective of this conference is to foster theoretical reflections and to present empirical evidences regarding some of the recent mobilizations that took place in the Mediterranean area and that have two very clearly distinguished threads. On the one hand, there are the mobilizations that reveal the need to open space to democracy by asking for political reforms and democratization processes in countries such as Tunez, Egypt, Morocco, Libya and Syria, among other. On the other hand, numerous discontent displays regarding the political management of economical crisis and the shrinking of the Welfare State in South Europe triggered mobilizations such as 15-M in Spain, “Indignate-vous” in France, Italy and Greece and other protests organized by young people and students in England, Israel and Belgium.

Bringing together different networks and orientations around social movements, expressed by the two ISA Research Committees 47 and 48, this conference offers the opportunity to debate around the changes and the meanings of social movements of the twenty-first century. In special, we are interested in analysing the antecedents, the influence of social and political conditions, the movement’s nature regarding organization, forms of protest, claims, causes, protagonists, role of social media and to spot the meaning of these relatively new forms of protest beyond the action repertoire. _

Date and place
9th - 10thFebruary 2012, Bilbao – Spain
University of the Basque Country (Paraninfo)

Organization
International Sociological Association (ISA)
ISA RC47 – Research Committee Social Classes and Social Movements
ISA RC48 – Research Committee Social Movements, Collective Action and Social Change