Get Up, Stand Up - Taylor and Van Dyke PDF

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‘Get up, Stand up’: Tactical repertoires of social movements Taylor and Van Dyke (2008) Protest, or the collective use of unconventional methods of political participation to try to persuade or coerce authorities to support a challenging group’s aims, is perhaps the fundamental feature that distinguishes social movements from routine political actors. If there is a single element that distinguishes social movements from other political actors, however, it is the strategic use of novel, dramatic, unorthodox and noninstitutionalised forms of political expression to try to shape public opinion and put pressure on those in positions of authority. The tactics of protest used by social movements are so integral to popular views of social movements that sometimes a movement is remembered more for its tactics than for its goals. Social movement researchers interested in understanding the factors that influence a movement’s choice of particular tactics point out that tactics of protest are fairly predictable, limited, and bounded by the repertoires that protestors have learned. Scholars use the term ‘repertoires of contention’ to describe the distinctive constellations of tactics and strategies developed over time and used by protest groups to act collectively in order to make claims on individuals and groups. The term ‘repertoire’ implies that the interactions between a movement and its antagonists can be understood as strategic performances or established ways in which pairs of actors make and receive claims bearing on each other’s interests. Tilly introduced the repertoires concept to identify important historical variations in forms of protest and to explain the rise of the national social movement as a form of claims-making used by subordinate groups in modern capitalist democratic societies. In addition to being historically specific, protest repertoires are modular in the sense that similar tactics may be borrowed by different groups of activists pursuing different targets without face-to-face interaction. As a result, tactical innovations occur slowly. Because of linkages between activist networks and movement organisations, the same protest tactics spread from one campaign to another. Types of tactical repertoires Scholars interested in understanding why a challenging group chooses a particular form of protest have generally used two different criteria to distinguish the different types of tactics. Early formulations defined movements either as instrumental or expressive based on whether a group’s actions and strategies were oriented towards social change or personal change. More recently, this dichotomy of movement types is reflected in the work of scholars who differentiate between ‘strategy oriented’ and ‘identity oriented’ movements, or between movements that use instrumental, externally oriented tactics and movements engaged in ‘identity deployment’ that is internally oriented. Numerous studies call into question the bifurcation of movement types by demonstrating that social movements combine both instrumental and expressive actions. This work suggests that we should distinguish tactics on the basis of the type of interaction taking place between the movement and its target. Using this criterion, Turner and Killian (1987) identify four basic tactics: persuasion (appeals to the values or self-interest of targets), facilitation (assists the target group in acquiring knowledge or resources to support the movement), bargaining (e.g. when a movement exchanges electoral and other kinds of cooperation with the target group for support of the movement), coercion (punishing the target group for failure to support the movement). Recent formulations tend to differentiate between two modes of action: insider tactics (boycotts, dramaturgy, lawsuits, leafleting, lobbying, petitions, etc.) and outsider tactics (sit-ins, demonstrations, vigils, marches, strikes, boycotts of classes, blockades, and other illegal acts such as bombings). Some scholars introduce violence as a third and separate category, thus distinguishing tactics as conventional, disruptive, and violent. Protest events as tactical repertoires Much of the recent work on social movements tactics comes out of what is referred to as ‘protest event’ research. This term refers tot eh content coding of newspaper accounts of collective action events pioneered by Tilly and his colleagues that has since developed into a routine method for studying social movements. The event count method is extended by the authors to overcome two problems with the way protest tactics have been studied: (1) formalised rules and conventions for coding information on collective events using records from newspapers are biased toward a standard set of mainly public protest forms (marches, demonstrations, sit-ins, etc.). The unit of analysis is generally the collective action event which is defined as public , thus ignoring the cultural and discursive tactics used by social movements, protests taking place inside institutions, and other less publicly conspicuous tactics such as those used by identitybased struggles, terrorist groups, and right-wing movements; (2) McAdam et al. (2001) suggest that we limit the definition of contentious politics to claims-making that involves the government as a claimant, target, or mediator. However, research using the event count method does not restrict the counting of events to collective action that targets the government. A better approach is therefore to define the institutional locus of social movements more broadly as targeting systems of authority in institutional structures, such as religion, medicine, the military, education, the mass media, as well as in the political arena.

A definition of tactical repertoires: contestation, intentionality, and collective identity The authors propose that the essential features of all protest events are contestation, intentionality, and the construction of collective identity. Contestation – Bodies, symbols, identities, practices, and discourses are used to pursue or prevent changes in institutionalised power relations. Protest is rarely enacted as face-to-face interaction. Rather, in modern information-driven societies, protest operates to influence decision-makers primarily through indirect channels, such as the mass media and the Internet. As a result, social movements frequently use dramatic and unorthodox tactics to draw the attention of the media. Intentionality – acting strategically with conscious intention to produce or prevent change. Even when groups are small, they try, through marches, strikes, petitions, letter-writing campaigns, and referenda, to convey numerical strength. Cultural performances are also intentionally stages as part of the larger repertoire of contention of social movements. In examining whether any form of collective actions serves as part of a tactical repertoire, we should not make a priori judgements about what constitutes a protest event. Rather, we should be asking what the intentions of the actors are and whether a particular set of actors are consciously and strategically promoting or resisting change in dominant relations of power. Collective identity – acting collectively requires the development of solidarity and an oppositional consciousness that allows a challenging group to identify common injustices, to oppose those injustices, and to define a shared interest in opposing the dominant group or resisting the system of authority responsible for those injustices. Protest actions are one of the means by which challenging groups develop and oppositional consciousness and collective identity. Thus movements also have an internal movement building dimension, creating opportunities and incentives for participation in protest that outweigh the costs by facilitating the creation of new forms of solidarity, varying from low to high risk actions. Factors that influence tactical repertoires: protest action and innovation The basic tenet of this approach is that repertoires of contention are created out of a group’s prior experience of making and receiving claims. Specific forms of collective actions are determined by the degree and type of political opportunity, the form of organisation adopted by subordinate groups, and a subordinate group’s cultural framing of its grievances. External Macrohistorical Conditions Discussions of the external factors that influence the tactical repertoires of contemporary social movements have sought to explain an apparent shift in forms of political contention in Western nations by linking these changes to macrohistorical factors in the larger socio-political environment. This work focuses on three processes: modernisation, the rise of post-industrial society, and the development of cycles of collective action. Older or ‘traditional’ repertoires included actions such as grain seizures, field invasions, barricades, music, irreverent costumes, and other performances that ridiculed local authorities. What all of these political performances had in common is that they were particular, in that participants were drawn from a limited geographic area, protest addressed local actors or elites, the tactics were specific to the grievances, collective action repertoires drew on existing social relations, and collective actors often took advantage of official occasions, public celebrations, and other routine activities to convey grievances. By the mid-19th century, contentious politics had changes drastically. The geographic scale of claims-making increased, with national authorities serving as the target of an ever increasing number of claims and special interest groups emerging for the express purpose of challenging authorities. As political contention became national in focus, the tactical repertoires shifted to actions such as strikes, marches, electoral rallies, public meetings, petitions, insurrections, and public demonstrations. Tilly and his colleagues identify three macrohistorical factors that are important in shaping modern tactical repertoires: the nature of political authority, the geographical reach of political authorities , and technology. Regarding the former, Fraser (1997) points out to how ‘recognition struggles’ emerged in response to the misrecognition of identities (e.g. racial, sexual, etc.) and status subordination encoded in formal law, government policies, administrative codes, and professional practices, as well as in social practices in civil society. Secondly, the geographical reach of political power has also continued to expand, with the last half of the century marked by increasing globalisation and the development of international governing structures such as the WTO, EU, IMF, etc. These development have been accompanied by the expansion of transnational protest repertoires that combine direct action, radical democracy, street performances, and the Internet. Thirdly, technological advances have significantly influenced protest repertoires over time. During the 18th century, the development of the print media enabled the rapid diffusion of information and facilitated the formation of geographically dispersed networks of collective actors. Social movement researches are beginning to explore how the Internet as a recent technological innovation is emerging as an important mobilising tool, as well as a means and target of protest action. New social movement theorists see fundamental changes in the repertoires of contemporary social movements as resulting from the shift from an industrial to a post-industrial economy. Capitalist interventions, increased structural differentiations, and a transition from materialist to postmaterialist values have resulted in a new form of mainly middle-class driven activism that is distinct from earlier forms of class-based protest centred in the working class. New social movements are less concerned

with economic redistribution and policy changes than with issues of the quality of life, personal growth and autonomy, and identity and self-affirmation. Several studies demonstrate that over the course of a protest cycle, a process of both increasing radicalisation and institutionalisation occurs. Over time as they are repeated, disruptive tactics lose their shock value so that a demonstration that might have at first frightened authorities loses some of its original punch, taking on a ritualised quality. However, frustration with the limited effectiveness of routine tactics, as well as competition for members and media attention between different movement organisations, leads to the increasing use of disruptive tactics and even violence over the course of a protest cycle. Internal Movement Processes There are three internal features influencing a social movement’s tactical choice: level of organisation, cultural frames, and the structural power of the participants. Research on how internal movement processes relate to tactical repertoires has been dominated by a debate over whether the level of organisation among a set of collective actors is related to the use of confrontational and disruptive tactics rather than more conventional tactics. Involvement of mainstream movement organisations has the effect of institutionalising movement actors and decreasing the use of confrontational forms of protest. However, recent research suggests that the link between organisation and strategy is more complex than a simple one-to-one relationship. There is evidence that formal organisations are more likely than informal groups to use conventional tactics of protest. However, they find variation among movement organisations, and that an organisation’s goals and constituency influence tactical choices. Student organisations and groups explicitly focused on social change rather than personal transformation frequently engage in disruptive collective action. Others focus on the ways that particular decentralised and participatory democratic organisations give rise to the use of confrontational direct action tactics. Decentralised and informalized organisational structures encourage individuals’ input and collective decision -making and generated innovative and confrontational actions. The tactical repertoires used by a set of collective actors are also influenced by social movement culture. Frequently activists adopt strategies and tactics not simply because they have been shown to be effective, but because they resonate with the beliefs, ideas, and cultural frames of meaning people use to make sense of their situation and to legitimate collective action. A considerable body of literature demonstrates the significance of gender ideology and symbolism in a movement’s selection of tactics. The language of gender difference and power is also pervasive in women’s self-help movements in medicine and mental health and serves as a rationale for the use of tactics such as consciousness-raising, empowerment, and woman-towoman support in addition to traditional pressure group tactics geared toward social and institutional change. The structural power of protestors also influences a group’s tactical repertoires. Participants’ relative position in the larger social structure, their sense of justice and ‘rights’, their prior experiences with collective action, their everyday routines and cultures of subordination, and their relative position in social movement organisations all figure into the specific tactics used in a struggle. Several studies find that actors who occupy subordinate positions economically and socially and who lack access to institutionalised political and economic power are more likely to engage in disruptive protest. A movement’s tactical repertoires can also be fed by participants’ cultural resources, skills, and sense of justice and ‘rights’ (e.g. Crossley’s analysis of the way habitus influenced psychiatric survivors’ movement to ban electroconvulsive therapy in the UK showed who activists who possessed ‘protest capital’ and had a ‘radical habitus’ were cynical towards the use of persuasive tactics, whereas those in the field of academia, psychiatry and the media relied on their skills and cultural capital to pursue campaigns in their fields).

How tactical repertoires shape movement outcomes Researchers who have been interested in whether and how social movements produce social and political change identify several characteristics of protest related to effectiveness: novelty, militancy, variety, size, and cultural resonance. Novelty - Protestors typically choose from a fairly limited tactical repertoire when deciding on forms of collective action. Although social movements are more likely to select tactics with which they are familiar, empirical studies suggest that innovative tactics are more successful in achieving policy changes. For example, McAdam (1983) demonstrates that tactical innovations on the part of civil rights activists such as sit-ins and freedom rides were effective because they caught authorities off guard. McCammon et al. (2001) provide evidence that suffrage activists were successful in winning the vote in part as a result of the invention of the suffrage parade. The use of novel tactics, such as music, theater, art, poetry, speak-outs, and street performances, are among the ways social movements gain a hearing to serve as vehicles of cultural change. Two recent studies suggest that cultural performances that meld politics with entertainment may have a range of cultural effects, including transformation in beliefs, identities, and ideologies. workers. Rupp and Taylor (2003), using focus group data with heterosexual and gay audiences of drag shows, reveal that drag performances, which are part of the larger repertoire of the gay and lesbian movement, transform heterosexual audience members’ beliefs about gender and sexuality. Militancy – Tactical innovations are often successful because of the uncertainty and disruption they bring about. Several early studies led to the conclusion that groups using disruptive tactics are more successful than those that opt for quieter institutional options. Recent research suggests, however, that the picture is more complicated. Cress and Snow (2000) find that political context influences whether disruptive tactics have successful outcomes in local campaigns to improve the conditions of homeless people. Disruptive tactics, such as blockades, sit-ins, housing takeovers, and unauthorized encampments, were more effective in cities where the movement had allies in city councils and the city had not previously been responsive to the interests of the homeless population. However, in cities that had shown signs of prior support for the homeless issue, non-disruptive tactics such as petitions, rallies, and demonstrations yielded more success. The use of militant tactics also has consequences for mobilization. Participation in high-risk collective action increases activists’ commitment to social movement networks and organizations and can also lead to participation in other forms of political protest over the life course. Variety – Morris’s (1993) study of the 1963 Birmingham, Alabama, campaign against racial segregation suggests that using a variety of tactics may yield the best results in terms of policy change. Civil rights activists simultaneously staged an economic boycott against the city’s businesses, held sit-in demonstrations at local lunch counters, and staged large-scale demonstrations. Scholars of feminism also provide evidence that when the women’s movement’s repertoire of contention has included a variety of protest forms – both conventional and unconventional – the movement has been more likely to achieve policy changes. Increases in the rate and variety of forms of collective action are also linked to what Tarrow (1993) terms ‘‘moments of madness’’ or protest waves that bring about increases in the number of organizations and other mobilizing structures engaged in collective action. Size – Staging protest performances that display a movement’s numerical strength is one way that social movements exercise influence. Large demonstrations capture media attention and follow the logic of democratic principles by demonstrating a strong surge of public and electoral support. Perhaps just as important, numerical strength increases a collective action’s disruptive potential by overburdening la...