Abstract
Nahide Konak and Rasim Özgür Dönmez’s edited volume, Waves of Social Movement Mobilizations in the Twenty-First Century, does not attempt to break new ground in the study of social movements nor does it attempt to relate the emancipation of the oppressed to the emancipation of knowledge. Rather, the book and its contributors utilize classical theory – derived mostly from Western rationalizations – empirical cases studies, and phenomenology to construct a framework for identifying and evaluating commonalities among social movements in a broader global context. From the Middle East and North Africa to Europe and the Americas, the book analyzes interactions between neoliberal systems and civil society to illustrate how capitalism normalizes a fluid, yet coherent, dialectic that structures relations in the modern world. The editors and authors argue that neoliberalism links economic and political hierarchies in the global sphere and thus generates the need to securitize political and economic spaces at the expense of civil societies.
The structural factors derived from neoliberal systems create unbearable social conditions across the globe. Moreover, as elites intensify securitization projects designed to protect capital interests in these global fields – as well as create economic policies that preserve the fated burdens of the masses – a parallel solidarity occurs among the oppressed. A web of network binaries is, indeed, part of the neoliberal world system.
The book comprises 10 chapters with each chapter building on previous themes and findings. To begin with, the introduction makes a poignant claim: Neoliberalism structural imperatives enable the unlimited accumulation of wealth to travel across spaces yet require the restrictive forces that sustain the system’s integrity. Exploitation/Oppression/Colonization is integral to the neoliberal praxis. As a result, fluid neoliberal binaries create an inevitable byproduct: resistance.
This paradox increases the propensity for state violence, surveillance, and tyranny, as well as the increased likelihood of social upheavals from people seeking emancipation from neoliberal constraints. Simply, neoliberalism produces the systems that will lead to its own demise. However, a crucial finding from the various case studies analyzed in the book indicates that a similar paradox resides in bottom-up movements. Without strong solidarities between the oppressed, occurring on multidimensional scales (local, national, and global), the oppressed will remain confined to perpetual resistance. The implicit conclusion suggests that movements must possess the ability to contextualize locally, connect globally, and decontextualize broadly. Unlike those at the helm of neoliberal systems, the oppressed must decentralize without sacrificing the collective to achieve change. A theory must exist behind social movement strategies and desires.
The first chapter, written by Mark Purcell, offers a theoretical framework that helps interpret the following chapters. By incorporating notions of democracy from classical theory, Purcell offers a working-typology, arguing that liberal, deliberate, and participatory democracies are conceptualizations that help identify political desires in various social movements. While liberal democracies give primacy to individualization and the subsequent freedoms associated with the private sphere, deliberative and participatory democracies are oriented toward the public good. It is in the latter forms (deliberative and participatory) where Purcell finds democracy’s true potential. To live in a democracy, citizens must struggle for it. This active relation with liberty indicates that community members have the opportunity to participate in their emancipation. Whether participation translates as voicing experience, volunteering a skillset, performing a cultural reclamation project, or some other form of participation, the disparities created by neoliberal policies become mitigated by a socially democratic consciousness. However, the struggle is a lifelong endeavor that requires a constant commitment to activity and inclusion. The struggle is a process of becoming and thus, never complete.
The subsequent chapters identify appropriated practices by both neoliberal capitalists and oppressed groups, thus highlight the unrelenting homogeneity of neoliberal hegemony. The movements analyzed in Waves of Social Moment Mobilization in the Twenty-First Century share characteristics that include: (1) the state’s mandate to protect neoliberal systems at the expense of society; (2) the marginalized peoples’ attempt to reclaim voice, space, and power; (3) common tactics and methods employed by protestors to achieve emancipation from neoliberal constraints; and (4) the general factors that led to the demise of these movements.
For example, Chapters 2 and 5, authored, respectively, by Ernesto Castaneda and Konak and Donmez, provide empirical support of Purcell’s deliberative and participatory democracies. Of particular interest in these chapters is the enormous burden placed on protestors. That is, dissent must create the space for the multitude impacted directly by neoliberal capitalists on the local and national levels, yet still make connections to oppressed groups across the globe. The literal and virtual occupations of space become key concerns of any movement seeking to reveal the undemocratic nature of neoliberalism.
In addition to the multitude of interests given voice in this new, yet malleable, public sphere, the dissent of the masses must possess tactical strategies that undermine neoliberal interests, and continue to develop a democratic praxis that translates deliberation and participation into transformative political and economic power. The latter burden is where one finds deficiency in these movements, as well as the realities related to their gradual demise. Social movements must remain internally focused, concentrating their collective power on the needs of the local communities, on developing the capacities of residents to become problem-solvers, and on the unremitting commitment to build relationships internally, between and among these communities. Without this level of organization and commitment, external forces will always perpetuate rule over the polity.
This self-perpetuating system permeates every chapter, yet is never recognized as an oppressing rationale. Indeed, despite the neo-Marxian undertones typical of any anti-capitalist movement, communication technologies such as Facebook and Twitter continue to be romanticized or misunderstood. A sense of locality is not only lost in these chapters but deliberately abandoned. Thus, social movements determined to provide the oppressed with alternative pathways to true democracy become destined to fail. Democracy demands the presence that assumes its embodied form.
In other chapters, this misappropriation of technology is confounded by the accommodated actions and reactions of both the complicit actors who support neoliberalism and the protestors adopting a universal fate of the “dispossessed.” Chapters 3 and 4 frame technology as the life-source of any movement. Without the opportunities provided by technology, as well as the attention garnered from them, integration into the political manifold – which includes solidarity with “foreign” movements – cannot occur. According to Goularas and Cepeda, effective movements must possess the capacity to decontextualize local concerns. However, Chapter 8, written by Walter Nicholls and Justus Uitermark, demonstrates how decontextualization leads to sociopolitical imaginaries that are “insensitive to the concerns” of local activists. Movements must remain cognizant and committed to developing pedagogies derived from the lived experiences specific to place, people, and culture. The point these authors make is that if neoliberalism creates an essentialized understanding of world and humanity, any counter-movement must seek to contextualize the realities specific to place and time. Local knowledge, culture, and colloquial language must be accounted for in every facet of the movement’s activities (as Purcell’s Chapter 1 establishes). Without such commitments, the full potential of democracy will remain unattainable.
Chapters 6 and 7 emphasize the importance of local presence, but these cases lack the public consciousness necessary for democratic movements. While Chapter 6 analyzes “squatting” as a means for the oppressed to create space in Turkey’s Gezi Park Protests, Chapter 7 captures the burdens of a movement incapable of mediating its internal differences. Individualism and concern for privacy, even among squatters, are given primacy over public needs. One can interpret the consciousness found in these chapters as the product of movements that lack the necessary epistemology to navigate transitional phases. Solidarity emerges from a relational power that reflects political equality. Without such power, progressive victories become co-opted by desires that privilege the few at the expense of the many.
The book concludes by emphasizing the need for solidarity among the oppressed, as well as the desire for emancipation. Technology is emphasized as not only a necessary tool, but a space that must be occupied by liberation movements. What is sparingly emphasized, however, is the need for a movement’s inside-out growth. That is, without an epistemology that unites, empowers, and elevates local consciousness context will always be lost and democratic potential will never have the opportunity to develop. Alternatives cannot be championed until the oppressed eschew integration into the political and economic mainstream that perpetuates their social condition. To transform neo-liberalism new alternatives and opportunities to establish tangible freedoms that are visible and relished by the public must be cultivated. The beauty of such a struggle is that no standard for emancipation exists. Public freedom arises from creativity.
In closing, the book does achieve its purpose. The authors link neoliberal systems to recent waves of social movements and protests. But the book’s greatest contribution lies in the ideas presented. By pushing boundaries and analysis, disturbances compel deeper reflection. One can find the necessary undertones in this book that will help translate the spirit of resistance into a spirit of democracy. That contribution alone makes Waves of Social Movement Mobilizations in the Twenty-First Century an important read.