Direct Action and Democratic Politics

Direct Action and Democratic Politics PDF Author: Robert Benewick
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000704688
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
First published in 1972. Militant protest is not new to British politics, but the widespread recourse to direct action, in Britain and abroad, is unprecedented. This book was the first comprehensive examination of contemporary protest in the British context. The contributors represented leading agencies of protest as well as those academics who had made this phenomenon their special concern. The result is a unique blend of direct experience and objective reflection. The first part of the volume covers the theoretical and historical dimensions of protest, and is followed by a detailed consideration of specific issues (Ulster, race, the Bomb, students and community action). An analysis is then made of the reaction of the State to such protest through legislative and administrative channels. The final part shows the intermediary roles of political parties, MPs, the NCCL and the mass media. The book concludes with a critical examination of the interaction between protest and representative democracy and the implications which arise from it. Students of politics and sociology as well as political activists of all shades of opinion will find this book essential to an understanding of the bases of protest movements.

Direct Action and Democratic Politics

Direct Action and Democratic Politics PDF Author: Robert Benewick
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000704688
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
First published in 1972. Militant protest is not new to British politics, but the widespread recourse to direct action, in Britain and abroad, is unprecedented. This book was the first comprehensive examination of contemporary protest in the British context. The contributors represented leading agencies of protest as well as those academics who had made this phenomenon their special concern. The result is a unique blend of direct experience and objective reflection. The first part of the volume covers the theoretical and historical dimensions of protest, and is followed by a detailed consideration of specific issues (Ulster, race, the Bomb, students and community action). An analysis is then made of the reaction of the State to such protest through legislative and administrative channels. The final part shows the intermediary roles of political parties, MPs, the NCCL and the mass media. The book concludes with a critical examination of the interaction between protest and representative democracy and the implications which arise from it. Students of politics and sociology as well as political activists of all shades of opinion will find this book essential to an understanding of the bases of protest movements.

Direct Action and Democratic Politics

Direct Action and Democratic Politics PDF Author: Robert Benewick
Publisher: London : Allen and Unwin
ISBN: 9780043500415
Category : Direct action
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description


Direct Action and Democratic Politics. Ed. by R. Benewick and T. Smith

Direct Action and Democratic Politics. Ed. by R. Benewick and T. Smith PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description


Direct Action and Liberal Democracy

Direct Action and Liberal Democracy PDF Author: April Carter
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135027331
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
This study focuses primarily on the nature of "direct action" in relation to contemporary movements, and considers the role of direct action methods in past campaigns for constitutional and social rights. Boycotts, sit-ins, obstructions, civil disobedience and other unconstitutional forms of protest are examined to see whether they necessarily lead to violence. The political conditions which encourage violence and the effects of various type of violent action are also discussed. The theoretical issues raised by direct action in a parliamentary system are also discussed.

Direct Action and Democracy Today

Direct Action and Democracy Today PDF Author: April Carter
Publisher: Polity
ISBN: 9780745629353
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
More and more people around the world are protesting to defend their rights, resist injustice or oppose undemocratic rule. In this book, April Carter debates the nature and meaning of such protest and discusses the relationship between direct action and people's claims for greater democratic control, not only against repressive regimes but also in liberal parliamentary states. The book begins by looking at non-violent direct action in historical context, tracing its evolution from the end of the Second World War to the present day. It examines the association between direct action and the social movements of recent decades and charts its role in the new global movement against neo-liberal economic policies. The second part of the book relates direct action to political theory to ascertain how it fits with theories of liberal, republican and deliberative democracy. It goes on to consider socialist and cosmopolitan approaches to democracy and popular resistance and concludes by looking at the implications of protest politics for current democratic thinking and contemporary world events. This book will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of international politics and political theory.

Direct Action in the UK - Chances, Limitations and Risks

Direct Action in the UK - Chances, Limitations and Risks PDF Author: Georg Schwedt
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3638751929
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 33

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Book Description
Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Western Europe, grade: A, University of Economics, Prague, course: The UK political system, 7 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Since the beginning of the 1990s there is a growing direct action movement in the UK, starting with the emergence of the Earth First! (EF!) network. An actual example is the protest against Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), a company carry-ing out biotechnological research and development including in-vitro-techniques and animal testing. At the same time the support for the parliamentary democratic system seem to be declining, expressed, for instance, by the decreasing turnout in general elections. So, what are the chances for contribution to the democratic system in the UK? Where is the concept limited and aren't there even risks for the democratic system? Here the protests against HLS become an important example again since HLS works under considerable con-straints created by the protesters, not only affecting their business, but also their employee's private lives. (Grant: 2004, p. 414) A term also often used in this context is "civil disobedience".

Direct Action

Direct Action PDF Author: L.A. Kauffman
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1784784117
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

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Book Description
What happened to the American left after the Sixties? This engrossing account traces the evolution of disruptive protest over the last forty years to tell a larger story about the reshaping of American radicalism, showing how the direct-action blockades, occupations, and campaigns of recent activist movements have functioned as laboratories for political experimentation and renewal. Propelled by more than a hundred candid interviews conducted over a span of decades, this elegant and lively history showcases the voices of key players in an array of movements-environmentalist, anti-nuclear, anti-apartheid, feminist, LGBTQ, anti-globalization, racial-justice, anti-war, and more-across an era when American politics shifted to the right, and issue- and identity-based organizing eclipsed the traditional ideologies of the left. As Kauffman, a longtime movement insider, examines how groups from ACT UP to Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter have used direct action to catalyze change against long odds, she details the profound influence of feminism and queerness on radical political practice and how enduring divisions of race have shaped the landscape of activism. Written with nuance and humor, and revealing deep connections between movements usually viewed in isolation, Direct Action is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding how protest movements erupt-and how they can succeed.

Direct Theory and Political Action

Direct Theory and Political Action PDF Author: Noël Sturgeon
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Direct action
Languages : en
Pages : 662

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Book Description


Organizing for Policy Influence

Organizing for Policy Influence PDF Author: Benjamin Farrer
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351754408
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
In this book, Benjamin Farrer explains how activists can influence the policies they care about, even when they are outnumbered and their issues are ignored. The solution lies in a surprising place: organizational choice. Different types of organizations will be more influential under particular democratic institutions. If they choose the optimal type of organization - given their institutional context - then even minority groups can be influential. Environmentalists are a key example of how small groups can sometimes punch above their weight. Environmentalists in different countries have made different organizational choices. These choices explain whether or not they succeeded in influencing policy. In the empirical chapters that follow, Farrer shows that environmentalists can sometimes be more influential if they form interest groups, but under other institutions, political parties are the optimal organizational choice. Although interest groups are often easier to create, national institutions can sometimes insulate mainstream politicians from niche interest groups. When institutions deny access to interest groups, activists are forced to send the stronger signal of party entry. Using a variety of methods, including a formal model, an experiment, and a wealth of empirical data from a variety of settings, Farrer proves that this theory of organizational choice adds to our understanding of several crucial phenomena. First, it helps explain patterns of political participation, by showing the importance of instrumental, rather than purely expressive, motivations for activism. Second, it provides an important modification to Duverger’s (1954) law, by showing that new party entry is a function not only of electoral rules but also of the rules that govern interest groups. Third, it extends research on the role of institutions in determining policy outputs, by showing that policy outcomes are a function of the interaction between organizational choices and institutional context.

Political Protest and Cultural Revolution

Political Protest and Cultural Revolution PDF Author: Barbara Epstein
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520084330
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
From her perspective as both participant and observer, Barbara Epstein examines the nonviolent direct action movement which, inspired by the civil rights movement, flourished in the United States from the mid-seventies to the mid-eighties. Disenchanted with the politics of both the mainstream and the organized left, and deeply committed to forging communities based on shared values, activists in this movement developed a fresh, philosophy and style of politics that shaped the thinking of a new generation of activists. Driven by a vision of an ecologically balanced, nonviolent, egalitarian society, they engaged in political action through affinity groups, made decisions by consensus, and practiced mass civil disobedience. The nonviolent direct action movement galvanized originally in opposition to nuclear power, with the Clamshell Alliance in New England and then the Abalone Alliance in California leading the way. Its influence soon spread to other activist movements—for peace, non-intervention, ecological preservation, feminism, and gay and lesbian rights. Epstein joined the San Francisco Bay Area's Livermore Action Group to protest the arms race and found herself in jail along with a thousand other activists for blocking the road in front of the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. She argues that to gain a real understanding of the direct action movement it is necessary to view it from the inside. For with its aim to base society as a whole on principles of egalitarianism and nonviolence, the movement sought to turn political protest into cultural revolution.