Walk and Be Moved: How Walking Builds Social Movements (original) (raw)
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Theories of Urban Politics, 2009
Over the last several decades, many cities around the world have become the locale for national and international protests. Anti-Iraqi war demonstrations in Berlin, gatherings of mothers and grandmothers at the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, student demonstrations in Beijing, and anti-globalisation demonstrations in Seattle were all locally staged protests that addressed much larger national and international issues. These demonstrations attracted attention, in part, because they involved a large number of people and took place in world capitals where many national and international political and economic institutions are located. What all these protests have in common is their concern for social and economic justice and for participatory democracy. They often target political and economic leaders on local, national and international levels. Finally, although protesters are increasingly concerned with global issues, they also are concerned with how they play out at the local level in terms of neighbourhood quality of life, access to jobs, economic opportunities, health status, and the ability to participate in political debate and decision-making. The world in which we live is becoming more global and urban. In 1950 only 29.8 percent of the world's population lived in cities. Today 47.2 percent of the world's population lives in urban areas, and by 2030, approximately 60 percent of the world's population is projected to live in urban areas (United Nations, 2002). As a result, urban issues can be expected to continue to dominate the agenda of social movement organisations. This chapter examines how urban social movements are formed, the political and social contexts within which they emerge, how movement issues are framed, and the impact of globalisation on local organising. I will offer some examples of urban social movements both locally and globally, and conclude by discussing future directions and challenges facing urban social movements. Understanding urban social movements The term urban social movement first appeared in 1970s in the work of Manuel Castells. His primary focus was on issues of power and conflict in the city (Castells, 1983). He examined various types of issues, including collective consumption and
The urban question revisited: the importance of cities for social movements
International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 2008
AbstractWhat roles do cities play in fostering general social movements? This article maintains that cities facilitate particular types of relations that are good at making high-quality resources available to mobilizations operating at a variety of spatial scales. However, while large and complex urban systems may be well suited for these types of relations, whether they actually develop depends on the nature of local power relations between political authorities and civic organizations. In certain cities local configurations of political power may favor the growth of these relations, with these cities becoming important nodal points in geographically extended social movement networks. In other cities, by contrast, local configurations of political power may hamper the formation of these relations. This is a theoretical article that draws on network theory to inform the conceptual framework and a variety of empirical cases for illustrative purposes.What roles do cities play in fostering general social movements? This article maintains that cities facilitate particular types of relations that are good at making high-quality resources available to mobilizations operating at a variety of spatial scales. However, while large and complex urban systems may be well suited for these types of relations, whether they actually develop depends on the nature of local power relations between political authorities and civic organizations. In certain cities local configurations of political power may favor the growth of these relations, with these cities becoming important nodal points in geographically extended social movement networks. In other cities, by contrast, local configurations of political power may hamper the formation of these relations. This is a theoretical article that draws on network theory to inform the conceptual framework and a variety of empirical cases for illustrative purposes.RésuméQuels rôles les villes jouent-elles dans l’alimentation des mouvements sociaux généraux? Elles facilitent des types particuliers de relations qui réussissent à rendre des ressources de qualité accessibles à des mobilisations opérant à divers échelons spatiaux. Pourtant, si les grands réseaux urbains complexes sont sans doute bien adaptés à ces types de relations, leur développement effectif dépend de la nature des relations de pouvoir locales entre les autorités politiques et les organisations de citoyens. Dans certaines villes, les configurations locales du pouvoir politique peuvent favoriser l’intensification de ces relations, ces villes devenant d’importants points nodaux au sein de réseaux de mouvements sociaux de grande ampleur géographique. Dans d’autres, en revanche, les configurations locales du pouvoir politique peuvent gêner la constitution de ces relations. Cet article théorique utilise la théorie des réseaux pour éclairer le cadre conceptuel et plusieurs cas empiriques à titre indicatif.Quels rôles les villes jouent-elles dans l’alimentation des mouvements sociaux généraux? Elles facilitent des types particuliers de relations qui réussissent à rendre des ressources de qualité accessibles à des mobilisations opérant à divers échelons spatiaux. Pourtant, si les grands réseaux urbains complexes sont sans doute bien adaptés à ces types de relations, leur développement effectif dépend de la nature des relations de pouvoir locales entre les autorités politiques et les organisations de citoyens. Dans certaines villes, les configurations locales du pouvoir politique peuvent favoriser l’intensification de ces relations, ces villes devenant d’importants points nodaux au sein de réseaux de mouvements sociaux de grande ampleur géographique. Dans d’autres, en revanche, les configurations locales du pouvoir politique peuvent gêner la constitution de ces relations. Cet article théorique utilise la théorie des réseaux pour éclairer le cadre conceptuel et plusieurs cas empiriques à titre indicatif.
Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews, 2017
contribution to political sociology, urban sociology, and criminology. The team-based ethnography, use of multiple methods of data collection, and inductive analysis make In Harm's Way a strong and unique contribution to ethnography.
Finding the movement: the geographies of social movement scenes
Purpose – A social movement scene is " a network of people who share a set of subcultural or countercultural beliefs, values, norms, and convictions as well as a network of physical spaces where members of that group are known to congregate " (Leach and Haunss 2009, p. 260, emphasis in the original). The purpose of this paper is to further develop theories of social movement scenes by examining the spatial dimensions of proximity, centrality, visibility, and accessibility, arguing that different scene configurations are shaped by gentrification processes. Design/methodology/approach – This is an ethnographic study based on research conducted in Sweden over a five year period (2007-2012), including several summer research trips and a sustained fieldwork period of 14 months. Using snowball sampling, the author conducted semi-structured interviews with 38 activists involved in autonomous movement scenes. The author interviewed both men (n ¼ 26) and women (n ¼ 12) who ranged in age from 18 to 37, with most interviewees in their late 20s and early 30s. Findings – Findings suggest that neighborhoods in the early stages of gentrification are most conducive to strong scenes. The author's findings suggest that, while some of these conditions are locally specific, there were common structural conditions in each city, such as changes in the commercial landscape and housing tenure. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the specificity of the concept of a social movement scene by presenting three spatial dimensions of scenes: centrality (relative to the Central Business District), concentration (clustering of scene places in one area of the city), and visibility (a visible presence communicated by signs and symbols). A second contribution of this paper is to offer a set of hypotheses about the urban conditions under which social movement scenes thrive (or fizzle).
Social Movements in Urban Society: The City as A Space of Politicization
Urban Geography, 2013
Recent anti-systemic social movements have illustrated the central role of cities in social movement mobilization. We not only highlight the characteristics of urban social relations that make cities fertile ground for mobilization, but also point to the disjunctures between the geographies and spatialities of social relations in the city, and the geographies and spatialities of many systemic processes. Struggles for a more just society must consider the broad geographies and spatialities of oppression, which we illustrate with a brief analysis of the Occupy movement. Finally, we introduce the next five articles in this special issue, all illustrating the importance of the geographies and spatialities of urban social struggle. [
Recent anti-systemic social movements have illustrated the central role of cities in social movement mobilization. We not only highlight the characteristics of urban social relations that make cities fertile ground for mobilization, but also point to the disjunctures between the geographies and spatialities of social relations in the city, and the geographies and spatialities of many systemic processes. Struggles for a more just society must consider the broad geographies and spatialities of oppression, which we illustrate with a brief analysis of the Occupy movement. Finally, we introduce the next five articles in this special issue, all illustrating the importance of the geographies and spatialities of urban social struggle. [
Neighborhood design and walking trips in ten US metropolitan areas
American journal of …, 2007
Background-Despite substantial evidence for neighborhood characteristics correlating with walking, so far there has been limited attention to possible practical implications for neighborhood design. This study investigates to what extent design guidelines are likely to stimulate walking.