Protest as an act of love

Martin Bekker

Abstract


In a world filled with “ambient violence”, public protest is a vital signal of shared discontent. The essential compulsion at the heart of protest, however, is conventionally not recognised for what it is: solidarity with those suffering injustices.

Amid authorities’ often-fierce efforts to curtail gatherings of people whose experiences of injustice propel them into the streets, a sharp rise in public protests has been perceived since the early 2000s. Thousands of column inches dedicated to reporting on protests are rivalled in volume only by the reams of academic theories produced around causes. Despite this overabundance of discourses, it often remains unclear what protest, at heart, constitutes. That is, what are we talking about when we talk about protest, and why does this question matter? In this paper I consider the constituent parts of protest formation in the abstract, including grievances, gestures, and tactics, among other. Developing these constituent parts reveals protest to be, first and foremost, a manifestation of a nonhegemonic ethical commitment to justice, requiring courage and coordination, and whose outcome is always contingent, that is, an act of love. I also reflect on the nature of protest as a direct political action that sits on a continuum that ranges from opposition politics to civil war. This continuum offers a graded view ranking expressions of discontent by severity of outcome.


Keywords


Protest; Resistance; Love; Lacan; Žižek

Full Text:

PDF

References


Addison, M. (2002) Violent Politics: Strategies of Internal Conflict. London: Palgrave.

Alexander, P and Pfaffe, P. (2014) 'Social Relationships to the Means and Ends of Protest in South Africa’s Ongoing Rebellion of the Poor: The Balfour Insurrections'. Social Movement Studies, 13(2), pp.204-221.

Alexander, P. (2013) 'Marikana, Turning Point in South African History'. Review of African Political Economy, 40(138): 605-619.

Allal, A and El Chazli, Y. (2012) Figures du Déclassement et Passage au Politique dans les Situations Révolutionnaires Égyptienne et Tunisienne. Paris: Armand Colin.

Almeida, P. (2008) The sequencing of success: Organizing templates and neoliberal policy outcomes. Mobilization: An International Quarterly, 13(2): 65-187.

Arnson, C.J. and Zartman I.W. (2005) Rethinking the Economics of War: The Intersection of Need, Creed, and Greed. Washington: Woodrow Wilson Center Press.

Badiou, A. (2007) Being and Event. Paris: A&C Black.

Bensted, R. (2011) 'A Critique of Paul Collier’s "Greed and Grievance" Thesis of Civil War'. African Security Review, 20(3): 84-90.

Betz, D. (2012) 'Cyberpower in Strategic Affairs: Neither Unthinkable nor Blessed'. Journal of Strategic Studies, 35(5): 689-711.

Bodea, C and Elbadawi, I.A. (2007) Riots, coups and civil war: Revisiting the greed and grievance debate. Washington DC: The World Bank.

Brinton, C. (1938) The Anatomy of Revolution. Boston: W W Norton and Co.

Castells, M. (1983) The City and the Grassroots: A Cross-Cultural Theory of Urban Social Movements. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Chambers, C.A., Fox Piven, F. and Cloward, R.A. (1977) Poor People’s Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail. New York: Pantheon Books.

Chomsky, N. (2012) Making the Future: Occupations, Interventions, Empire and Resistance. New York: Penguin.

Clausewitz, C. (1832) On War. Oxford: Oxford World's Classic.

Collier, P, Hoeffler, A and Rohner, D. 2009. 'Beyond Greed and Grievance: Feasibility and Civil War'. Oxford Economic Papers 61(1): 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1093/oep/gpn029.

Cox, L and Nilsen, A.G. (2007) 'Social movements research and the "movement of movements": Studying resistance to neoliberal globalisation'. Sociology Compass, 1(2), pp.424-442.

Cunningham, D.E. and Lemke, D. (2014) Beyond civil war: A quantitative examination of causes of violence within countries. Civil Wars. 16(3), pp.328-345.

de Quervain, D.J.F, Fischbacher, U., Treyer, V. and Schellhammer, M. (2004) 'The Neural Basis of Altruistic Punishment'. Science, 305(5688): 1254.

Della Porta, D. and Diani, M. (eds). (2015) The Oxford Handbook of Social Movements. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Della Porta, D and Diani, M. (2006) The study of social movements: recurring questions, (partially) changing answers. Social movements an introduction. Cambridge: Blackwell Publishing.

Diamond, J. (2005) Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. New York: Penguin.

Dilthey, W. (2010) Wilhelm Dilthey: Selected Works, Volume IV: Hermeneutics and the Study of History. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Duncan, J. (2016) Protest Nation: The Right to Protest in South Africa. Durban: University of KwaZulu Natal Press.

Eagan, SP. (1996) 'From Spikes to Bombs: The Rise of Eco‐Terrorism'. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 19(1): 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/10576109608435993

Engels, B and Müller, M. (2019) 'Northern Theories, Southern Movements? Contentious Politics in Africa through the Lens of Social Movement Theory'. Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 37(1): 72-92. https://doi.org/10.1080/02589001.2019.1607967

Favre, P. (1990) La Manifestation. Paris: Presse de la Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques.

Feldstein, R, Fink, B and Jaanus, M. (1995) Reading Seminar XI: Lacan’s Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis: The Paris Seminars in English. New York: SUNY Press.

Flippo, EB. (1976) Principles of Personnel Management. London: McGraw-Hill.

Foucault, M. (1977) Language, counter-memory, practice: Selected essays and interviews. New York: Cornell University Press.

Galtung, J. (1990) 'Cultural Violence'. Journal of Peace Research, 27(3): 291-305. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343390027003005

Gilbert, M. (1992) On Social Facts. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Gramsci, A and Hoare, Q. (1971) Selections from the Prison Notebooks. London: Lawrence and Wishart.

Gratz, KL and Roemer, L. (2004) 'Multidimensional Assessment of Emotion Regulation and Dysregulation: Development, Factor Structure and Initial Validation of the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale'. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 26(1): 41-54. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JOBA.0000007455.08539.94

Gurr, T.R. (1970) Why Men Rebel. New York: Routledge.

Havercroft, J. (2020) Why is there no just riot theory?.

Heleta, S. (2016) 'Decolonisation of Higher Education: Dismantling Epistemic Violence and Eurocentrism in South Africa'. Transformation in Higher Education, 1(1): 1-8.

Heywood, A. (2014) Global Politics. Oxford: Macmillan International Higher Education.

Hirschman, A.O. (1970) Exit, Voice and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations and States. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Hoffman, F.G. (2009) 'Hybrid Warfare and Challenges'. In Joint Force Quarterly, 1(52): 339–48.

Jasper, JM. (1997) 'The Pleasures of Protest'. In The Art of Moral Protest. Chicago: Univeristy of Chicago.

Kaldor, M. (2013) 'In Defence of New Wars'. Stability: International Journal of Security and Development, 2(1): 4. https://doi.org/10.5334/sta.at

Keen, D. (2012) 'Greed and Grievance in Civil War'. International Affairs, 88(4): 757-777. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2346.2012.01100.x

Kepplinger, H.M. (2009) Systemtheoretische Aspekte politischer Kommunikation. In Politikvermittlung (pp. 9-26). VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.

Klandermans, B and Staggenborg, S. (2002) Methods of Social Movement Research. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press.

Klandermans, B, Roefs, M and Olivier, J. (2001) 'Grievance Formation in a Country in Transition: South Africa, 1994-1998'. Social Psychology Quarterly, 64(1): 41-54.

Klandermans, P.G. (2003) 'Collective political action'. In Sears, DO, Huddy, L and Jervis, R (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology (pp. 670-709). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Lacan, J. (2001) Ecrits: A Selection. Paris: Routledge.

Lipsky, M. (1968) 'Protest as a Political Resource'. American Political Science Review, 62(4): 1144-1158.

Luthans, F, Luthans, K.W and Luthans, B.C. (2004) 'Positive Psychological Capital: Beyond Human and Social Capital'. Business Horizons, 1(47), pp.45-50.

Luxemburg, R. (2003) The Accumulation of Capital. London: Routledge.

Mamdani, M, Mkandawire, T and Wamba-dia-Wamba. (1988) 'Social Movements, Social Transformation and Struggle for Democracy in Africa'. Economic and Political Weekly, 23(19): 973-981.

Marx, K. (1852) 'The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte'. The Marx-Engels reader. [1978] London: Norton.

McMichael, P. (2012) Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective. Oakland: Pine Forge Press.

Mitra, S.K. (1991) 'Room to Maneuver in the Middle: Local Elites, Political Action and the State in India'. World Politics, 43(03): 390-413. https://doi.org/10.2307/2010400

Moore, K and Woolley, K. (2016) 'Direct Action'. In Ritzer, G (ed.) The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, (pp. 1-6). Oxford: John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosd067.pub2

Mottiar, S and Bond, P. (2012) 'The Politics of Discontent and Social Protest in Durban'. Politikon, 39(3): 309-330.

Mundy, J. (2011) 'Deconstructing Civil Wars'. Security Dialogue, 42(3): 279-295. https://doi.org/10.1177/0967010611405378

Murshed, S.M. and Gates, S. (2005) 'Spatial-Horizontal Inequality and the Maoist Insurgency in Nepal'. Review of Development Economics, 9(1): 121-134.

Nathan, L. (2003) 'The Frightful Inadequacy of Most of the Statistics: A Critique of Collier and Hoeffler on Causes of Civil War'. Constructive Approaches to Community and Political Conflict, 12(5): 5-36.

Ngwane, T. (2011) Ideology and Agency in Protest Politics: Service Delivery Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa. Durban: University of KwaZulu Natal.

O’Neill, J. (1986) 'The Disciplinary Society: From Weber to Foucault'. British Journal of Sociology, 37(1): 42-60.

Opp, K-D. (2009) Theories of Political Protest and Social Movements: A Multidisciplinary Introduction, Critique, and Synthesis. London: Routledge.

Østby, G, Nordås, R and Rød, J.K. (2009) 'Regional Inequalities and Civil Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa'. International Studies Quarterly, 53(2): 301-224.

Owen, D.S. and Strong, T.B. (2004) Max Weber: The Vocation Lectures. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing.

Piven, F.F. and Cloward, R.A. (1977) Poor People's Movements: Why They Succeed. How They Fail. New York: Random House.

Porto, J.G. and Francis, D. (2008) 'The Mainstreaming of Conflict Analysis in Africa: Contributions from Theory'. In Francis, D (ed.), Peace and Conflict in Africa (pp.46-67). London: Zed Books

Posastiuc, C. (2013) 'The Use of Network Metrics in Building Intelligence Early Warning Systems. The Structural Conduciveness Index'. International Review of Social Research, 3(3), pp.63-70.

Raleigh, C. (2015) 'Urban Violence Patterns Across African States'. International Studies Review, 17(1), pp.90-106. https://doi.org/10.1111/misr.12206

Runciman, C, Alexander, P, Rampedi, M, Moloto, B, Maruping, B, Khumalo, E and Sibanda, S. (2016) Counting Police-Recorded Protests Based on South African Police Service Data. Johannesburg: Centre for Social Change.

Runciman, C. (2016) Mobilising and organising in precarious times. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy. 36(9/10), pp. 613-628.

Samuel, C. (2013) The Problems of Protest and the Persistence of Domination: Social Movement Theory and Bourdieu's Economy of Practice (Doctoral dissertation: Queen's Univeristy).

Samuelson, P.A. (1954) 'The Pure Theory of Public Expenditure'. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 36(4): 387-389.

Scott, J.C. (1985) Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Shaheen, S and Hayo, B. (2015) Social Uprisings: Conceptualization, Measurement, Causes and Implications. Doctoral dissertation: Philipps-Universität Marburg.

Shoemaker, P, Tsan-Kuo Chang, J and Brendlinger, N. (1987) 'Deviance as a Predictor of Newsworthiness: Coverage of International Events in the US Media'. Annals of the International Communication Association, 10(1): 348-365.

Simon, H.A. (1990) 'Bounded Rationality'. In Eatwell, J, Milgate, M, and Newman, P (eds.) Utility and Probability (pp. 15-18). London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Slovo, J. (1997) Slovo, the Unfinished Autobiography. New York: Ocean Press.

Souleimanov, E. and Ditrych, O. (2008) 'The Internationalisation of the Russian–Chechen Conflict: Myths and Reality'. Europe-Asia Studies, 60(7): 1199-1222.

Tajfel, H., Turner, J.C., Austin, W.G. and Worchel, S. (1979) 'An Integrative Theory of Intergroup Conflict'. In Hatch, MJ and Schultz, M (eds.). Organizational Identity: A Reader (pp.56-65). Washington, DC: Academic Press.

Tarrow, S. (1989) Democracy and Disorder: Social Conflict, Political Protest and Democracy in Italy, 1968-1988. New York: Oxford University Press.

Tarrow, S. (2016) 'The People's Two Rhythms: Charles Tilly and the Study of Contentious Politics. A Review Article'. Comparative Studies of Society and History, 38(3): 586-600.

Thompson, E.P. (1971) 'The Moral Economy of the English Crowd in the Eighteenth Century'. Past & Present, 50: 76-136.

Tilly, C. (1977) From Mobilisation to Revolution. Boston: Addison-Wesley.

Tilly, C. (2017) 'Contentious Performances'. In Castañeda, E and Schneider, CL (eds.) Collective Violence, Contentious Politics and Social Change: A Charles Tilly Reader (pp. 92-99). New York: Taylor and Francis.

Trump, D.J. (2020) Available at http://www.twitter.com/realdonaldtrump. Accessed: 29 June 2020.

van Zomeren, M., Postmes, T. and Spears, R. (2008) 'Toward an integrative social identity model of collective action: A quantitative research synthesis of three socio-psychological perspectives'. Psychological bulletin, 134(4): 504.

von Holdt, K. (2012) 'The Violence of Order, Orders of Violence: Between Fanon and Bourdieu'. Current Sociology, 61(2): 112-131.

Wang, D.J. and Piazza, A. (2016) 'The use of disruptive tactics in protest as a trade-off: the role of social movement claims'. Social Forces, 94(4): 1675-1710.

Wegner, P.E. (2009) 'Greimas avec Lacan, or, From the Symbolic to the Real in Dialectical Criticism'. Criticism, 51(2): 211-245.

West, C. 2011. Prophetic religion and the future of Capitalism Civilisation” in Butler, J., Habermas, J., Taylor, C. and West, C., The power of religion in the public sphere. New York: Columbia University Press.

Williams, J.J. (2006) 'Community Participation: Lessons from Post-Apartheid South Africa'. Policy Studies, 27(3): 197-217.

Wolpe, H. (1986) 'Class concepts, class struggle and racism'. In Rex, J and Mason, D (eds), Theories of race and ethnic relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Cambridge.

Žižek, S. (2006) How to Read Lacan. Manchester: Granta.

Žižek, S. (2009) Violence: Six Sideways Reflections. New York: Profile.

Žižek, S. (2014) Event: Philosophy in Transit. London: Penguin.

Žižek, S. (2015) Absolute Recoil: Towards a New Foundation of Dialectical Materialism. London: Verso.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2021 Martin Bekker

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

IJŽS - 2007 & 2016