Mattias Wahlström

Between the State and the Market Expanding the Concept of ‘Political Opportunity Structure’

This article brings together two research traditions: social movement theory and theories of corporate social responsibility. The study is an attempt to widen the perspective on the relationship between a business/business sector and its external stakeholders in order to include social movements. We depart from a three-part model of political opportunity structures, including state, cultural and economic opportunity structures. In order to illustrate our model, the article is centred on the case of the Swedish animal rights movements’ political pressure on domestic fur-farming. The animal rights movement has had considerable success by engaging with a relatively open cultural opportunity structure, winning a framing war in regard to the moral issues raised. Despite the fur industry’s attempts to counter-mobilize, the animal rights movement has found a hearing in formal political channels and has achieved considerable success. However, since the movement is faced with an economic opportunity structure that is not vulnerable to the demands of stakeholders, and where there is great inconsistency between the interests of the industry and the demands of the stakeholders, it is not surprising that the farmers have been non-compliant.

European Anti-Austerity Protests – Beyond “old” and “new” social movements?:

This article explores the social composition of participants in anti-austerity protests taking place in Belgium, Italy, Spain and the UK between 2010 and 2012, based on over 3000 questionnaires distributed to protest participants according to a standardized method. Employing a distinction between three types of mobilizations, we compare protests anchored in the traditional ‘old’ labour movements, protests by smaller radical leftist unions and parties, and the ostensibly newer kinds of mobilizations in the form of Indignados and Occupy protests. Although easily forgotten, we argue that the two former types of anti-austerity protests deserve equal attention from researchers. We conclude that there are significant differences between the protest categories in terms of socio-demographic characteristics of their participants, but the participants nevertheless appear to maintain surprisingly similar political values across demonstration types. Class identification also differed. The participants in the Indignados/Occupy protests had a markedly lower degree of identification with the working class – regardless of the ‘objective’ labour market position and controlling for country differences. These aspects relate to the classic distinction between ‘old’ and ‘new’ social movements, but we argue that it risks obscuring a more complex pattern of similarities and differences between different anti-austerity mobilizations.

Swedish trade unionism: A renewed social movement?

Claims as to the emergence of a new phase of unionism – social movement unionism – returning to its original ‘counter-cultural roots’, are closely allied with the claims as to a ‘new labour internationalism’ that is a significant break from the influential postwar trend of nation-statist unionism. This article interrogates these two popular paradigms from the perspective of the Swedish labour movement. The analysis is based on qualitative interviews with union officials, as well as quantitative analysis of union homepage content and responses to surveys among May Day demonstrators. The general conclusion as regards social movement unionism in Sweden is that the major unions, although increasingly interested in cooperation with social movement organizations, are still far from changing the repertoire of action that has been predominant in the postwar period. International solidarity – among both union officials and grassroots activists – is strongly ambivalent, and attitudes to international support oscillate between charity and self-interest.

Taking Control or Losing Control? Activist Narratives of Provocation and Collective Violence

This article examines the complex relationship between political agency, responsibility, and collective violence in connection with political protest. Contemporary Danish and Swedish left-wing activist narratives of police provocations at political protest events are analysed to clarify how provocation and its relation to the outbreak of violence are retrospectively constructed in radical milieus. Three ‘provocation plots’ are identified that, respectively, present (1) the interaction as purely a matter of attack and defence, (2) provocation as a cause of anger leading to retaliation, and (3) provocation as a trigger bringing about a redefinition of the situation that then offers an opportunity for violence. Subsequent negotiations among political activists regarding the position of moral high ground revolved around the issue of whether responding to the provocation in each of these cases meant taking or losing control of the situation. Internet discussion forums are highlighted as important arenas for debates among members of protest coalitions and in broader social movement milieus in which the interpretation of protest events and their implications for future protest tactics is negotiated. In the cases considered, storytelling after violent events was used to make sense of, and evaluate, often quite chaotic and ambiguous processes of violent confrontation, suggesting itself as a key to understanding the micro-dynamics of how social movement repertoires of action are maintained and developed.

‘Normalized’ Pride? Pride parade participants in six European countries:

Based on quantitative survey data collected during Pride parades in six European countries – the Czech Republic, Great Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland – we analyse who participates in Pride parades. Engaging with the so-called protest normalization thesis we ask: are Pride parade participants, aside from sexual orientation, representative of the wider populace? In none of the countries could we find indications that Pride participants mirror the general populations. The parades remain dominated by well-educated, middle strata youth, rich in political resources. However, we find variation between countries, which we link to differences in elite and public support for LGBT rights.

Alone in the crowd: Lone protesters in Western European demonstrations

While corroborating the fact that the majority of protesters attend demonstrations together with friends, family and/or fellow members of their organizations, this article shows that protesting alone remains an option for many people – under the right circumstances. Through multilevel analysis of survey data from participants in 69 demonstrations in eight Western European countries, the authors study lone protesters in different types of demonstrations. On the individual level, they show that protesting alone is closely linked to relative detachment from interpersonal mobilizing networks, as well as to short decision times. The authors also develop demonstration-level explanations for why lone protesters are more common in some demonstrations than in others. Precipitating events and inclusive social movement communities increase the proportion of lone demonstrators, which is also higher in static rallies than in moving demonstrations. These factors arguably make personal networks less crucial for protest mobilization.

Pride Parades and LGBT Movements : Political Participation in an International Comparative Perspective

Pride Parades and LGBT Movements : Political Participation in an International Comparative Perspective

Sweden 1950–2015: Contentious Politics and Social Movements between Confrontation and Conditioned Cooperation

In this chapter we provide a historical overview of the major trends in contentious politics in Sweden from 1950 to 2015. Considering that protest during this period (especially from the 1960s onwards) rapidly proliferated, involving a number of forms and acting on a multiplicity of social conflicts, we provide a thematic account, focusing on the major conflicts and the social movements that defined the space of contentious politics during the period. Four protest waves are outlined, which largely correspond to transnational developments but in many cases display strong elements of national and local articulation. We argue that contentious politics in Sweden in the post-war era is profoundly influenced by the particular relationship between state and civil society defining the Swedish welfare model.

UNFORMULABLE PRACTICES?: Articulating Practical Understanding in Sociological Theory

This essay proposes an argument that supports a pragmatic standpoint in relation to sociological description and theorization. The argument is based on a Wittgensteinian approach to human action and tacit knowledge. Taking as a starting point a controversy concerning the role of language in social practices, it is argued that the whole idea of tacit knowledge, in the sense of in principle unformulable knowledge, is based on a misconception of the nature of description. Theorizing or describing a practice is best conceived as a translation from one social practice to another. Thus, formulability can only be comprehended as a relation between two practices, not as a general characteristic of a practice. The quality of a description, or theory, is dependent on the use one tries to make of it within another practice.