R.S. Ratner

Between Leninism and Radical Pluralism: Gramscian Reflections on Counter-Hegemony and the New Social Movements

The rigidities of Leninist views on socialist politics may have consigned orthodox Marxism to the status of historical relic, but equally problematic is the radical pluralist disavowal of any materially-grounded, unifying basis for counter-hegemony. The main features of these two perspectives are contrasted with a Gramscian viewpoint that arguably offers the best prospect for analyzing contemporary movement politics and strategizing about social change. This approach retains the insights of historical materialism, avoids the pitfalls of radical pluralism, and remains open to ongoing transformations in culture, politics, and capitalism.

Social Democracy, Neo-Conservatism and Hegemonic Crisis in British Columbia

This paper adopts a Gramscian perspective in presenting a case study of hegemonic crisis and political-economic restructuring. In British Columbia, the period from 1983 through 1987 marked a decisive shift from a variant of Fordism to a neo-conservative project with strong resonances of Thatcherism. Focusing on the historical specificity of the province in the Canadian political economy and the political crises of 1983 and 1987, we explore the structural and strategic reasons for this transformation, and examine the obstacles confronting the left in its hesitant attempts to mount a successful opposition around a counter-hegemonic project.

Disrupting the informal–formal justice complex: on the transformative potential of civil mediation, restorative justice and reparations politics

Among the many ‘informal’ conflict resolution practices currently available within the vast justice market, three stand out: civil mediation, restorative justice and reparations politics. These, in our estimation, are among the most widely discussed and broadly practiced new justice forms within the juridical field. In our recent work, we have sought to identify commonalities among these three ideal types of ‘informal reckoning’, as well as to evaluate their potential to achieve a transformative justice, partly through the medium of change‐oriented informal justice counterpublics that move beyond the contemporary confluence of social and legal domination and aspire to create new possibilities for justice that uproot class, race and gender‐based inequities.

Obstacles and momentum on the path to post-genocide and mass atrocity reparations: A comparative analysis, 1945–2010:

In contemporary human rights politics, much international effort is invested in securing reparative settlements in the aftermath of genocide and mass atrocities. This article details a broad comparative research project in which we seek to map the respective paths of 47 post-genocide and mass atrocity reparations claims. Based on the findings of this study, using a mixed-methods approach, we highlight some potential obstacles within claims processes and demonstrate the importance of resource mobilization for reparative success. In particular, this article advances sociological understanding of the importance of momentum in resource mobilization as a means of carrying a reparations movement toward successful transitional justice outcomes.

Mesomobilization and fragile coalitions: Aboriginal politics and treaty-making in British Columbia

Mesomobilization actors perform important structural and ideological roles for social movements. This paper examines the dilemmas confronting one such meso-level organization – the First Nations Summit – currently engaged in tri-partite treaty negotiations with the governments of British Columbia and Canada. Asymmetrical power relations between the negotiating parties leave the First Nations vulnerable to government strategies aimed at achieving “certainty” with minimal concessions on key issues such as Aboriginal Title, compensation, and governance. The paper considers the Summits options for mobilizing its diverse and often reluctant constituents in order to gain leverage in the treaty process.