Key Relationships
1. Political Movements in Social Movements
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In the parliament, the group supports the ruling Democrat Party and its coalition partners. The coup in 2009 has accelerated political confliction and turmoil nationwide especially in Bangkok. Yet, Bangkok Poll (2013) concluded their survey that almost 70% Bangkok people and city nearby used social media to express their political opinion, moreover, 93.8% subscribed in social network as Facebook members.
Social media such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube’s increasing growth tells the stories and shares opinions from both sides. Interestingly, social media acts as an ultimate tool to mobilize people from different factions. Moreover, social media also changesrelationship between people and politicians because they can share and talk without social hierarchy. After general election in 2011, social media has become a more important channel which allows people from any fractions to share their political expression and to continue their political movements.
Key Relationships
This section analyzes key related literature on political movements including social movements, political participation and e-participation, democracy and e-democracy and political system and political development.
1. Political Movements in Social Movements
As to be able to understand the concept of “movement”, the discussion in this phase covers social movements in general and new social movement, and then it is narrowed down to political movements in Thai context. Morris and Herring (1984) argues that there are no definitions of social movements which enjoy a scholarly consensus, and such definitions probably never exist because they inevitably reflect the theoretical assumptions of the theorists. There are a number of competing frameworks in the field, and each conceptualizes movements differently. Even scholars within the same “school” define movements differently, depending on their particular theoretical formulations. However, social movements’ concepts and theories can be distinguished by using different schools’ fundamental approaches.
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Such approaches include Marxian, Weberian, collective behavior, mass society, relative deprivation and resource mobilization.
Additionally, scholarsconsider social movement as a type of group action. They are large informal groupings of individuals or organizations which focus on political or social issues. Some scholars also mention that social movement can be thought of as organized yet informal social entities that are engaged in extra-institutional conflict that is oriented towards goals. These goals can be either aimed at a specific and narrow policy or be more broadly aimed at cultural change. However, the key purpose of social movements is to change social norms, laws, social belief, and social behavior.
Wallace (1956) suggests that social movements emerge out of the deliberate, organized, conscious effort of the members of a society for better conditions. Revitalization has got four phases, namely period of cultural stability, period of increased individual stress, period of cultural distortion and consequent disillusionment and the period of revitalization. According to the revitalization theory, social movements express dissatisfaction, dissent and protest against the existing conditions. At the same time, they offer a practical solution to remedy the difficult situations. Broom and Selznick (1958) suggests that a collective action which is more unified and lasting could be called as a social movement. It is necessary that such collective action should have also certain characteristic features. According to Coleman (1960), social movements arise from the needs of the individuals. In short, a social movement is a joint organized endeavor of a group of people which tries to change the course of events by their common effort.
Moreover, T. K. Oommen (1988) demonstrates the case study and definition in India in his article, Mobilization for Social Development: The Indian Situation, that social movements are considered as vehicles of creative and innovative ideas. According to his work, the movements are propelled by the groups to achieve a society based on qualitative different collective conscience. In his article, Social Movement: A Conceptual View, S. P. Arya (1988), social movements are viewed as to designate any collective effort on a mass scale by the concerned society, aim to tackle and eradicate some widespread social problem of wider dimensions which exist among the people of the region for a fairly long period.
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However, Arya mentions that no particular definition can be given to a social movement because of its diversity. Social movements could be religious, secular, revolutionary, reactionary, co- operative etc. In short, social movement is a collective action to attain a common goal, movements as the results of various social problems. He, in his article, arrives at the conclusion that social movements are closely bound to certain social classes as a rule, even though they are not primarily aimed at the welfare of a particular class. The last stage in the social movement life cycle is decline, or “institutionalization.” Decline nevertheless does not necessarily mean failure for social movements.
As Calhou (1993) emphasizes the new social movements, they were new by comparison with conventional liberalism with its assumption of fixed individual identities and interests. These new social movements (NSMs) grew partly from the New Left and related to student movements during 1960s. The conceptualization of their novelty was parts of the movements themselves as well as of the academic analyses which, primarily in Europe, took debate on these movements as an occasion to reform or reject Marxist theory and social democratic politics.
Consequently, the wide-ranging typologies of social movements that currently exist complicate the ability to offer one definition with the consensus. Castells (2003), however, tries to describe new social movements as collective initiatives who initiatives whose impact, in victory and defeat, transform society’s values and institutions. Calhou (1993) also points out an interesting suggestion that we are better prepared to analyze all social movements if we pay attention to the inherent plurality of their forms, contents, social bases, and meaning to participants and do not attempt to grasp them in terms of a single model defined by labor or revolutionary movement.
Other authors refer to more informal and egalitarian forms of organization, while others refer to the lack of a shared class base among activists (Mayer and Roth 1995: 301). However, these generalizations can be changed empirically. More specifically, Calhoun’s work provides an inventory of eight characteristics that are assumed to be the key features of the new social movements (Caihoun 1993: 86-87).
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1. There is a focus on identity, autonomy and self-realization rather than material benefits, resources and instrumental goals. In this regard, the NSMs is thought to involve the civil society rather than to engage with political or economic actors.
2. Mobilization is more defensive than offensive. It is thus less negotiable than abstract utopian social projects.
3. Membership cuts across class lines as socioeconomic categories lose their importance.
4. Organizational forms are less hierarchical than other organizations;
in fact, transforming the traditional organizational forms are themselves a focus of attention of the NSMs.
5. Membership is only part-time, with potentially multiple and over-lapping commitments.
6. Activities are outside the legislative system and use unconventional means.
7. Everyday aspects which were formerly outside of the political arena are politicized by themselves.
8. NSMs are likely to be unique and under some larger umbrella forms or still less a master narrative of collective progress.
New Social Movements (NSMs) is a theory of social movements that attempts to explain the plethora of new movements appeared in various western societies. There are two central claims of the NSM theory. First, the rise of the post-industrial economy is responsible for a new wave of social movement, and second, those movements are significantly different from previous social movements of the industrial economy. The primary difference is in their goals as the new movements focus is not on issues of materialistic qualities such as economic wellbeing but on issues related to human rights such as same sex marriage, transgender, abortion, woman, environment, animal, and religion instead. The social aspect is consequently seen by the NSM to be more important than the economic or political aspects. The most noticeable feature of new social movements is that it is primarily social and cultural and secondarily, if any, political.
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Indeed, New Social Movements (NSMs) is one of the tools responding tothe new conflicts and issues which are based on multi-society environment. It differs from the classic theory which is based on class, economy, and political ideology.With this new issue, it is so complicated and complex that political institutions or society cannot manage and solve the conflicts and problems by themselves. In other words, these scholars think the world and society are dynamically changed, but political system that exists does not respond quickly enough to deal with this new issue.
Therefore, citizens lose faith in political system. By no means to be against the state’s power, people create a new form of power as an alternative choice for society. This action demonstrates “civil society” which involves identity politics, identity movements, civil society movements and environment movements (reducing emission).On the other hand, culture is responsible for the unprecedented number and scope of various contemporary social movements.
As Berman (2010) point outs, culture is used by some to refer to a wide array of human activities and by others as a synonym for civilization. Cultural theories help us to explain social movements because culture as a ways of thoughts is internalized in people’s mind, and culture may change at different rates and through different patterns under various social conditions.
Moreover, cultural theory helps scholars to understand the bedrock of social movement activities in regard with their mechanism, process, organization, mobilization, and strategies. To predict whether social movements can be a success or failure, several cultural aspects need to be examined. Those aspects include the reason in participating the movements, an alternative to instrumental rationality in explaining what tactical choices activists make, and an alternative to institutional reforms in assessing movements’ impacts need to be examined. Women rights to vote in U.S., African-American equal rights movement at WTO meeting in 1999 and at G8 summit in 2001, the Temperance Movement and nuclear disarmament are an example of successful cases, these cases are successful because they have a good organization, process, and specific goals.
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Culture is viewed as identity, and identity is also viewed as culture. It can be simply explained that how people see themselves and their roles toward others, how they see their role in society and society’s institutions, such as government, and what they believe is appropriate and instrumental action in different circumstances powerfully shape what practices actually occur.
However, identity construction is also an essential component of collective action. It enables actors to be engaged in conflict and to see themselves as the people who are linked or divided by interests, values, common histories and culture. Although identity feelings are frequently elaborated in reference to specific social traits such class, gender, territory, or ethnicity, the process of collective identity does not necessarily imply homogeneity of the actors who share identity or their identification with a distinct social group. Nor are feelings of belonging always mutually exclusive. Identity plays an important role in explanation of collective action even for those who view the collective action as a peculiar form of rational behavior.
Consequently, identity always develops and is renegotiated via various processes.
In addition, Christiansen (2009) claims that there are four stages to complete the social movements circle which are:
Stage 1: Emergence
The first stage of the social movement life cycle is known as the emergence, or as described by Blumer, the “social ferment” stage (De la Porta &
Diani, 2006). Within this stage, social movements are very preliminary. Instead, this stage can be thought of as being widespread discontent (Macionis, 2001; Hopper, 1950). Potential movement participants may be unhappy with some policies or some social conditions, but they have not taken any actions in order to redress their grievances. In the case that they have, it is most likely to be an individual action rather than collective action. A person may comment to friends and family that he or she is dissatisfied with conditions or may write a letter to a local newspaper or representative; nonetheless, these actions are not strategic and not collective.
Furthermore, there may be an increase in media coverage of negative conditions or unpopular policies which contribute to the general sense of discontent. This early stage can also be considered within a specific social movement organization (SMO).
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A social movement organization is an organization that is associated with a social movement and carries out the tasks that are necessary for any social movement to survive and be successful. An example of a social movement organization is the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which was one of the many social movement organizations that operated during the American Civil Rights Movement. During the emergence stage, an SMO and its members serve as agitators.
Agitators raise consciousness around issues and help to develop the sense of discontent among the general population;
Stage 2: Coalescence
At the next stage in the life cycle, social movements have overcome some obstacles which many have never overcome. Often, social unrest or discontent passes without any organizing or widespread mobilization. For example, people in a community may complain to each other about a general injustice, but they do not come together to act on those complaints. The social movement thus does not progress to the next level. As stage two being known as coalescence or the “popular stage,” it is characterized by a more clearly defined sense of discontent. It is no longer a general sense of unease but currently a sense of what the unease is about and who or what is responsible. At this point leadership emerges, and strategies for success are worked out. At this stage mass demonstrations may also occur in order to display the social movement’s power and to make clear demands. Most importantly, this is the stage at which the movement becomes more than just random upset individuals; they are organized and adopt strategies in their outlook;
Stage 3: Bureaucratization
The third stage is known as bureaucratization. This stageis defined by Blumer as “formalization” and characterized by higher levels of organization and coalition based strategies (De la Porta & Diani, 2006). Social movements have been successful in some aspects. They have raised awareness to the degree where a coordinated strategy is necessary across all of the SMOs.
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Similarly, SMOs have to rely on staff persons with specialized knowledge that can run the day-to-day operations of the organization and can carry out movement goals. Social movements in this stage can no longer lean on mass rallies or inspirational leaders to progress towards their goals and build constituencies;
trained staffs are the key actors who carry out the functions of organizations. In this phase, their political power is greater than in the previous stages, and they may consequently have more regular access to political elites. Many social movements fail to bureaucratize in this way and end up fizzling out because it is difficult for members to sustain the emotional excitement, and continuing a mobilization becomes too demanding for participants. Formalization often means that the paid staffs can fill in when highly enthusiastic volunteers are not readily available (Macionis, 2001;
Hopper, 1950). The gay rights movement is an example of a movement which has passed through this stage. The gay rights movement moved from agitation and demonstrations to having many formal organizations that now work toward the goals of the gay rights movement. Some of these organizations include the Human Rights Campaign and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination (GLAAD). If these bureaucratic organizations have not been formed, many movements would have most likely faded away, and their demands would have gone unmet;
Stage 4: Decline
The last stage in the social movement life cycle is decline or
“institutionalization.” Nonetheless, decline does not necessarily mean failure for social movements. As Miller (1999) argues, there are four ways in which social movements can decline. Others have added establishment with mainstream as another way in which they decline (Macionis, 2001).
4.1 Repression: The first cause which can lead social movements tothe decline is through repression. Repression occurs when authorities or agents acting on behalf of the authorities use measures (sometimes violent) to control or destroy a social movement. This means that governments will often pass laws to outlaw specific movement activities or organizations or to justify attacks on them by declaring them as being dangerous to public order. This type of repression makes it exceedingly difficult for social movements to carry out their activities and recruit new
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members. Co-optation Movements can also decline if their organizations are highly dependent on centralized authority or deeply rely on charismatic leadership through the co-optation. Co-optation occurs when movement leaders are associated with authorities or movement targets more than with the social movement constituents.
4.2 Success: Evidently, not all social movements end in defeat through repression or co-optation; some decline because they are successful. Smaller and localized movements with very specific goals often have a better chance at outright success. Many social movements have goals that are much less clearly defined, and many organized new campaigns are wrapping up either through success or compromise.
4.3 Failure: As mentioned earlier, Miller (1999) notes that social movements can be declined for many of the reasons. He also argues that the organization is not able to handle the rapid expansion that occurs as a result of their success and organizational strain. In that case, it collapses into different factions.
Failure of social movements due to organizational or strategic failings is common for many organizations. When failure occurs at the organizational level, Miller argues, it is usually caused by factionalism and encapsulation.
4.4 Establishment with Mainstream: Others have noted that a fifth reason for decline exists as an organization becomes established with the mainstream.
That is, their goals or ideologies are adopted by the mainstream, and there is no longer any need for a movement.
According to the sample cases of social movement’s circle life and definition that we discussed above, I would argue that social media has revolutionized the social movements’ paradigm and theory. It reduces the distance in communication between messengers and receivers and dissolves the hierarchy between leaders and participants. Also, it can enhance interactive dialogue because the receivers can respond directly to the websites or blogs. Moreover, social media present an appearance of being responsive to listeners evidenced by their content which can be changed in response to comments and criticisms. Finally, it is enabling anyone with access to the Internet the ability to comment on news. Therefore, the important question of how Thai people use social media to create an impact on political movements has been raised.
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In Thailand, Phongpaichit (2002) explains that a large number of movements of great variety have arisen within a very short space of time. In a broad sense, this is a result of changes in the global and local context. The end of the cold
In Thailand, Phongpaichit (2002) explains that a large number of movements of great variety have arisen within a very short space of time. In a broad sense, this is a result of changes in the global and local context. The end of the cold