Collective Action and Social Change: Examining the Role of Representation in the Communication between Protesters and Third‐party Members

Abstract

Within social psychology, it has been proposed that to understand how collective action creates social change, it is relevant to examine the role that other members of society can have on it. However, few studies have empirically examined that. We argue that for that task, it is useful, first, and as some authors have already argued, to go beyond the sole analysis of the two‐sided inter‐group relations creating collective action; and second, to articulate this with contributions from social representations theory, which recognises that to understand social change, we need to examine communicative practices, or how communication is used between collective action's actors and other actors to re‐present identities. We analyse the protests by a movement of residents from a Lisbon neighbourhood that protested against the transformation of a neighbourhood's convent. Besides discussing this transformation with local authorities and failing to achieve its aims through that, the protesters also discussed it with other citizens. The analysis of this debate shows that the arguments and actions they used change throughout time, from local to global, as the latter were the ones more endorsed by other citizens and thus those that could help the protesters to achieve their goals. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Toward a Psychology of Social Change: A Typology of Social Change

“…For example, when social change is studied from a social identity theory perspective (Tajfel and Turner, 1986), or a sociological conflict theory perspective, social change is conceptualized almost exclusively in the context of collective action (Krznaric, 2007). In light of this, collective action is defined as a means for group members to achieve an improved social position for their group in the social hierarchy (Taylor and McKirnan, 1984; Batel and Castro, 2015; de Lemus and Stroebe, 2015). In contrast, cultural psychology and developmental psychology conceptualize social change in a broader manner (e.g., societal transformations such as the fall of the Soviet Union; immigration) where change is not limited to the context of intergroup conflict (Pinquart and Silbereisen, 2004; Sun and Ryder, 2016).…”

Participar Está Na Moda: Uma Abordagem Psicossocial Dos Orçamentos Participativos

“…A maioria das teorias da Psicologia Social, nomeadamente com base norte-americana e/ou europeia (ver Nelson & Prilletensky, 2005), tendem a focar-se na compreensão dos determinantes da participação em diferentes formas de acção colectiva ou movimentos sociais, com base numa epistemologia cognitivista e individualista dos mesmos, negligenciando nas suas análises factores mais estruturais e ideológicos (para uma revisão ver Batel & Castro, 2015;Elcheroth et al, 2011). Ainda que alguns estudos analisem factores como a ideologia e o contexto (van Stekelenburg, Klandermans, & van Dijk, 2009), tendem a estudá-los como características estanques, que accionam respostas automáticas nos indivíduos (Batel & Castro, 2015), como se esses factores fossem externos e não coconstruídos pelos indivíduos e grupos.…”

“…Ainda que alguns estudos analisem factores como a ideologia e o contexto (van Stekelenburg, Klandermans, & van Dijk, 2009), tendem a estudá-los como características estanques, que accionam respostas automáticas nos indivíduos (Batel & Castro, 2015), como se esses factores fossem externos e não coconstruídos pelos indivíduos e grupos. Além disso, os estudos da Psicologia Social sobre a participação incidem, maioritariamente, sobre dinâmicas intergrupais no plano da acção colectiva nos movimentos sociais (van Stekelenbur et al, …”

“…Neste sentido, alguns dos estudos sobre a participação parecem, por vezes, contribuir para perpetuar modelos de participação "light" (Rowe & Frewer, 2004;Serapioni & Duxbury, 2012), evitando frequentemente a discussão e análise do papel concomitante de factores estruturais, ideológicos e contextuais-relacionais. Exemplo disso é a literatura mais corrente da Psicologia Social sobre acção coletiva, sobretudo baseada em modelos individualistas e positivistas (para uma revisão ver Batel & Castro, 2015), que tende a negligenciar o papel que o actual modelo de desenvolvimento social, político e económico assume nas dinâmicas entre os grupos sociais (Elcheroth, Doise, & Reicher, 2011). Por outro lado, estes estudos têm estado essencialmente focados na análise da participação das/os cidadãs/ãos em movimentos sociais (van Zomeren, Postmes, & Spears, 2008), negligenciando a participação no quadro de formas mais institucionalizadas de "acção colectiva".…”

Contending Expertise: An Interpretive Approach to (Re)conceiving Wind Power's ‘Planning Problem’

“…Consequently, our analysis addresses a gap in knowledge concerning the rationalities underlying the strategies deployed in the opposing politics of persona during contentious wind farm planning debates. In doing so, we specifically identify the important role played by the use of explicit and implicit scalar referents as a discursive tactic in seeking to legitimise perspectives (Batel and Castro, 2014;Porta and Piazza, 2007;Usher, 2013), a d ho i agi ed pu li s (Barnett, et al, 2012) influence the ways different agents seek to constitute themselves as knowledgeable regarding an issue of dispute. Hence, we provide an original contribution to understanding, and latterly reconceiving, i d po e s pla i g p o le ad a i g a novel approach that draws on rhetorical theory to reveal and explain the complex nuances embedded within the discursive strategies deployed in constituting authoritative identities in energy infrastructure debates.…”