Philosophy Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Social movements: Social movements are organized, collective efforts by a group of individuals or organizations to bring about or resist social, political, or cultural change. They can be social, political, economic, or cultural in nature, and often involve protests, demonstrations, boycotts, and lobbying. See also Society, Politics, Community._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Claus Offe on Social Movements - Dictionary of Arguments
Gaus I 269 Social Movements/Claus Offe/West: Closest to the Marxist paradigm - indeed almost continuous with schools of Western and neo-Marxism, which acknowledge the changing nature of capitalism and corresponding decline of working- class activism - are theories of new social movements as a response to the crises of 'welfare state' capitalism (WSC) (Offe, 1984(1); 1985(2)). Welfare state capitalism: A starting-point for such theories is the neocorporatist inclusion of the working class into the institutional structures of capitalist society through trade union and party political representation. The social democratic legal order characteristic of WSC supplements civil and political rights (cherished by Gaus I 270 liberal democracy) with 'social welfare rights' realized through provision of social welfare (health, education, housing), social security (unemployment, sickness and retirement benefits), measures of economic redistribution (progressive taxation) and Keynesian economic policies (full employment, demand management) (Marshall, 1963(3): 74—126; Offe, 1985(2): 821—5). >Liberalism, >Democracy, >Democratic theory. State capitalism: These developments involve a considerable expansion of the state's activities in comparison with liberal capitalism. Production: The associated decline of working-class activism is reinforced by the changing nature of production in the transition from 'Fordism' or 'Taylorism' to 'post-Fordism' and 'post-Taylorism' (Lash and Urry, 1987)(4). >S. Lash, >J. Urry. This involves, in the first place, the decline of traditional manufacturing and the rise of the service sector, which is geographically more dispersed and indus- trially less organized. But, second, the Fordist model - of mass, assembly-line production of a relatively small range of products for mass consumption - is gradually replaced by more diversified and decentralized forms of production and consumption. Classes/identity: Both developments undermine traditional forms of working-class solidarity and organization and tend to support a multiplication and diversification of forms of identity apart from class. Citizens/welfare state: If the welfare state denies the escalating demands of citizens, then it risks a loss of authority or legitimacy (Offe, 1985(2): 818—20; Habermas, 1976(5)). >J. Habermas. But the demands of citizens must inevitably grow, because the expansion of the state's responsibilities erodes such 'uncontested and non-contingent premises of politics' as the family, religion and the work ethic (Offe, 1985(2): 819). Neoliberalism/Huntington: It is, of course, precisely this 'crisis of governability' (Huntington, 1975(6); O'Connor, 1973(7)) that has motivated neoliberal attempts to revive the less expansive state of liberal capitalism. Social movements: The changing nature of capitalism is (...) related not only to diminishing activism of the traditional working class but also to the rise of the women's, peace and environmental movements (Offe, 1985(2): 825—32). For Offe, [New Social Movements] (NSMs) offer a potentially more promising response to the crisis of the welfare state in the form of a reconstituted civil society independent of the state. >Civil Society. 1. Offe, Claus (1984) Contradictions of the Welfare State, ed. John Keane. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. 2. Offe, Claus (1985) 'New social movements: challenging the boundaries of institutional politics'. Social Research, 52 (4): 817-68. 3. Marshall, T. H. (1963) Sociologv at the Crossmads and Other Essays. London: Hememann. 4. Lash, Scott and John Urry (1987) The End of Organized Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity. 5. Habermas, Jürgen (1976) Legitimation Crisis, trans. T. McCarthy. London: Heinemann. 6. Huntington, S. P. (1975) 'The United States'. In M. Crozier et al., eds, The Crisis of Democracy. New York: New York Umversity Press. 7.O’Connor 1973 West, David 2004. „New Social Movements“. In: Gaus, Gerald F. & Kukathas, Chandran 2004. Handbook of Political Theory. SAGE Publications_____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Offe I Claus Offe Strukturprobleme des kapitalistischen Staates Frankfurt/M. 1972 Gaus I Gerald F. Gaus Chandran Kukathas Handbook of Political Theory London 2004 |
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> Counter arguments against Offe
> Counter arguments in relation to Social Movements
Ed. Martin Schulz, access date 2024-04-28