How social movements can save democracy

Democratic Innovations From Below

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3691142
AutoresDaniele Archibugi (0000-0001-9629-0353, Birkbeck, University of London, autor de correspondencia)
Año2020
Volumen96
Número6
Páginas1668-1670
Fecha de publicación2020-11-09
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Affairs (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0020-5850 • E-ISSN: 1468-2346
EditorialOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/ia/iiaa184
OpenAlexW3128564986
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas22

Social movements have often pioneered and advocated for human rights issues, and crucial contemporary advances in civil and political rights are fundamentally associated to their vision, struggle and determination. If we think about women, minority or LGTQ+ rights, progressive mobilization from below has anticipated, often by several decades, political institutions, even in representative democracies. However, social movements have the tendency to evaporate when their contingent political aims have been achieved, since they do not have the organizational strength of established institutions and associations. This book by Donatella della Porta, the leading authority on social movements research, channels her long-term research agenda into a particular direction. Namely, she asks to what extent have social movements actually contributed to innovations that were able to leave a permanent mark on political institutions. The book is informed by an underlying assumption, namely that representative democracy associated to capitalism is in crisis and that the people––those who ultimately should benefit from democratic practice––are increasingly unsatisfied with what is actually delivered. Specific events such as the 2008 great recession and, we may add, the 2020 COVID-19 crisis, have yet further increased this dissatisfaction. This seems to indicate that democratic practice is even less able to protect adequately the more vulnerable social groups in bad times. Decreasing electoral turnout, the rise of anti-system political parties and the growth of xenophobic tendencies indicate that citizens are no longer happy with traditional representative democracy––to the point that in a variety of nations the preservation of the democratic system seems to be at risk.

Capitalism · Civil society · Democracy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Social movement · Sociology · Turnout · Voting · Law · Social Policy and Reform Studies