Making Change From Below

Bibliographic Data

ID23239679
AuthorsDorothy E Smith (0000-0003-4057-7309, University of Victoria, corresponding author), Dorothy Smith (0000-0001-7280-1307)
Year2008
Volume3
Issue2
Publication date2008-06-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocialist studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1717-2616 • E-ISSN: 1918-2821
PublisherUniversity of Alberta Libraries (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.18740/s4js48
OpenAlexW1806565681
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited11

In this paper I've tried to spell out what I think we're confronting in attempting to make change in the context of global capitalism. I've used the notion of making change from below because the kind of government organization that made taking it over appear practicable has largely disappeared in a fragmentation of the state at many levels both within Canada and at international levels. Moreover the terrain of struggle has shifted from the directly physical to the contemporary text-mediated relations that pervade our societies. Right now we are also going through a rapid reorganization of governance replacing bureaucratic and professional organization with new managerial forms that subordinate both government and public institutions to the service of global capital. We can, however, find models of making change from below that have been effective. I look first to the Women's Movement, proposing that in addition to the specifics of its achievements, women in Canada are recognized and recognize ourselves as political subjects and agents. I then introduce more current examples of change initiated by non-governmental organizations, including unions. While specific objectives may be achieved, in the longer run these forms of organizing to make change are also important in building people's experience of acting and organizing, in extending connections among activists, and in grounding people's capacities to experience themselves as political subjects.

Bureaucracy · Capital (architecture) · Capitalism · Context (archaeology) · Corporate governance · Economics · Government (linguistics) · Management · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Sociology · Spell · Canadian Identity and History · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Public Administration

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