Social movements

Bibliographic Data

ID4079178
AuthorsAvery Kolers (0000-0001-6237-3134, University of Louisville Hospital, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume11
Issue10
Pages580-590
Publication date2016-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePhilosophy Compass (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1747-9991 • E-ISSN: 1747-9991
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/phc3.12351
OpenAlexW2530711350
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited41

Social movements are ubiquitous in political life. But what are they? What makes someone a member of a social movement, or some action an instance of movement activity? Are social movements compatible with democracy? Are they required for it? And how should individuals respond to movement calls to action? Philosophers have had much to say on issues impinging on social movements but much less to say on social movements as such. The current article provides a philosophical overview of social movements. To do so it canvasses contemporary work on the nature of shared agency and collective action, social epistemology, democratic theory, and the theory of individual responsibility for structural injustice. The article finds that contemporary analytic philosophy has considerable work to do if it is to account for the nature, epistemology, ethics, and politics of social movements. There may be more things in the streets than are dreamt of in our philosophy

Aesthetics · Collective action · Democracy · Epistemology · Injustice · New social movements · Political philosophy · Political science · Politics · Resource mobilization · Social change · Social injustice · Social movement · Social movement theory · Social philosophy · Social relation · Social science · Sociology · Feminist Epistemology and Gender Studies · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · Law · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Psychology · Social Psychology