This book frames a series of protests occurred in Brazil from 2013 to 2016 as exemplary cases of global trends in contentious politics to analyze the tension between two forms of collective action: the militant (militante) and the prefigurative activist (ativista). Building on sociology, political science, and psychology, it explores the relationship between protestors' activities and conceptions of political participation with their subjectivity and agency. The protest cycle triggered by the June 2013 events in Brazil gave strength and popularity to repertoires and strategies of collective action uncommon and innovative. Those praxes defied political parties' conventions, highlighted the limitations of militant unionist tradition, and brought prefigurative activism to the Brazilian left-wing agenda. In this book, Andre Luis Leite de Figueirêdo Sales combines theoretical tools and traditions from South and North America to build an interdisciplinary approach to Political Psychology and answer the question: what psycho-political differences lie behind the disparate forms of political action adopted by militantes (militants) and ativistas (prefigurative activists) in Brazil?
Inspired by books of short stories, the chapters discuss different aspects of the distinction between militancy and prefigurative activism. On them, the author deals with problems such as: how are the ongoing changes in Brazilian protest culture connected with the rising popularity of autonomist movements across the globe? What differences does it make rooting protest strategies in principles like resistance or refusal? How does the culture informing militants and prefigurative activists' conduct affect their political goals and horizons? How does militant and prefigurative activist culture relate to militants and prefigurative activists' forms of political consciousness?
A Political Psychology Approach to Militancy and Prefigurative Activism: The Case of Brazil will be a valuable tool for social movement researchers from different disciplines interested in understanding how can subjectivity be, at the same time, a determiner of activities performed in collective action, and determined by these same transformative deeds.
Author(s): André Luis Leite de Figueirêdo Sales
Series: Latin American Societies: Current Challenges in Social Sciences
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 165
City: Cham
A Political Psychology Approach to Militancy and Prefigurative Activism
The Case of Brazil
Copyright
Foreword by Salvador A.M. Sandoval: Beyond Organizational Distinctions
Foreword by James M. Jaspers: Lessons from Brazil
Author’s Preface: Message in a Bottle
Acknowledgements
Contents
About the Author
Chapter 1: When Words No Longer Fit
1.1 What Has Been Happening on the Streets of Brazil Since 2013?
1.1.1 Describing Collective Action: Repertoires
1.1.2 Organizing Collective Action: Strategies
1.1.3 Investigating Subjectivity in Collective Action: Institutions
1.2 Synthesis and Analysis
1.3 Repertoire, Strategy, or Institution?
References
Chapter 2: Ativismo and Prefigurative Activities: The Sit-Ins in the State of São Paulo
2.1 A Restless Country in a Stormy World
2.2 Theoretical Lens
2.2.1 Prefigurative Activities
2.2.2 The Transformative Activist Stance (TAS)
2.3 Methodology
2.3.1 The Protesters’ Perspective
2.3.2 Short Films and Documentaries
2.3.3 Academic Analysis
2.3.4 Partial Conclusions: Toward a Synthesis
2.4 The Case Study and Further Analysis
2.4.1 Occupations as Prefigurative Spaces
2.4.2 Why Do Prefigurative Activities Matter?
2.5 An Inviting Conclusion
References
Chapter 3: Rethinking Resistance and Refusal to Understand Prefigurative Praxes
3.1 Walking in the Past and Asking Questions About the Future
3.2 Can Political Resistance Produce Meaningful Change?
3.3 What Is Productive About Refusal?
3.4 How Can One Balance Resistance, Refusal, Negation, and Creation?
3.5 How Can One Increase the Creative Potential of Refusal?
3.5.1 Embracing the Personal in the Political
3.5.2 Committing to the Desired Tomorrow
3.6 Between What It Is and What Could Be
References
Chapter 4: Brazilian Ativismo: A Collectividual Autonomist Strategy
4.1 Watch Out for Signs of Change
4.2 Methodological Notes
4.3 Recasting Autonomy
4.4 Networks Are Structures
4.5 Connective Actions
4.6 Autonomy in Key of Collectividual Agency
4.7 Sharpening Tools to Participate in the Future’s Invention
References
Chapter 5: Militância and Ativismo: Two Forms of Political Consciousness
5.1 Reshaping Consciousness
5.2 From Consciousness to Action
5.3 Notes on Methodology
5.4 Militante and Ativista Political Consciousness
5.4.1 Societal Beliefs and Expectations
5.4.2 Collective Identity
5.4.3 Perceived Collective Interests
5.4.4 Political Efficacy
5.4.5 Emotional Dispositions
5.4.6 Willingness to Act Collectively
5.4.7 Persuasive Action Proposals
5.5 Challenging Conclusions
References
Chapter 6: Conclusions: Reflections and Aspirations
6.1 Trying to Walk in Your Shoes
6.2 What If You Tried Walking in My Shoes?
References
Chapter 7: Afterword: The Anchor Points for the Militant Strategy
7.1 Unfolding Ideas That Brought Us Here
7.2 Definitions and Methodology
7.3 Building a New World Order and a New Humanity
7.3.1 Democratic Centralism: One for All
7.3.2 Stakhanovism: Working to Save the Revolution
7.3.3 Soviet Realism: Engineering Human Souls
7.4 Governing Is a Ceaseless Battle Over Conducts
7.4.1 Power to the Soviets!
7.4.2 Our Work, Our Choice!
7.4.3 Imagining to Make It Real!
7.5 From the USSR to Brazil
7.6 Amidst the Left and the Right
References
Index
