‘Militância’ and ‘Ativismo’: five essays about collective action and subjectivity

Author(s)

André Luis Leite de Figueirêdo Sales

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Assis. 2019-10-21.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Faculdade de Ciências e Letras. Assis
• Defense date: 2019-09-06
• Advisor: Silvio Yasui; Flávio Fernandes Fontes

Abstract

The Brazilian protest cycle triggered in 2013 brought the debate about social movement and collective action to the center of the public scene. The decreasing relevance of trade unions and political parties in this process made researchers and citizens aware that something had changed in Brazilian civil society. This research addresses these issues using as a starting point the symbolic disputes connected to the words militância and ativismo. Having revised the scientific articles published from 1980 and 2015, with the aim of understanding how Brazilian researchers used the word militância, it was possible to define theterm as a methodology to intervene in the current social norms. This definition highlights the shared meanings of militância and ativismo and sets the path to scrutinize the differences between them. Three concepts are suggested with which to critically examine these differences: repertoire, strategy and institution. The last notion allows one to explore the relations between macro social changes and the militant and activist subjectivities. The question guiding this dissertation is: how do the guidelines anchoring and organizing the militant and activist strategies modulate militant and activists subjectivity? The research was conducted. through the following procedures: a) literature review of main psychological and sociological theories about social movement and protest in the Brazilian, European and North American traditions; b) construction of a theoretical model to distinguish the two methods under investigation and to examine the subjective effects exerted by them on "militantes" and "ativistas"; c) development of theoretical essays using the model; d) validation of the results achieved through discussion with prominent research groups in São Paulo, New York and Toronto.The dissertation is composed of an introductory and a conclusive sections, as well as five essays. The conclusions suggest that each method creates a specific kind of socialization environment - being this a crucial aspect to understand the contrast between militantes and ativistas. Militante milieus are inclined to prize strict disciplinary procedures, centralized decision process, and heteronomy. In contrast, ativista milieus attach great importance to experimentation, decentralized decision process, and autonomy. Under these distinct environmental conditions militantes are more prone to develop a harsh morality, which increases the odds of intolerant behaviors and radical positions. On the other hand, ativistas are mainly oriented by relational ethical principles, which can be more easily adjusted to the current circumstances. The results speak against any absolute superiority of one method in contrast to the other, as the suitability can only be assessed can only be assessed by taking into account the goals pursued by the movement. They also make impossible to conclude that one belongs exclusively to left-wing political supporters and the other to the right ones. However, they do qualify the understanding of contemporaneous forms of youth protest which are popping up worldwide. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 15/26241-0 - Between militancy and activism:an theoretical study about different engagement strategies of the subjects on social movement and of the social movement on subjects.
• Grantee: André Luis Leite de Figueirêdo Sales
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate