FORTHCOMING.
Protest Cultures: A Companion Vol. 1
By Kathrin Fahlenbrach, Martin Klimke, Joachim Scharloth
Protest is a ubiquitous phenomenon in today’s globalized public realm. Individuals of all ages and across the political spectrum engage in protest, sometimes alone, sometimes as members of groups, organizations, or loosely structured movements and grassroots initiatives. Protest actions have become public performances that showcase dissent and proclaim the need to change the rules, habits or values of society.
The emergence of modern mass media in the 20th century changed the communication of protest in a fundamental way. Advocates of social change now came to depend on the use of media. At the same time, protest activities helped fill the media’s need for a steady supply of spectacular images. As a consequence, protest agents and the media became interdependent. Professionalized strategies of communication to influence political decision-making and public opinion became a decisive component of political protest. Social movement theory has distinguished between these instrumental strategies of protest and more expressive articulations of dissent. This distinction has, however, become untenable. In today’s media-dominated societies, symbolic actions and events have also become politically relevant instrumental strategies.
Expressive forms of protest have also become part of popular culture. The media, fashion and advertising industries regularly absorb new expressions and symbolic signs used by protest actors. As a result, expressions of protest have come to influence lifestyles in many societies. Protest movements are also often the milieux from which grassroots social and political movements develop. (e.g. the environmental movement of the 1970/80s in the wake of the student movement and counterculture of the 1960s). However, protest actors have begun to use subversive techniques and ‘guerrilla’-strategies to resist the smooth integration of protest into popular culture. With the rising importance of the internet we can observe new kinds of protest cultures that address specific audiences by creating alternative media and news services, largely ignoring the mass media.
This companion provides a comprehensive introduction to protest cultures and their role in social and political change. Bringing together more than 70 contributors from a variety of disciplinary and national backgrounds, the first volume, "Pragmatics of Protest", examines the cultural and morphological elements of protest communication.
