Political altruism?: solidarity movements in international perspective

580 Pages·2001·1.52 MB·English

by  Marco Giugni

Cover

Political Altruism? : Solidarity Movements
title:
in International Perspective
author: Giugni, Marco.; Passy, Florence.
publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
isbn10 | asin: 0847698807
print isbn13: 9780847698806
ebook isbn13: 9780585386454
language: English
subject Social movements, Solidarity, Altruism.
publication date: 2001
lcc: HN17.5.P627 2001eb
ddc: 303.48/4
subject: Social movements, Solidarity, Altruism.
Page i
Political Altruism?
Page ii
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Page iii
Political Altruism?
Solidarity Movements in International Perspective
Edited by Marco Giugni and Florence Passy
Page iv
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC.
Published in the United States of America
by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
4720 Boston Way, Lanham, Maryland 20706
http://www.rowmanlittlefield.com 12 Hid’s Copse Road, Cumnor Hill,
Oxford OX2 9JJ, England Copyright © 2001 by Rowman & Littlefield
Publishers, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the
prior permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available Library of
Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Political altruism? : the solidarity movement in international perspective /
edited by
Marco Giugni and Florence Passy.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8476-9880-7 (alk. paper)—ISBN 0-8476-9881-5 (pbk. : alk.
paper)
1. Social Movements. 2. Solidarity 3. Altruism. I. Giugni, Marco. II.
Passy,
Florence.
HN17.5 .P627 2001
303.48′4—dc21
00-
055294
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Page v
Contents
Preface vii
Part I Introduction
1 Political Altruism and the Solidarity Movement: 3
An Introduction
Florence Passy
2 Do Unto Others 27
Charles Tilly
Part II National Dynamics
3 Dynamics of Commitment in the Sector Known as “Solidarity”: 51
Methodological Reflections Based on the Case of France
Olivier Fillieule
4 Altruism in Voluntary Organizations: Mobilization and 67
Transformation of Voluntary Action in Italy
Costanzo Ranci
5 Different Issues, Same Process: 87
Solidarity and Ecology Movements in Switzerland
Florence Passy and Marco Giugni
6 Better Off by Doing Good: 111
Why Antiracism Must Mean Different Things to Different Groups
Ruud Koopmans
7 Political Opportunities for Altruism? 133
The Role of State Policies in Influencing Claims-Making by British
Antiracist and Pro-Migrant Movements
Paul Statham
Page vi
Part III Transnational Dynamics
8 Situational Effects on Political Altruism:
The Student Divestment Movement in the United States 161
Sarah A. Soule
9 Mobilizing for International Solidarity:
Mega-Events and Moral Crusades 177
Christian Lahusen
10 From Altruism to a New Transnationalism?
A Look at Transnational Social Movements 197
Ivana Eterovic and Jackie Smith
11 Solidarity Movement Organizations:
Toward an Active Global Consciousness? 219
Simone Baglioni
12 Concluding Remarks
Conceptual Distinctions for the Study of Political Altruism 235
Marco Giugni
References
245
Index
269
About the Contributors
281
Page vii
Preface
This book’s main title ends with a question mark. This is a deliberate
choice. It represents the exigency not to determine ex ante something
which must at best be assessed at the end, once we have gone through
theoretical ideas and empirical analyses that put us in a more
comfortable position to draw some conclusions. Political altruism and
solidarity are analytical categories that capture both social reality and
human desires. Our task as social scientists is to put our desires aside
and thus avoid proceeding from a normative point of view in favor of a
sane skepticism which must inform scientific analysis. This is the spirit
that has guided our inquiry into the world of altruistic and solidary
behaviors.
The concrete object of the discussions offered in this book is represented
by the solidarity movement as a form of collective action and civic
participation. In spite of being one of the most substantial and active
areas of participation, it has largely been neglected in previous work on
social movements. With this book we hope to shed some light on this
movement and, above all, to encourage further work in this field. In order
to do so, we have asked leading scholars of social movements and
contentious politics to address certain aspects of solidary action, both
from a theoretical and from an empirical point of view. They all deserve
our gratitude for having accepted our invitation and put their intellectual
skills to the benefit of this enterprise.
The volume divides into three parts. The two chapters in part I introduce
us to the subject matter by stressing its relevant theoretical aspects.
Florence Passy’s (chapter 1) is the actual introduction to the book insofar
as she addresses definitional issues, retraces the historical development
of the solidarity movement, shows its various areas and levels of
intervention, provides a brief overview of its mobilization in the European
context, and finally opens up the discussions to follow in the other
chapters by pointing to certain paradoxes and theoretical challenges
related to the concept of political altruism. Charles Tilly (chapter 2)
locates altruistic behavior in a larger context and discusses in particular
altruism (i.e., a situation in which an actor sustains harm while another
actor gains benefits) and destruction (i.e., an actor sustains harm while
another actor likewise sustains harm). His effort is aimed at