Chapter 5 - Social Movements and Singularities

Summary

This chapter presents several examples of peaceful social movements having a significant, durable impact, and going through an initial irregular phase, when an inflection point (i.e., singularity) is reached. New social movement (NSM) theory is presented, as participating in pursuing a “big idea” that emphasizes social issues, accomplished through social relations, symbols, and identities based in the culture. Several examples are analyzed. The civil rights movement is dicussed, the inception (initial singularity) of which is attributed to Rosa Parks, who refused to comply with a bus-driver’s order to leave her seat in the “colored” section for a white passenger once the “white” section was full, and the bottom-up initiative of boycotting buses as a reaction to Rosa Parks’ incarceration, plus the carpooling civic initiative. In the Basque Country the terrorism of ETA suddenly and unexpectedly (singularity) stopped, as a result of societal peace-seeking orientation and specific (cooperation-based) economic development. The Polish Underground Peaceful Solidarity Movement succeeded through an aggregation of multiple societal bottom-up freedom initiatives. The initial Tunisian Arab Spring movement, called the Jasmine Revolution, was an unexpected and unpredicted people’s reaction to the corrupt government, successfully initiating substantial changes. Similarly, the Arab Spring movement in other countries (e.g. Egypt) unexpectedly brought cross-religious people’s cooperation and mutual support. Ukrainian Euromaidan was perceived as a “critical case of mass protests,” leading to a governmental change from pro-Soviet to pro-Western orientation. It united people from various locations and social strata, preparing the nation to resist any further pressures.