8 - Conclusion

Summary

The conclusion summarizes the book’s findings and discusses its implications. It begins by outlining the overarching lesson from the book (the importance of everyday experiences and concrete motivations for political participation). It then develops this general point into four specific principles applicable to research on other instances of social mobilization. First, habits may be as important for long-term participation as the alignment between personal beliefs and organizational ideologies. Second, activists’ experiences inside and outside of a social movement should be assigned the same explanatory value. Third, social movement scholars must expand their toolkits by borrowing concepts from outside their specific field. Finally, both divergence and conformity with tradition can promote activism. The chapter closes by showing how studying cases like the piqueteros can generate insight about current challenges to democracy in Latin America and the World. Analyzing the complexity of grassroots experiences in the Global South has the potential to challenge established ideas about civic engagement and political participation.