Power, politics and popular mobilisation - Professional Development Reading Pack No. 40
Reading pack covering the major issues
Abstract
In his book, the Rebirth of History (2012), Alain Badiou observed that “we find ourselves in a time of riots”. Paying attention to contemporary popular uprisings allows us to take the pulse of the street; homing in on people’s grievances and desires, how they conflict and temporarily converge, and how they counter or correspond with formal discourse. Popular mobilisation is a political process whose primary locus is outside formal spaces: it is often low level – even underground – and only sometimes tumultuous. Contentious politics builds on the streets, in markets and along corridors; in sitting rooms, meeting halls and religious spaces; it is online and offline; and it is local and global. A mix of ideas and action, it is fermented in exchanges of talk and image and sharpened by arguments, demonstrations and public performances.
Citation
Scott-Villiers, P. (2016). Power, politics and popular mobilisation. GSDRC Professional Development Reading Pack no. 40. Birmingham, UK: University of Birmingham.3pp
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