Citing history.
Although rarely considered within the existing scholarship on social movements, even a cursory analysis of protest activity suggests that movements regularly invoke historical citations (whether consciously or not) while working to clarify aims and mobilize constituencies. In order to make sense of...
| Publicado en: | Social Movement Studies Vol. 19; no. 5/6; pp. 537 - 556 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
Sep-Nov2020
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=146195945&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 146195945 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 14742837 J5V jtl: Social Movement Studies issn: 14742837 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Sep-Nov2020 vid: 19 iid: 5/6 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 146195945 10.1080/14742837.2019.1631152 ppf: 537 ppct: 19 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 1.8MB tig: atl: Citing history. aug: au: Thompson, AK affil: Department of Sociology, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, USA su: New York (N.Y.) Charlottesville (Va.) Benjamin, Walter, 1892-1940 Protest movements Cultural movements Public demonstrations Social movements sug: subj: Protest movements Cultural movements Public demonstrations Social movements New York (N.Y.) Charlottesville (Va.) Benjamin, Walter, 1892-1940 keyword: citation History images left-wing movements right-wing movements Walter Benjamin citation History images left-wing movements right-wing movements Walter Benjamin ab: Although rarely considered within the existing scholarship on social movements, even a cursory analysis of protest activity suggests that movements regularly invoke historical citations (whether consciously or not) while working to clarify aims and mobilize constituencies. In order to make sense of this process, and to account for the variations that arise among the different citation modalities favored by movements on opposite ends of the political spectrum, I draw upon the theoretical contributions of Marxist cultural critic Walter Benjamin and, in particular, on his exploration of 'wish images' and 'dialectical images,' their attributes, and their interrelationship. According to Benjamin, such images summoned the past either to project visions of future happiness (as with the wish image) or to deposit the witness before a moment of decisive, present-tense reckoning. After outlining the role of historical citation in social movements and in the broader cultural field through which these movements find expression, I analyze two recent protest events – the 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville, VA, in which wish images were actively deployed, and the 2017 Women's Strike in New York City, where a dialectical image arose from the constellated nodes of the march's route – to consider the relationship between citation modality and protest outcome. Following from this analysis, and in keeping with the unapologetically partisan nature of my investigation, I conclude by advancing some strategic recommendations for movements seeking – as Benjamin once enjoined – to 'improve our position in the struggle against Fascism.' pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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