Social movements and civil disobedience in Cohen and Arato

Social Movements and Civil Disobedience

Democratization and Social Movements

If the public sphere is created whenever private individuals come together to form a public body, as Jurgen Habermas states, then democracy relies highly on the actions of the public sphere, and, therefore, the thoughts and beliefs of individuals. Democracy can be defined as a form of government in which the governed body directly or indirectly chooses its leadership and determines its laws. A democracy is also a civil society, though the definition of civil society is not confined to the democratic state. Instead, a civil society can be described as an environment consisting of a common culture, set of predominate beliefs, and a focus on general welfare. In short, members of civil societies try to "play it nice," helping one another to achieve goals that benefit all parts of the society. Civil societies can exist in democracies. The concept of the global civil society also exists. In the global civil society, states connected through globalization to organize around common world issues such as clean air, fair trade, etc. Because civil societies, whether global or more local, rely on the opinion of their constituents to structure their society, social movements can have a drastic impact on both the creation of and the actions taken in these societies.

In their article, "Social Movements and Civil Society," Cohen and Arato echo this concept. They argue that social movements "constitute the dynamc element in processes that might realize the positive potentials of modern civil societies" (494). Thus, these authors believe that social movements play a large role in democratization, or the creation of democracy. Although they spend a brief few sentences arguing the definition of a social movement, one can quite easily define a social movement as an idea or ideal that gages a moderate to large section of society. It is an evangelical attempt, generally, to right some wrong or to gain some sort of justice. Examples of social movements include the equal rights movement, the women's movement, and the green movement. While the public is, by far, not completely enraptured by these movements, they tend to engage the action of elites, specialized members of the population, and at least a moderate amount of the general public. They also receive a great deal of attention in academic circles, for the most part. Because the social movement engages the public, however, a component on which the civil society and democracy relies, can they increase or encourage democratization?

Arato and Cohen suggest this is true by discussing the traditional model of the society against the state, among other components. The idea that the society rebels against the state echoes the tradition or rebellion that has traditionally attempted to install democratic rule. Some examples include women's suffrage, African-American's suffrage, and the campaign for gay marriage in the United States. Popular uprisings, however, have also traditionally installed types of government that can be descried as at least non-democratic. An important example is communism, which has traditionally called for a violent revolution. Today, many communist groups still believe in this tenant.