In today's world (especially since the 2008 World Financial Crisis), the social protest movement is becoming more and more common.(Internet)
In today's world (especially since the 2008 World Financial Crisis), the social protest movement is becoming more and more common. Whether it is developing countries or developed countries, few countries and regions can be spared.The cause and experience of the social protest movement are different.However, overall, most of the social protest movements have not achieved great results, especially compared with the European Social protest movement (that is, the socialist movement) in the early 19th and early 20th centuries.
The European socialist movement can be said to be the most effective in human history. It has led to the transformation of Western capitalist society, that is, the transformation from primitive capitalism to a welfare society.Not only that, the socialist movement also has a global impact, which has spawned different types of socialist movements around the world.After that, whether it is the West or the West, no matter what the economic system, any society must have a certain degree of socialism.In contrast, the social protest movement in the contemporary world is also manifested as the wind and surge, but so far there is no substantial impact.
Why does it cause such a situation?There are internal and external factors here.People can discuss at least three levels of micro, medium view and macro.
At the micro level, some major changes have undergone social protest mode.Several factors are involved here.First, with the advancement of technology, the organizational cost of the social protest movement has been greatly reduced, and it becomes too easy to organize.As an economist, Mancur Olson, in the 1960s, the social movement was a typical collective behavior. It belongs to a public product that involves the problem of ride -hailing. The organizational cost is high and it is not easy to organize.
Science and technology reduces the cost of protesting movement tissue
Olson refers to the traditional social movement, and today's situation is very different.With the rapid development of Internet technology (especially social media), the organizational costs of social movements have been greatly reduced, and they are more than zero.More importantly, traditional social movements require organizers, namely leaders, and current social movements often do not need leaders. The Internet platform itself is a leader.
This phenomenon is obviously reflected in the yellow vest movement in France since last year.Input-output theory in the sense of economics can be applied to the social protest movement.As the cost of organization decreases and is too easy to organize, the social movement is easy, but the results are greatly reduced.In other words, there are only a handful of results on the violent social movement on the surface.
Second, exit becomes too easy, and it is difficult to have a substantial impact on the protest subjects (companies, organizations, and governments).The concept of exit (EXIT) was proposed by political economist Albert Hirschman.Hichman observed that a person thinks that the quality of products or services provided by a company, organization or country declines, and will mainly respond to two reactions, namely exit or voice.The simplest exit is to leave and buy companies, organizations, and countries that can provide better products or quality services.However, there are often contradictions between exit and sound, and even destroy each other. Exit can effectively destroy sound.If it is easy to exit, it will not easily occur.
This situation is easy to observe in real socioeconomic and economic life.For example, it is difficult for the stock transfer transfer to the shareholders to affect the decision -making of the company's management through the sound; if the divorce is simple enough, the couple will not save the marriage by sounding (communication or reconciliation); in the early days, in the early days, in the early daysIn the process of industrialization, because the western development provides sufficient opportunities, compared with Europe, there is no powerful worker movement in the United States.
The social protest campaign referred to here is against the government's protests.The original intention of social protests is to change the behavior of the ruling party. For example, it is hoped that the government will improve and improve the services provided by the government.The government composed of this party has no chance to improve its behavior.
Social protests have evolved from the transfer of party A to the selection of political parties B or C.The problem is that even if the ruling party was caught up by the social protest movement and the opposition party came to power, it would face the same situation, and it would also be driven down by the social protest movement.It is not difficult to understand. Although there are many occasions, especially the populist movement of Europe and Latin America, social movement can effectively promote the change of government, but the reality of socio -economic reality has not changed.
Third, because the above two factors, that is, the cost of tissue is low and easy to exit, and the level of the art (Hichman) that protests itself is often very inferior.Today's social movement has become rational compared to the 19th and early 20th centuries, because many participants are middle -class people.
However, we must also realize that the standards of social definition and acceptance of violence have also changed a lot.In the early days, it was considered non -violent, and today is likely to be regarded as violence.Today's social movement is radical and violent, and the protest itself is protested by other parts of society.Because of the low protest of art, compared with traditional protests, many protests today are even more popular in traditionally some scholars.The longer the coming, but it cannot be transformed into a practical effect.
Fourth, social protests enter the state of vicious cycle.Because of the above factors, social protests can not lead to changes in government behavior and improve the quality of their services.Government behavior cannot be improved due to social protests, and this situation has provided opportunities for new social protests (often manifested as protesters participating in different people).In this way, the cycle reciprocates has caused protests for protests, that is, some scholars call a protest society, and society has fallen into a long -term invalid cycle.
Social protest results are related to policy
At the mid -view level, whether social protests are effective with the government type (such as democracy and non -democratic owners), but it is very related to the policies adopted by the government.
Since modern times, social protests have often been understood as people's efforts to fight for democracy, freedom, and human rights.But this explanation is too simple.If democracy, freedom, and human rights cannot be seen into things that can be seen and touched, it is difficult to explain the social movement.The abstract concept may have an effect on young people and knowledge groups, but it does not have effect on most people.
Why is the Western society that has been regarded as a variety of rights that have been fully realized, and the protest movement is also upset?In general, democracy is difficult to solve social and economic problems.Democratic politics has a large transformation itself, that is, from radical to conservative, from revolution to reaction, from changing the status quo to maintaining the status quo.For a long time in modern times, democracy has the most changing motivation.The human rights that the West mentioned in the West was implemented or improved due to democratization.Today, people think that democracy is the most stable government, but stability means no change.Therefore, some people say that democracy is the most conservative government today.
In a democratic society, no one can speak and protest anytime, anywhere, but no one can do anything. Not only does the different political parties veto each other, but they also reject each other between different social groups.This is not difficult to understand. From the perspective of experience, all major changes require authority and power from the concept to reality, and contemporary democracy has evolved into the most effective mechanism to eliminate authority and power.
Regardless of the perspective of economy and society, all major changes today, whether good or bad, occur in some non -Western worlds country.Although some countries also have democratic forms (regular elections), because the government is ineffective and incompetent, it often circulates between extreme left and extreme rights. As a result, the country is backward, and even often falls into an anarchy, that is, the country.
However, in other countries that are called authoritarianism in the West, the government has the ability to control social protests on the one hand. On the other hand, by accelerating the method of providing welfare to the people by accelerating economic and social development, the legitimate resources of governing are obtained.Sports, and under some conditions, the society protests effective pressure on the government to improve government behavior.Furthermore, after these authoritarian countries, after the social and economic development, there are also cases of steady democratization.
Social development fish and bear paw
At the same time, through internal development, these countries can effectively reduce the internal and external distances.The occurrence of social movements is often because of the reference point. The reference point is either compared with their historical experience or compared with other groups.As far as different countries are concerned, it is compared with what they have with the people of other countries.In the era of globalization, it is increasingly important to refer to the social protest movement in other countries.It is not difficult to understand that most of the social protest movements in developing countries are based on the references owned by developed countries.
For many countries, when poverty, there are neither fish (socio -economic benefits) nor bear's paw (democracy), but after development, many countries have fish. On the basis of fish, they gradually develop to the bear's paw.Although there are also social groups (mainly intellectuals and young groups) that are not satisfied with the stage of fish, I hope that one step is in place, and fish and bear's paw, but for most people, fish are still very important.Deep uncertainty bears that affect the fish owned.Most of this mentality of society also often becomes an important factor in restricting the social protest movement.
At the macro level, whether it is the rise of the social protest movement or the invalidity of the social protest movement, it must be attributed to globalization.Globalization is a major source of protests in contemporary society.This has been discussed a lot.To put it simply, globalization has created the income distribution involved in the global society is extremely unfair and the society is highly differentiated.Globalization has created a huge amount of wealth, but wealth flows to a very few people. Most people have lack of benefits and even become victims.
There is also a rapid advancement of technology related to globalization.Technological progress has also created a huge amount of wealth, but wealth also flows to very few people.In other words, the two factors of globalization and technology have created the economies of the world's economies as exclusive economy, not the sharing economy.When governments of various countries are unable to solve these problems, social protests become inevitable.Most of today's developed countries protests from this.
Furthermore, in a global state, a society's protest is basically a protest of external factors.From experience, protests on external factors are basically invalid.For many years, countries around the world have experienced protests against the United States, and some even protests from the country, but have never had an effective impact on the United States; on the contrary, what has occurred only internal impacts, and sometimes even very negative impacts.That is, I can't hurt the United States, but I hurt myself.The main factors to change US diplomacy are not social protests in other countries, but social protests within the United States.
Globalization changes domestic political and economic relations
There is also a social protest under globalization, that is, the intervention of external factors affects the internal affairs, that is, changing the behavior of the local government.This is because under the state of globalization, the economy of various countries depends on each other, and the policies (such as economic sanctions) adopted by a government government can have an impact on another country.The protesters think so.But at the actual level, the effect of this protest is even more problematic.
Generally speaking, external economy (or other) factors can have some impact on small countries, but it cannot have an effective impact on large powers.Sometimes this protest will even go to the opposite side.Undoubtedly, in the era of globalization, nationalism from various countries has risen, and the recognition of people from all countries has become more and more agreed on their own country.In this case, the social protest movement resorted to foreign forces, but instead provides valid evidence for other social groups to interfere with the protest movement, and even set off a social movement of the anti -social protest movement.
Globalization has changed the relationship between politics, economy, and society within a country.Globalization means that many factors (especially economic factors, including funds, technology and talents) can flow, and they can escape from protest at any time by exit a country.When a country has sovereignty over politics, economy, and society, that is, when the choice of exit or is not easy to exit, the social protest movement can easily lead to the improvement of the society as a whole, because there is a powerful motivation between the three to achieve compromise.However, in the case of globalization, when economic elements can exit, protests become invalid.
For today's capital, politics and society are not so important.The vested interests have been deeply rooted and can not be shocked by social movements; even if they are affected, they can choose to withdraw.Obviously, today's social protest movement is basically a matter between the government and society, and capital has become an entry and retreat.
Today, there is no reason to believe that the social protest movement will fade; on the contrary, there are too many factors that contribute to the rise of the social protest movement.However, at the same time, social protests have shown the characteristics of protesting for protests. Protesting not only failed to promote great changes, but instead impacted the stability and development of society.How to cope with and control new social protest movements has undoubtedly become a major challenge for countries.
(The author is a professor at the East Asia Research Institute of the National University of Singapore)
The article only represents personal point of view
