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This theoretical essay aims to address the power of individual choice of the actors that make up the dynamics of buying and selling food, with the aim of guiding the idea that it cannot be seen as mere merchandise and reduced to marketing processes. In the view exposed here, both food should not be identified as a purely commercial object, as the existing relations in the production and acquisition of these permeate and are directly linked to the choices, be they of what, how and where to produce, or what and from where consume. To this end, a bibliographic research was carried out that directs the validation of these aspects, points out possible paths for commercialization and as a real alternative characterizes them as countermovements. Actions that permeate today's society signal a new social order of consumption which, within capitalism itself, considers individual choice. The essay instigates the individual, to think that their actions are not merely linked to mass knowledge, and that local and cultural relations make up new attitudes and choices and these are capable of modifying the social context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the mechanisms of antifeminist communication norms, both on a theoretical and empirical level. Applying the concept of 'cultural codes' to the study of antifeminism we argue that statements denouncing feminism are often used as a signal to communicate a more general authoritarian worldview and an opposition towards 'political correctness'. In the empirical part we present a factorial survey design applied to a German sample. This design is used to experimentally vary four situational characteristics which hypothetically influence whether individuals comply with antifeminist communication norms: (a) the gender of the speaker, (b) the topic of the conversation, (c) the personal attributes of the mentioned 'feminist', and (d) the type of sexism (benevolent vs hostile) articulated. The study shows that compliance with antifeminist communication norms increases if respective statements are voiced by women instead of men, especially if respondents report higher social status. Antifeminist norm compliance is also higher if men instead of women mention sexual harassment accusations of feminists. For left respondents, compliance increases if benevolent instead of hostile sexism is articulated. Intersituational person-related factors of antifeminist communication which we observed are: authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and distrust in public and political institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the recent backlash against Israeli human rights and advocacy NGOs led jointly by right-wing organizations, by mainstream media, and by the government. Contrarily to what was theorized in the literature dedicated to movement/countermovement dynamics, it suggests that the birth and rise of ultra-nationalist movements created in reaction to domestic NGOs dealing with the consequences of the occupation cannot be explained by the achievements of the latter or by the threats they pose locally to segments of the Israeli population. Rather, this article shows they are an indirect consequence of recent global developments mainly stemming from the Palestinian internationalization strategy. Yet, these developments have strong effects not only at the international level but also at the local level. One of them lies in the fact that NGOs are now presented as "foreign agents" for obliquely nurturing voices that speak up worldwide against Israeli policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy diffusion literature generally studies the adoption of similar policies across jurisdictions, but often overlooks how opposing policies or legal constraints may influence the enactment of rigid state constitutional amendments. The current study models the spread of state constitutional amendments designed to prevent future policy change. Using conditional event history analysis on all states from 1999 to 2011 the empirical models analyze the spread of same‐sex marriage prohibitive amendments across the United States. Findings suggest that the nearby adoption of opposing policies encourage state legislatures to introduce prohibitive amendments. The regional diffusion effect suggests that policymakers “protect” their jurisdiction from nearby diffusion forces or seek electoral gains by symbolic protection by committing an already existing policy into the rigid state constitutional framework. Regional policy diffusion may, therefore, be explained by a countermovement mechanism unique to the state constitutional amendment process. This protective strategy among state legislatures and citizens may explain why many policy areas are frequently codified in state constitutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many Western democracies have seen an increase in extreme right mobilization over the past several decades but extreme right mobilization is not a new phenomenon when we look historically. In this paper, we examine fifty years of white supremacist protest in the United States to help shed light on the factors that explain variation in levels of right-wing mobilization. Using annual time-series analysis, we find that traditional strain explanations do not explain these protests but that threats to the traditional economic, political, and social power of whites were critical. Ethnic competition associated with black population growth and political threats stemming from the political power of northern Democrats, a divided federal government, and civil rights protest stimulated this mobilization. These findings support a broadened ethnic competition/power devaluation model of right-wing mobilization that emphasizes the mobilizing effects of economic and political threats to a relatively advantaged group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sun Village, located in a remote part of coastal Fujian, has a tradition of migratory economic activities supplementary to agriculture—a tradition that could be called tongxiang tongye (same hometown, same trade). On the basis of rural social networks, Sun villagers have established an industry processing golden and silver jewelry in cities throughout China. This phenomenon is a countermovement against the predominant trend of rural China’s marginalization and “hollowing-out” relative to urban centers. This countermovement offers the possibility of reembedding economic activities within social relationships to create a “social economy.” Jiewai (“Beyond the Boundary”) is an alternative and pluralistic periphery that might undermine the center. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Karl Polanyi’s theory of the ‘double movement’ has gained great currency in recent years to explain the global growth of contemporary social movements resisting neoliberalism. However, there has been no statistical research demonstrating whether these protest movements represent a more general trend of growing discontent with ‘disembedding’ markets from public control. This article uses questions from the World Values Survey to construct an ‘embeddedness’ index measuring public opinion on the desired relationship between states and markets. Focusing on public opinion in 20 countries during the 1990s, the analysis poses three questions: First, is there evidence of increasing global support for ‘re-embedding’ markets? Second, how does such opinion vary across regions of the world? Finally, what is the class and gender composition of this latent countermovement? The results provide substantial evidence of an emerging countermovement in public opinion over the 1990s with complex class, gender, and geopolitical variation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Little research has been done on antifeminism, whether from the perspective of the sociology of social movements or even of women's studies. Yet, a particular form of antifeminism has been at work for a number of years, more specifically, masculinism. Its discourse claims that men are in crisis because of the feminization of society and it mobilizes primarily around issues pertaining to the interests of fathers and spouses (divorce laws, alimony, child custody, violence). This article examines two alternative explanations of the masculinist phenomenon: (1) men have real problems, and masculinists scapegoat women and feminists instead of targeting the true causes of their problems, such as the transformation of the labor market; (2) masculinism is openly opposed to feminism and is thus the result of countermovement dynamics. While referring to other contexts (UK, the USA, etc.), our paper takes the situation in Québec (Canada) as a case study. The feminist movement and masculinism are dynamic there and stand in sharp opposition to each other. The essay applies the theory of countermovements in order to better understand the oppositional relationship between these two political forces and demonstrates ultimately that masculinism's effects on feminists are at times paradoxical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social movement leaders regularly invoke geographic places—such as cities, parks, and monuments—as symbols in strategic efforts to frame social movement activity. This article examines how place affects framing processes inside a movement and counterprotester responses with an ethnography of anti-Iraq War protests in Fayetteville, North Carolina. We show how place attracts the attention of movement leaders, creates opportunities for local community members to assert their interests, suppresses some frames within the movement, and encourages opponents to co-opt the meaning of place for their own ends. The multiple meanings of place can broaden the scope of conflict and reduce a movement leader’s ability unilaterally to define a movement’s agenda and public image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The involvement of the power elite in social movements has been a neglected area of research. The investigation of elites has generally been limited to that of local elites, political parties, and philanthropic foundations, and their involvement in social movements is believed limited to resource support (either to further or deter the progress of an insurgent social movement) or the institutional obstruction or facilitation of the movement I contend that under specific conditions, the power elite may become active mobilizers, leaders, and supporters of countermovements (movements to deter insurgent movements). These conditions arise during periods of heightened insurgent movement activity and when the efficacy of institutional channels to safeguard or advance the interests of the power elite is reduced. This is illustrated in the case of the Associated Farmers of California, Inc., a countermovement aimed at interfering with and obstructing the attempts of farmworkers to strike and unionize during the 1930s by enlisting citizens and citizen groups as anti-unionization shock troops, it also opposed New Deal policies and legislation. The mobilization of non-elites into the Associated Farmers originated in and was carried out by agricultural and industrial elite of California to advance their own interests. Citizens allied with the Associated Farmers either because of ideological alignment with their goals or dependence on their economic activities. The theoretical ramifications of this example will he explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the determinants of social movement success, the characteristics and responses of nonstate organizations under attack by protestors have been overlooked. We examine three campaigns by animal rights groups against experimentation, in 1976-1977, 1987-1988, and 1988-1989. The first two Campaigns stopped the research, while the third did not One influential set of factors was the preexisting vulnerabilities e.g., unpopular practices, internal factions -- on the part of targeted organizations. Another was the strategic responses of these organizations, especially the avoidance of "blunders." A growing countermovement, thirdly, affected the organizations' ability to respond effectively and avoid blunders. As a social movement expands and strengthens, it encourages counter organizing and a hardening of resistance, so that many Social movements may actually be less successful as they become larger and fore visible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]