Auteur: Tommaso Vitale Date: À: ML movimenti Bicocca Sujet: [movimenti.bicocca] The March of Civic Activism and Political
Transformation from Europe to Asia
Inizio messaggio inoltrato:
> Da: abel polese <abelpolese@???>
>
> Dear Friends and Colleagues,
>
>
>
> Given the enthusiasm and volume of submissions for the special
> issue of the journal Totalitarianism and Democracy devoted to the
> “Color Revolutions”, we are planning to expand the scope of the
> research and edit a book mapping the “Color Revolutions” that have
> so far occurred, and trying to identify similar movements that may
> also act as a catalyst for regime change.
>
> Provisional title
>
> Mapping the ‘Color Revolutions’: The March of Civic Activism and
> Political Transformation from Europe to Asia
>
>
>
> Our geographical focus is not limited to former communist states as
> a number of countries like Iran, Lebanonand Burma have also
> witnessed increasing civil activism and the emergence of groups
> employing non-violent methods to protest against the status quo.
>
>
>
> For this reason we wish to integrate the material already selected
> and receive further propositions for articles focusing on different
> aspects of those “color movements”. The original call for papers is
> attached herewith and we encourage any submission but welcome
> particularly papers with a geographical focus on
>
>
>
> Slovakia (especially the OK campaign in 1998)
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> Belarus
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> Azerbaijan
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> Armenia
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> Russia
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> Moldova
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> Kazakhstan
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> Tajikistan
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> Turkmenistan
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> Submissions dealing with previous protest movements (for example
> Solidarnosc in Poland, the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia,
> protests in the Baltic states and the Granite Revolution in
> Ukraine) would also be welcomed so long as they can show how such
> movements have contributed to the current wave of “Color Revolutions”
>
>
>
> Abstracts (500 words) should be sent by 10 December 2007 to the
> addresses below. Selected authors will be notified by 15 December
> and the deadline for submission of the final paper (8000 words)
> will be 20 April 2008.
>
>
>
> For further information or submission of abstracts, please contact
> by e-mail:
>
>
>
> Dr. Donnacha Ó Beacháin, Associate Professor, Department of
> Political Science, KIMEP, Almaty,Kazakhstan
>
> Abel Polese, Marie Curie Research Fellow, Hannah Arendt Institute
> for Research on Totalitarianism (HAIT), Dresden, Germany
>
> donnacha_1@???
>
> abelpolese@???
>
>
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>
> Mapping the ‘Color Revolutions’: The March of Civic Activism and
> Political Transformation from Europe to Asia (provisional title)
>
> (NB contributions focusing on previous protest movements such as
> those in Czechoslovakia or the Baltic States are very welcome, so
> long as they can show a connection between them and those that form
> the primary focus of our analysis).
>
> Since 1998 the Eurasian geopolitical landscape has been affected by
> what have been labeled the 'color revolutions', which refers to a
> number of socio-political transformations attempted, but not
> necessarily achieved, in a number of countries, namely: Slovakia
> (1998), Serbia (2000), Belarus (2001 and 2006), Georgia (2003),
> Ukraine (2004), Kyrgyzstan (2005) and immediately sedated in
> Russia, Uzbekistan (2005), Azerbaijan (2005), and Kazakhstan (2005).
>
> Those events have certainly some elements in common with the second
> wave of revolutions, which occured inGermany, Poland, the Czech
> Republic and the Baltic Countries in 1989 but they also possess
> some completely new features like the growing use of the Internet,
> humor and art to deliver a message, and the significant involvement
> of grassroots NGOs.
>
> In some cases these 'revolutions' have led to a radical political
> and social change in the country, in other cases not. It is our
> belief that the 'people' factor is decisive in determining the
> nature of a revolution and popular attitudes are crucial for a
> successful movement. However, it is up to leaders to create the
> conditions for people to become aware and motivate them to act. How
> is it possible to create the conditions necessary for a revolution
> to occur and to be successful?
>
> To answer this question one should go beyond the vision that sees
> economic and logistic support to the opposition as the main
> elements of a successful revolution. Likewise the opinion that
> 'people stood up and fought for democracy' should be examined and
> analyses should try to understand the relative importance of
> external aid and popular attitudes in determining the 'success' of
> a revolution. A revolution is 'successful' if it leads to a
> substantial change in the country. The easiest indicator of this
> change is a political one, however a social change might also be
> employed as an indicator of success, when it is measurable.
>
> All the opposition movements made use of protest techniques
> developed over the years and often based on Gene Sharp's theory of
> power (1973) and his a guidebook 'from dictatorship to democracy'.
>
> Some theoretical questions we want to answer are:
>
> Why did the use of revolutionary tools not lead to the same result
> throughout the post-communist space? Is it because those tools were
> used correctly in some cases and incorrectly in others or because
> 'geography' matters?
>
> What was the role of the ruling elite in preventing the development
> of civil society and stymieing protests and to what degree was the
> role of the political opposition, external actors and NGO
> networking important?
>
> Is there a saturation point for the 'color revolutions' after which
> all attempts to use such techniques will be futile? Or is it the
> case that some 'revolutions' were not attempted in the right place
> or at the right moment?
>
> By exploring the above questions and drawing from the experiences
> of these 'revolutions', we seek to spell out a theory of 'color
> revolutions' that can provide some common points for all the social
> changes that have occurred between 1998-2006. To do this, we
> welcome theory-generating contributions that focus on a country as
> case study or propose a comparative analysis of a number of countries.
>
> Contributions should analyze one or more elements that have to be
> encountered when 'organizing a revolution'. In particular we might
> divide the topics in the following way: (the list is not exhaustive
> and potential contributors are welcome to discuss with the editors
> a possible focus)
>
> a) Ideology and a theoretical framework
> The role of previous waves of revolutions
> The reference texts of a revolution
> The role of Gene Sharp's 'theory of power', 'from dictatorship to
> democracy' and other ideological sources
>
> b) The will to set up a revolutionary apparatus
> The work of the Einstein Foundation in Eurasia
> The role of foreign and domestic intelligence forces
> The legacy of previous protest movements
> Democratic ideology in regional context
> Existence of a team of revolution makers at national and
> international level that has been operating in Eurasia and is
> extending its field of action to other regions
>
> c) Fundraising
> Relations with foreign foundations
> Domestic fundraising: contact with local businessmen
> Door to door fundraising: gathering goods other than money (labor
> force, commodities, ideas, services, ideological and physical support)
>
> d) Training of activists
> Contact with other successful protest movements
> Relations with foreign foundations
> Domestic trainings of activists
>
> e) Coordination and cooperation of forces
> Relations between the political and NGO forces before, during and
> after the political crisis
> Networking between domestic NGOs
> Relations between the political forces, national based and
> grassroots NGOs
>
> f) Containing the influence of hostile actors
> The role of external forces such as the EU, Russia and USA and
> their influence on civil society
> Coping with an hostile environment and limiting the influence of
> the current regime
> Alliances of the opposition and civil society with some major
> personalities of the ruling elite that subsequently support the
> protest movements
>
> g) Involving and motivating people
> The People's attitude, in a comparative historical and/or
> geographical perspective
> Communication between the leaders and people to motive them
> The relations between NGOs and “ordinary” people
> Communication between active and passive strata of the population
>
> h) Capacity to choose time and modality to carry out the revolution
> The logistics of a revolution
> How to prepare scenarios (optimistic and pessimistic) of a revolution
> The right time to carry out a revolution
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