Koca, Metin orcid.org/0000-0002-9840-5000 (2023) Networked social movements and radicalisation:yellow vests’ cross-ideological horizon for underrepresented groups. Journal of Contemporary European Studies. pp. 643-657. ISSN 1478-2790
Abstract
This paper questions the opportunities that Yellow Vests as a Networked Social Movement (NETSM) created for politically underrepresented groups. Without a clear authority structure and a formal organisation, NETSMs challenge traditional leadership understandings. Nonetheless, their ability to determine precision in setting goals, demands, and strategies is disputed in the NETSM literature. Considering both aspects, the paper evaluates Yellow Vests’ success in bridging two underrepresented groups inclined to radicalisation. The study rests on 77 interviews with young-adult French citizens who support Radical Right movements (n=40) or self-identify as Muslim in the public sphere of Paris and Lyon (n=37). I argue that Yellow Vests’ baseline arguments (e.g., against the pension reform and tax hikes) were precise enough to be shared by our interlocutors. Meanwhile, our interlocutors left the group boundaries sufficiently imprecise so that the movement could reach beyond their parochial identities. Bringing the two features together, the movement opened up new (e.g., class-based) radicalisation possibilities other than those relying on the Islamist and nativist vocabularies. After analysing this combination of precision and imprecision in the context of several unresolved problems, I conclude that the movement’s vulnerability emanates from its failure to refine the combination that initially symbolised a shared future imagination.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Author(s) |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Social Sciences (York) > Sociology (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 13 Mar 2025 05:33 |
Last Modified: | 02 Apr 2025 23:29 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1080/14782804.2023.2177839 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/14782804.2023.2177839 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:224360 |
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Description: Networked social movements and radicalisation yellow vests cross-ideological horizon for underrepresented groups (1)
Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 2.5