Symbolic Objects in Contentious Politics

This book explores the "stuff" at the heart of protests, revolutions, civil wars, and other contentious political events, focusing on objects that have or acquire symbolic importance. It brings together scholars from various fields to discuss their meanings, uses, functions, and social responses, aiming to underrepresent and under-theorize objects and materiality in the study of contentious politics.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 330 pages
Publication date: 30 April 2023
Publisher: The University of Michigan Press

When we witness protest marches, striking workers at pickets, and insurgent movements across the world today, a multitude of objects often dominate our field of vision. Some of these objects are ubiquitous, found worldwide, such as flags, banners, and placards. However, others are situationally unique, surprising in their historical significance. Who could have foreseen the profound importance of a flower placed in the barrel of a gun, a flaming torch, a sea of umbrellas, a motorists' yellow vest, a feather headdress, an AK-47, or a knitted pink hat? This book delves into the "stuff" at the core of protests, revolutions, civil wars, and other contentious political events. Specifically, it focuses on those objects that acquire or hold symbolic significance. In the realm of "contentious politics" (i.e., disruptive political episodes where individuals seek to change societies without relying on institutions), such objects have the power to divide and unite social groups, tell stories, make declarations, spark controversy, and even initiate violent upheavals. This book brings together scholars from diverse fields to explore symbolic objects in contentious politics. Its purpose is threefold: to rectify the underrepresentation and under-theory of objects and materiality in the study of contentious politics, to leverage the insights of various individual subfields, such as social movement studies, peace and conflict studies, and scholarship on revolutions, terrorism, and (counter)insurgency, and to foster dialogue and collaboration among these subfields on the topic of symbolic objects. By bringing these phenomena together, this book offers a substantial, distinctive, and cohesive theoretical contribution, drawing upon the expertise of numerous scholars.

When we witness protest marches, striking workers at pickets, and insurgent movements across the world today, a multitude of objects often dominate our field of vision. Some of these objects are ubiquitous, found worldwide, such as flags, banners, and placards. However, others are situationally unique, surprising in their historical significance. Who could have foreseen the profound importance of a flower placed in the barrel of a gun, a flaming torch, a sea of umbrellas, a motorists' yellow vest, a feather headdress, an AK-47, or a knitted pink hat? This book delves into the "stuff" at the core of protests, revolutions, civil wars, and other contentious political events. Specifically, it focuses on those objects that acquire or hold symbolic significance. In the realm of "contentious politics" (i.e., disruptive political episodes where individuals seek to change societies. societies without relying on institutions), such objects have the power to divide and unite social groups, tell stories, make declarations, spark controversy, and even initiate violent upheavals. This book brings together scholars from diverse fields to explore symbolic objects in contentious politics. Its purpose is threefold: to rectify the underrepresentation and under-theory of objects and materiality in the study of contentious politics, to leverage the insights of various individual subfields, such as social movement studies, peace and conflict studies, and scholarship on revolutions, terrorism, and (counter)insurgency, and to foster dialogue and collaboration among these subfields on the topic of symbolic objects. By bringing these phenomena together, this book offers a substantial, distinctive, and cohesive theoretical contribution, drawing upon the expertise of numerous scholars.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780472055975