Countermovements from the Perspective of the Sociology of Social Movements

Abstract

Countermovements and conservative activism have received relatively little attention in Czech and European sociology. This article summarises the discussions concerning the countermovement phenomenon in the last thirty years. The starting point of the interest in countermovements of different kinds in the Western context is generally considered to lie in the 1970s and the 1980s, when the opposition to the reform movements of the preceding period became more intense. In an attempt to define this phenomenon, sociology made use of its theoretical and methodological apparatus available at that time. Therefore, resource mobilization theory, the political opportunities/political process model, and framing theory gradually looked at counter- movements from different points of view and concentrated on different parts of their life cycle. This article first discusses various countermovement definitions and dilemmas which sociologists have faced in their analysis. It then focuses on the key dimensions of the countermovement life cycle: its genesis and mobilization, strategy and tactics, and its potential effects. Emphasis is placed on the comparison of different theoretical and methodological approaches and the dynamic movement-countermovement relationship. The topics are illustrated on examples from relevant case studies. The conclusion summarises the areas to which the social sciences, in analysing the problems of countermovements, pay very little attention. Adapted from the source document.