Introduction: The Sociology of Collective Action Reconsidered

The introductory article argues for a new approach to the sociology of social movements and collective action. It begins with the juxtaposition of reigning theories in the field, criticizing their sectorial nature and overrationalization of actors. In lieu of this, the authors propose an approach that focuses upon social subjectivization and its accompanying matrices of domination. Social movements are therefore more than manifestations of structural conflicts. They participate in the formation of subjects. Central to the views expressed in this article is the subject’s relation to self as a bifurcated process, one that has broken with the reassurances of state and society. This underscores how dominant representations of one’s own deeply human and material resources are constructed, and through which kinds of considerations and experiences actors come to address questions of self.