(PSM3b) Political Sociology and Social Movements II: Revolutions, Populism, and Democracy

This panel examines various aspects of revolution, populism, and democracy. The papers present empirical cases from a diverse political context. They offer critical analyses of the spillover effects of revolutions on democracy and equality beyond a national political context, state violence and the politics of death in the context of the Arab Spring, the effects of right-wing populism on trust in voting by mail, and populism’s relationship to the pluralist principles of liberal democracy. In doing so, the panelists enrich our understanding of the dynamics of revolutionary and populist politics. Tags: Mouvements Sociaux, Politique

Organizers: Marie-Lise Drapeau-Bisson, Carleton University, Omar Faruque, University of New Brunswick Fredericton; Chair: Deena Abul-Fottouh, Dalhousie University

Presentations

Kaitlin Wannamaker, McGill University

The Revolution Next Door

This paper titled “The Revolution Next Door” critically examines the transnational impact of revolutionary activities, particularly focusing on their influence on democracy and equality in neighboring countries. It addresses a significant gap in the existing literature by exploring the spillover effects of revolutions, which have historically been central to national developmental trajectories and are now considered in a global context. The central research question investigates the extent to which revolutionary activities in one country can instigate policy changes and concessions in neighboring countries. This inquiry is vital, considering the interconnected nature of modern global politics and the potential for revolutionary fervor to cross borders. The theoretical framework of the study is grounded in historical and contemporary analyses of revolutions (Tilly 1978; Skocpol 1979; McAdam, McCarthy, and Zald 1996). It hypothesizes that the fear of revolutionary contagion might compel elites in neighboring countries to pre-emptively offer concessions related to democracy and equality, aiming to mitigate potential uprisings. Employing a comprehensive data set covering 171 countries over 120 years, this research meticulously analyzes the relationships between types of political upheavals and their subsequent effects on democracy and equality. The methodology includes a detailed examination of various upheaval types, namely revolutions, coups, and protest-led ousters, and their respective impacts across time and space. This approach allows for a comprehensive look at both direct and indirect effects of revolutionary activities. The study’s findings show that revolutions in neighboring countries have a positive impact on domestic levels of democracy and equality. Specifically, we document noticeable increases in democracy and two indices of economic egalitarianism in countries adjacent to those experiencing revolutionary change. However, the robustness of these effects varies, with one of the egalitarianism measures being consistent across all model specifications. In contrast, isolated “protest-led ousters” are found to moderately increase suffrage and egalitarianism, while coups do not have a significant impact on these variables. Table 1 in the paper provides a comprehensive overview of the descriptive statistics related to political upheavals and the key democracy and inequality variables under study. This table is crucial in demonstrating the empirical foundation underpinning the research conclusions. The implications of this research are profound in understanding the mechanisms through which revolutions can foster reform beyond their original borders. By highlighting the potential of revolutionary moments to induce positive social changes in neighboring states, the study contributes significantly to the broader discourse on global and local dynamics in political sociology and comparative politics. It underscores the interconnectedness of global events and domestic policy changes, offering significant insights into the mechanisms through which revolutions can have a reformist impact. “The Revolution Next Door” represents a novel and critical contribution to our understanding of the dynamics of revolutionary spillovers and their reformist ends. The research illuminates the global-to-local causal sequence, demonstrating how global events like revolutions can influence domestic outcomes in neighboring countries. This study not only contributes to the academic discourse but also provides practical insights for policymakers and activists engaged in the fields of democracy and equality.

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Non-presenting author: David Calnitsky, Western University

Shahed Ishak, University of Toronto

Tyranny Necropolitics- The Suppression of the Syrian Revolution

My presentation aims to analyze state violence and the politics of death in the context of the Arab Spring. It does so by looking at the Syrian Revolution through the lens of necropolitics, a concept that examines how life is subjugated to the power of death. In March 2011, inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings across the Middle East, peaceful protests erupted throughout Syria in demand for political reform and democracy. The Syrian regime perceived these protests as an existential threat to its authority. In response, the Syrian regime declared war on the opponents/revolutionaries, whom the regime publicly portrayed as an internal enemy . An enemy that needed to be exterminated in order to protect Syrian sovereignty and maintain its form of existence. The Syrian authorities used violence to suppress demonstrations, resorting to police, military, and paramilitary forces, thus, creating death-worlds and relegating the majority of Syrians to the status of the living-dead. This study employs a theoretical framework rooted in necropolitics. Necropolitics is a concept developed by Achille Mbembe (2003) to analyze the centrality of death in politics, extending Foucault’s theory of biopolitics. Mbembe highlights that Foucault’s biopolitics may not fully capture scenarios where death, rather than life, is the focal point of political power. Necropolitics has gained prominence across various disciplines, offering an analytical tool to understand the dynamics of power in relation to death outside the literature on genocide and the United Nations legal conventions on genocide, which were developed in the specific historical context of the Holocaust. However, it is essential to acknowledge that the framework of necropolitics has its limitations when it comes to addressing different political and social realities related to different historical experiences and geographical locations beyond Western liberal democracies. Besides the fact that the concept was initially theorized to capture the centrality of death in relation to colonies, race, and war and terror, the concept remains overapplied and undertheorized in the literature. On this basis, my presentation offers: first, to contextualize the concept of necropolitics within the Syrian conflict. By applying the concept to different historical experiences and geographical locations, I aim to conceptualize the suppression of the Syrian Revolution as a necropolitical formation. Second, to contribute to the development of the concept, broadening its theoretical scope and contributing to the conversation from the periphery. This will ultimately bridge the gap in the existing literature on the concept of necropolitics regarding the Middle East and North Africa region in relation to the Arab Spring event. In my presentation, I claim that by looking at the contemporary history of Syria, it is apparent that we are witnessing the unfolding of a particular and historically contingent form of necropolitics that emerged in the context of the suppression of the 2011 Revolution. I call this type of necropower that operates under authoritarian regimes, like Syria, the tyranny necropolitics . It refers to a type of necropower that operates under authoritarian forms of rule when the state authority is threatened. In times of stability, ruthless violence functions as the organizing element in the political practices of the regime, as manifested in its governmentality logic through a set of administrative and coercive practices. Extreme violence becomes the primary, if not the only, mode of governance in times of political contestation. Amid contention when a sovereign power is called into question, the regulation of life as a means of articulating sovereign power becomes insufficient. The state then acts and exercises its power beyond, above, and through the rule of law, to ensure the survival of the regime. By marking its opponents with a loyalty/disloyalty marker, the state decides who may be included in political life and who must be excluded from it. Disloyalty becomes the mark of the internal enemy perceived as a threat to the political and social way of life. In this sense, with rampant extreme violence, tyranny takes the form of a war machine that operates by the ceaseless identification of disloyalty, marking it by death. Inevitably, the production and distribution of death become an essential instrument used to retain power and ensure the continuity of sovereignty. This paper aligns with PSM3 session’s theme as it operates within the realm of political sociology, focusing on state violence, social revolutions, and counterrevolutions.

Andrew Dawson, York University

The Trump Effect? Right-wing Populism and Distrust in Voting by Mail in Canada

Does Trump’s attacks on voting by mail influence how some Canadians view mail-in ballots? The Trump effect on views and behaviors surrounding voting by mail has been well documented in the United States. North of the border, more Canadians than ever voted by mail in the last general election. In this study, we consider how right-wing populism is associated with trust in voting by mail among Canadians. Specifically, we seek to test two main hypotheses. First, we consider whether Canadians holding populist views—and, in particular, those holding right-wing populist views—are less trusting of voting by mail. Second, we consider whether political media exposure amplifies this association. We analyze data from both the 2021 Canadian Election Study and Democracy Checkup Survey. We find that those who hold populist views clearly have less trust in voting by mail. This is especially true among right-leaning individuals. Furthermore, as in the United States, this effect is moderated by one’s level of political media exposure, with higher levels of political media exposure amplifying the effect populist views on trust in voting by mail. Our findings, therefore, suggest that the politicization of mail-in voting by President Trump has important implications for not only the legitimacy of the electoral system in the United States, but also in Canada and potentially in other parts of the world.

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Non-presenting author: Cary Wu, York University

Emily Laxer, York University, Glendon Campus; Jacob McLean, York University

Populism Against the Law? Political Opportunities, Mobilizing Structures and Framing Strategies behind the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act

The literature on populism is replete with warnings that it threatens liberal democracy. This threat, many argue, derives from populism’s distrust of pluralist principles of governance, namely minority rights protections and the division of powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Many populist movements worldwide portray these principles as representing “elite” interests that threaten the wellbeing of the “people” (Blokker, 2019, 2021; Lacey, 2019; Mudde, 2021). It is no wonder, then, that populist strategies and discourses are being used to circumvent, commandeer, or dismantle constitutions in several democratic societies (Blokker, 2019, 2021; Bugaric and Kuhelj, 2018; Lacey, 2019; Walker, 2019). Canada is no exception to this anti-pluralist dimension of populism. Recently, the country has witnessed a surge in provincial governments’ use of populist frameworks to challenge constitutional obstacles to their policy agendas. In Ontario, Québec, and Saskatchewan, this manifests in governments’ accelerated uses of the Notwithstanding Clause, an exceptional constitutional provision that allows governments to temporarily override certain rights (Laxer and Krakoff, 2023). Populist anti-pluralism also appears to infuse the Alberta government’s recent Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act. Passed by the governing United Conservatives in late 2022, the bill allows the cabinet – by way of a parliamentary resolution – to direct provincial and municipal bodies to defy any Canadian federal laws or legislation deemed “unconstitutional” or “harmful” to Alberta. The bill has drawn widespread criticism, with opponents claiming that its defiance of federal law without court oversight is unconstitutional and that the enhanced powers allotted to the cabinet are undemocratic (McLean and Laxer, 2023). In this paper, we use the Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act as an empirical entry point from which to broadly assess populism’s relationship to liberal democracy in Canada. We begin by outlining the key measures undertaken by – and constitutional implications of – the bill, against the backdrop of the literature on populism and liberal democracy. We then aim to discover how the United Conservative Party of Alberta came to adopt the Sovereignty Act, despite evident opposition. Drawing from social movement theory, we propose a multi-faceted argument that foregrounds three sets of factors: (1) the political opportunities to which the Sovereignty Act is a strategic response, including the perceived failure of Jason Kenney’s “Fair Deal” approach to satisfy a resurgent Albertan alienation and separatism, as well as Kenney’s Covid-19 policies ­­– unpopular with the libertarian wing of his party – which culminated in his ouster; (2) the role of the separatist and “freedom” movements, whose mobilizing activities have left imprints on the current government’s policy agenda; and (3) the discursive frames adopted by the government – namely “sovereignty” and “freedom” – to enhance the bill’s resonance with both supportive civil society groups and Alberta’s larger political culture. Our investigation draws on multiple data sources, including newspaper reports, opinion polls, publicly available interviews with – and content published by – influential civil society actors and organizations, and parliamentary debates.