Page 129 - Contemporary Political Sociology Globalization Politics and Power

Social Movements 115

In Melucci ’ s view, the struggles of new social movements are struggles
over identity: “ to push others to recognize something which they them-
selves recognize; they struggle to affirm what others deny ” (Melucci,

1989 : 46). Although any conflict might be characterized in this way,

he argues that the issue of identity has become more central with the
increased reflexivity of complex societies. In Melucci ’ s view, there is an

ever - increasing control over every aspect of our lives in such matters as
health, sexuality, and our relations with the natural environment. In this
respect, he sees Foucault ’ s understanding of power as important. On the
other hand, however, the organizations that regulate our behavior also
facilitate individual autonomy because they thereby put resources of
knowledge and communicative skills at our disposal; without the develop-
ment of capacities for learning and action, individuals would not be
capable of the self - regulation required by the system. Increasingly, there-
fore, there is a greater emphasis on the capacity to act on action itself; to
intervene in the biological and motivational structures of human beings
in order to change oneself as an individual. In this respect, Melucci sees
Foucault ’ s model of power as one - dimensional; power does not simply
involve the administration of subjects, since networks of actors in complex
societies may use the resources provided by powerful organizations in
ways which were not intended by bureaucrats and managers (Melucci,
1989 : 208 – 9).
According to Melucci, the emphasis on individual identity in complex
societies is linked to new forms of collective action in social movements.
This is most directly evident in the fact that individuals are motivated to
participate in movements only insofar as it “ makes sense to them, ”
meeting, as they see it, their own personal needs. As Melucci sees it,
however, it is relatively rare that this leads to narcissistic inward - turning
groups, since work on oneself is generally seen in these movements as the
way to change the world by creating meaningful alternatives to the exist-
ing state of affairs. For example, the questions raised by the ecology
movement concerning human relations with nature are immensely impor-
tant for society as a whole as the destructive potential of technological
intervention increases. Similarly, women ’ s mobilization raises the general
issue of how to recognize and accommodate biological and historical dif-
ference without repression (Melucci, 1989 : 62). In fact, for Melucci, the

definition of such questions as meaningful and the negotiations between
individuals that link them to concrete ways of life are precisely the ways
in which collective action itself is constructed in interaction. All the cul-
tural innovations made in the process of individuals working on them-
selves in negotiation or in confl ict with others – on the language they use,