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Political Science Political Advocacy

Conform, Fail, Repeat

How Power Distorts Collective Action

by (author) Christopher Samuel

Publisher
Between the Lines
Initial publish date
Oct 2017
Category
Political Advocacy, Political, General
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781771133371
    Publish Date
    Oct 2017
    List Price
    $27.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781771133388
    Publish Date
    Jun 2020
    List Price
    $26.99 USD

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Description

Anti-globalization activists have done little to slow capitalism’s global march. Many of the gains made by decades of identity-based movements have been limited to privileged subgroups. The lesson of these movements is clear: struggle for change is essential, but the direction of change matters considerably.

Like movements of the past, current social movements such as Black Lives Matter, Idle No More, and the growing anti-Trump movement, must navigate a path between reformism and radicalism, pragmatism and idealism, capture and independence.

In Conform, Fail, Repeat, Christopher Samuel uses Pierre Bourdieu’s central “thinking tools” to show how power and domination force movements into a no-win choice between conformity and failure. With special attention to North American LGBTQ politics and the G20 protests in Toronto, Conform, Fail, Repeat shows how Bourdieu’s work can give movement observers as well as participants new tools for tracking and avoiding the pitfalls of conformity and failure.

About the author

 

Christopher Samuel holds a PhD in Political Studies and is a research consultant in Toronto with special interest in labour, social movement politics, and identity.

 

Christopher Samuel's profile page