For a dialectic theory of the relationships between movements and social system: communitas, immunitas, individualization and collective action

The aim of this article is to develop a theoretical basis of the concept of social movement looking outside from the sociology of social movements. The article is set on an epistemological sphere that's close to ontology, and not about causal analysis of social movements. The theoretical question which this paper tries to answer is: "What is a social movement?" Movements are here defined as social systems, on the basis of the central thesis of the theory of systems, which states that the basis of a system is founded on the differentiation from its environment. The article proceeds with the individualization of fundamental characteristics of movement-systems. First, through the analysis of concepts of immunitas and communitas, which are correlated with the construction of social order and the creation of social movements. Secondly, analyzing the correlations between social movements and the creation of the individual subjectivity, referring to the theories of philosophical anthropology. At last, the article investigates the forms of relationship between movements and social systems: reaction, change of sign and assumption of generalization.

Keywords: Community, Immunity, Subjectivity, Civil order, Social movements

Loris Caruso, Per una teoria dialettica del rapporto tra movimenti e sistema sociale: <i>communitas, immunitas,</i> individuazione e azione collettiva in "PARTECIPAZIONE E CONFLITTO" 3/2010, pp 129-154, DOI: 10.3280/PACO2010-003007