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The Paradoxof Protest in a Culture of Contest
Author(s) -
Karlberg Michael
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
peace and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1468-0130
pISSN - 0149-0508
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0130.00266
Subject(s) - contest , adversarial system , politics , order (exchange) , sociology , political economy , political science , law and economics , law , economics , finance
We live in a culture of contest and protest. Our economic, political, and legal institutions are structured as contests. Our efforts to reform these institutions frequently are characterized by protest. This article examines the social and ecological implications of this culture of contest and protest. It begins by demonstrating that our economic, political, and legal institutions form an integrated tripartite system of contests that is socially unjust and ecologically unsustainable. It then considers the paradox of attempting to reform these institutions through protest and other adversarial strategies of social change. The article concludes by outlining a theory of social change that derives from the concept of cultural games. This theory suggests that the nonadversarial strategies of construction, attraction, and attrition are the most effective means of creating a more peaceful, just, and sustainable social order.