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Oppositional Consciousness: Its Manifestation and Development. The Case of People with Disabilities *
Author(s) -
Groch Sharon A.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
sociological inquiry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.446
H-Index - 51
eISSN - 1475-682X
pISSN - 0038-0245
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-682x.1994.tb00398.x
Subject(s) - ideology , consciousness , sociology , interpersonal ties , socialization , resource mobilization , collective action , interpersonal communication , social psychology , social consciousness , context (archaeology) , subject (documents) , field (mathematics) , collective unconscious , epistemology , psychology , social movement , social science , political science , law , psychoanalysis , paleontology , philosophy , mathematics , politics , library science , computer science , pure mathematics , biology
While resource mobilization theory has advanced our understanding of social movements, two questions require further explanation: (1) How do people come to define their situation as unjust and subject to change through collective action? (2) How is such an “oppositional consciousness” empirically studied? From field research among people with disabilities, I suggest that oppositional consciousness is manifested through the collective actions, symbols, and cultural artifacts constructed by a group. I propose that strong interpersonal ties among group members may not be necessary for an oppositional consciousness to develop. To understand how a dominated group develops an oppositional consciousness, rather than analyzing the strength of its members' social ties, we must examine the context and the nature of these ties: (1) the institutions in which their social interactions typically occur; (2) the socialization process they experience within these institutions; and (3) members' contact with the oppositional ideologies of other dominated groups.