Micro social movements in India and South Africa: of twin imaginations and layered discursivities

Abstract: PhD Thesis Bobby Luthra Sinha
I undertook this research with the motive of studying two lesser known but organic, small-scale protest movements in specific parts of India and South Africa. In India, I observed an anti-poaching movement articulated by an organization called the ‘Bishnoi Tiger Force’ in western Rajasthan since the late 1990s. In South Africa, I covered an anti-substance abuse movement lead by the ‘Anti-Drug Forum’ since the early years of the twenty first century. The central questions, which inspired me to embark upon my research, are as follows: ‘’How do micro, contextual issues (such as, poaching and substance abuse) inspire collective action forms? I hypothesize that not all issues have the potential to acquire motivated coverage or attention in mainstream public spheres. Therefore, which publics do ‘organic’ (i.e. risen and enmeshed in local contexts) social movements cater to and how? Can these movements politicize multiple social spaces around them to project their cause/s effectively? If yes, then how? Last but not the least, what role does imagination play in the origin and evolution of such grassroots collective action and how? Through this research, I propose that micro –social contexts and spaces, where aggrieved groups of people converge their imaginations and build dialogic relations, can become springboards of philanthropic and competitive collective social action. Waged for public good, such forms of micro-social movements may not acquire much visibility in the macro public spheres of their countries. Nonetheless, I bring ethnographic evidence to document how these movements fulfil a local relevance in alternative public spheres where their issue-based mobilizations unfold and thrive.