**8. Social movements and the radicalism of the middle class**

While trade unions and labour fields were in the past closely tied to the working class, social movements of the sixties, despite being heterogeneous, can be readily associated with the middle class. We are aware that this connection with the middle class is not as obvious as it was the working class toward trade union movement in the past. In fact, apart from "class determinism" being a misleading premise, the heterogeneity and the internal fragmentation of both the "middle classes" and "working class" strips away the sense of any cause-effect relation in this respect. What happens is that certain class groups – or if we prefer, some specific social segments – located themselves in the most general framework of the social structure, are to be found in such particular conditions, that they can trigger shared subjectivities and collective attitudes characterised by common concerns, therefore favouring collective action. Besides, cultural environments and socialising contexts are decisive to forge identities or at least shared forms of identification in conditions which give rise to social movements: identity, opposition to a recognised adversary and a common idea (principle of *totality*) in relation to an alternative constitute three of the principles pointed to by Alain Touraine (1981 and 2006) as decisive criteria in defining a social movement (Tilly, 1978 and 1996).

The NSMs that started forty years ago were, undoubtedly, notable examples of an active role of the middle class strata (probably richer in cultural capital than economic capital), where in fact the better educated young people played a decisive role. The fact that students activism took root in a place which, at that time, was almost exclusively dominated by the children of the dominant elite, should not detract from the importance of its tremendously transforming and progressive impact. It can be said that the patterns of taste brought about by these movements – in aesthetics, in dress, in music, in literary and intellectual interests, in the expression of sexuality, etc. – not only changed everyday life and the life styles of the following generations but also gave new forms to the public and political sphere. The importance of the so called *artistic criticism* fell within the *culturalist* approach that these movements set in motion, putting forward new readings on the capitalist system and pressurising representative democracy to redefine its procedures and forms of exercising power. It is true that the institutional responses that followed in the West – or precisely because of them – illustrated a huge regenerative capacity of capitalism, which allow for the creation of new values, discourses, repertoires, and innovative forms of collective action (Eder, 2001; Boltanski and Chiapello, 2001; Chauvel, 2006; Estanque, 2012).

Social change in industrial societies throughout the 20th Century was generally perceived according to inherited rival perspectives, sometimes positivism, sometimes Marxism or farleft attitudes. However, the fact is that in actual social life both collective battles and social movements struggles as well as opportunities and social mobility processes brought about

Labour Relations and Social Movements in the 21st Century 271

Meanwhile, in the case of Portugal, student's population suffered very deep changes. It is no more just the elite's children but – especially after Bologna process – massive sons of middle and lower strata that have entered the universities, while post-graduate programmes attract more and more professionals and workers trying to upgrade their skills and put forward new steps in their careers. As a result, we assist to a deep process of recomposition of this population in which youth life styles become mixture with middle age workers having in common the some feelings of discontent and disappointment toward labour market. Therefore, in the current context of social discontent it is important to understand the lines of structuration of the new rebels, not on the basis of the same avant-garde assumptions that enthused past generations but from its interconnections with the more general process of change in contemporary societies. If the social movements of the past proved to be so inspiring as to instil new ideas and greater intensity in Western democracies, the NSMs of the 21st Century place on the agenda new forms of activism that a short while ago were virtually unknown, but this novelty converges with some forms of continuity. In the

Social convulsions and their demands can be – totally or partially, directly or indirectly, in the short or the medium term – absorbed by the existing institutions (which is common and normal in solid democracies) or openly repressed and contested by the established order (which, naturally, is more common in dictatorial regimes). This means that social movements can both force important political and institutional reforms and bring about ruptures and violent revolutions. Generally, we can speak about revolutions when the increasing levels of discontent and popular pressure go hand in hand with the discrediting of the elites or oligarchies in power, whilst simultaneously a new class (or organised group) with ambition and the conditions to achieve political power is rising. Charles Tilly points to three conditions in order to make sense to speak of revolutions: (1) when clear discrepancies are played out between what the states demands of their better organised citizens and that which they can demand them to do; (2) when states present their citizens with demands that threaten collective identities or violate rights connected to these identities; and (3) when the power of governments visibly diminishes in relation to the growing strength of their opponents (Tilly, 1996: 284). On the other hand, as previously shown, social movements can have political or sociocultural power of great significance without this resulting in a revolution. There are numerous examples of peaceful transitions of authoritarian systems to democratic regimes but this rarely happens without the people taking to the streets. Collective action and grassroots movements in struggles were decisive in the democratic wave in the transition of southern Europe countries (Huntington, 1991; Nunes, 2003; Freire, 2005), although, as we saw in relation to the NSMs of the sixties, in consolidated democracies the explicit aims can be defeated, even though social change subsequently takes place, on the cultural level and in values in a process that is refracted along history (Carmo,

What is intended here is to present a common thread that allows us to question the connecting features between different and distant phenomena to one another, whether in space or in time. We have already referred to past European experiences of the 20th Century

following topic we will look at some of these forms.

2000; Goffman & Joy, 2007; Barker, 2008).

**9. Precariousness, revolutions and new forms of rebellion** 

by an open class system contributed to the restructuring of the system and to the growth of the middle class. The *culturalist approach* of the middle class, associated with the rise in new social movements, allowed for the first time for this class to be viewed in a positive and not a pejorative manner. The so called *middle class radicalism,* referred to as an expression of the student movements of the sixties (Parkin, 1968; Barker, 2008; Estanque and Bebiano, 2007) opened up a new perspective on this class, and did away with the old arguments of "individualism" and becoming part of the Bourgeoisie which obscured sociological and political meaning of these segments. And today, at the beginning of the second decade of the 21st Century, European reality has once again exposed certain preconceived ideas about this class: the traditional idea that the middle class is, above all, characterised by its *cultural good will* that tends to imitate the habits and the tastes of the elite, but is merely a pale imitation; the idea of "modest" tastes, fake imitations in opposition to authenticity, exemplifying the desire to even out inconsistencies in *status*, and an obsessive adherence to the *status quo,* all appear to show, at the present time, an image which is, to say the least, exaggerated and needs to be revised (Bourdieu, 1979).

It is important to remember in relation to this that Portuguese society was clearly not, and never had been, in tune with the problems of the more advanced countries in Europe. Therefore, when the students at the Sorbonne demanded more democracy, rights and sexual freedom within an established democratic regime, the Portuguese people were struggling for basic political freedom, for the end of the colonial war and Salazar's repressive regime. At that time, there was no place for either old or new movements in Portugal. Furthermore, it needs to be noted that in the sixties the salaried middle class in Portugal was practically non-existent. Even the student movements and academic battles of this decade were organised by university students – many of them politicised and sensitive to the tendencies of activism and the cultural and musical influences of the era – who were, essentially, the offspring of the privileged elite.

In developed Europe, the middle class ''entrenched'' in power for the last forty years, and the first generation to benefit from the *Welfare State*, created a "rebellious" generation. It was this, in fact, that turned the "youth" into a new "social actor" whose cultural dissent led to an important political turning point in the West, and with it, to a new aesthetic and sociocultural awareness, which broke with "petit bourgeoisie" values and the conventional mentality of the "well-behaved" middle class. The NSMs sowed the seeds of a new irreverence which was disseminated from the universities (Barker, 2008). However, if in 1968 the struggle of the student movement in Paris (the spokespersons of *artistic criticism*) languished when the alliance between trade unions and workers political parties (the so called *social criticism*) collapsed, in today's world the organisers of the protests no longer limit themselves to defending *post-materialist* values - rather they struggle with the difficulties of entering the labour market, or with the growing precariousness that denies them a decent future and dignified employment. Furthermore, it is no longer the students on one side and the workers on the other, but in fact a whole group of social segments affected by insecurity, precariousness, a lack of access to an opportunity for a stable future, hence the confluence of students and workers recently graduated from universities, diverse groups of discarded employees, workers who retired early, as well as the victims of austerity and the restructuring of the social state. It is in this context that we find conditions which are especially propitious for creating a potentially strong alliance between the labour field and the student among younger population (Boltanski and Chiapello, 2001; Estanque, 2008).

by an open class system contributed to the restructuring of the system and to the growth of the middle class. The *culturalist approach* of the middle class, associated with the rise in new social movements, allowed for the first time for this class to be viewed in a positive and not a pejorative manner. The so called *middle class radicalism,* referred to as an expression of the student movements of the sixties (Parkin, 1968; Barker, 2008; Estanque and Bebiano, 2007) opened up a new perspective on this class, and did away with the old arguments of "individualism" and becoming part of the Bourgeoisie which obscured sociological and political meaning of these segments. And today, at the beginning of the second decade of the 21st Century, European reality has once again exposed certain preconceived ideas about this class: the traditional idea that the middle class is, above all, characterised by its *cultural good will* that tends to imitate the habits and the tastes of the elite, but is merely a pale imitation; the idea of "modest" tastes, fake imitations in opposition to authenticity, exemplifying the desire to even out inconsistencies in *status*, and an obsessive adherence to the *status quo,* all appear to show, at the present time, an image which is, to say the least,

It is important to remember in relation to this that Portuguese society was clearly not, and never had been, in tune with the problems of the more advanced countries in Europe. Therefore, when the students at the Sorbonne demanded more democracy, rights and sexual freedom within an established democratic regime, the Portuguese people were struggling for basic political freedom, for the end of the colonial war and Salazar's repressive regime. At that time, there was no place for either old or new movements in Portugal. Furthermore, it needs to be noted that in the sixties the salaried middle class in Portugal was practically non-existent. Even the student movements and academic battles of this decade were organised by university students – many of them politicised and sensitive to the tendencies of activism and the cultural and musical influences of the era – who were, essentially, the

In developed Europe, the middle class ''entrenched'' in power for the last forty years, and the first generation to benefit from the *Welfare State*, created a "rebellious" generation. It was this, in fact, that turned the "youth" into a new "social actor" whose cultural dissent led to an important political turning point in the West, and with it, to a new aesthetic and sociocultural awareness, which broke with "petit bourgeoisie" values and the conventional mentality of the "well-behaved" middle class. The NSMs sowed the seeds of a new irreverence which was disseminated from the universities (Barker, 2008). However, if in 1968 the struggle of the student movement in Paris (the spokespersons of *artistic criticism*) languished when the alliance between trade unions and workers political parties (the so called *social criticism*) collapsed, in today's world the organisers of the protests no longer limit themselves to defending *post-materialist* values - rather they struggle with the difficulties of entering the labour market, or with the growing precariousness that denies them a decent future and dignified employment. Furthermore, it is no longer the students on one side and the workers on the other, but in fact a whole group of social segments affected by insecurity, precariousness, a lack of access to an opportunity for a stable future, hence the confluence of students and workers recently graduated from universities, diverse groups of discarded employees, workers who retired early, as well as the victims of austerity and the restructuring of the social state. It is in this context that we find conditions which are especially propitious for creating a potentially strong alliance between the labour field and the student

among younger population (Boltanski and Chiapello, 2001; Estanque, 2008).

exaggerated and needs to be revised (Bourdieu, 1979).

offspring of the privileged elite.

Meanwhile, in the case of Portugal, student's population suffered very deep changes. It is no more just the elite's children but – especially after Bologna process – massive sons of middle and lower strata that have entered the universities, while post-graduate programmes attract more and more professionals and workers trying to upgrade their skills and put forward new steps in their careers. As a result, we assist to a deep process of recomposition of this population in which youth life styles become mixture with middle age workers having in common the some feelings of discontent and disappointment toward labour market. Therefore, in the current context of social discontent it is important to understand the lines of structuration of the new rebels, not on the basis of the same avant-garde assumptions that enthused past generations but from its interconnections with the more general process of change in contemporary societies. If the social movements of the past proved to be so inspiring as to instil new ideas and greater intensity in Western democracies, the NSMs of the 21st Century place on the agenda new forms of activism that a short while ago were virtually unknown, but this novelty converges with some forms of continuity. In the following topic we will look at some of these forms.
