Collective Action
Collective Action
Protests, Boycotts, and Strikes
Chapter 7 considers the role of collective action (including boycotts, strikes, and protests) directed against our fellow citizens. Collective action reveals an inherent and perhaps irresolvable tension for Confident Pluralism. On the one hand, Confident Pluralism encourages collective action to resist and challenge forms of majoritarian power. On the other hand, collective action directed at other private citizens and their institutions exerts a kind of power that may be inconsistent with Confident Pluralism. Chapter 7 explores these tensions by considering a civil rights era boycott in Claiborne County, Mississippi, and the more recent Internet boycott of the Mozilla Corporation over its hiring of Brendan Eich. The aspirations of tolerance, humility, and patience do not point to a bright-line rule for our collective action, but they do offer some guidance. Let's call this the Collective Action Imperative.
Keywords: collective action, boycott, strike, protest, coercion, Claiborne County, Mozilla, Brendan Eich, civic practice
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