tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708273719674528189.post8038568738083620789..comments2024-03-22T00:20:38.510-07:00Comments on Adam Riggio writes: Paranoia Produces Only Your Downfall, Research Time, 06/09/2013Adam Riggiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14606510835439580828noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8708273719674528189.post-79907401816956690482013-09-06T13:00:44.623-07:002013-09-06T13:00:44.623-07:00William Sewell writes about this in his article on...William Sewell writes about this in his article on events as a theoretical concept. He notes that only some events become Big Events -- his topic is also the storming of the Bastille but it applies equally to the fruit vendor lighting himself on fire and other seemingly arbitrary triggers for collective action. That one event triggers other events some undeniable; but many other, equally exceptional or unacceptable or oppressive acts don't. <br /><br />Sewell sees this history very differently than Sartre, and for him the question is why the relatively minor events at the Bastille became elevated (rather than ignored or neutralized) and thereby triggered massive social change. He answer this in terms of the arrangement of social and cultural structures: events must be capable of being narrated in terms that disrupt the existing structures; but effort must be expended to publicize the significance and relevant meaning of the event. More generally, he argues that historical events should be studied in terms of propensity in existing structures to come into conflict with each other and thereby trigger a felt need for change.<br /><br />Anyway, that's Sewell's take, which I think moves things along from Sartre's position by (a) specifying how people seem to spontaneously coordinate action and (b) accounting for seeming inconsistency in responses. This asks more questions than it answer, though. <br /><br />The contemporary analogue is scandal and outrage produced in the mass public through news media, e.g. suddenly, Syrian chemical weapons are outrageous, when yesterday they were routine. Big questions, no answers yet.Tom Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04942888225118081569noreply@blogger.com