Socio-psychological aspects of grassroots participation in the Transition Movement: An Italian case study
Author(s) / Creator(s)
Biddau, Fulvio
Armenti, Alessandra
Cottone, Paolo
Abstract / Description
In this article, we present a case study investigating the socio-psychological aspects of grassroots participation in a Transition Town Movement (TTM) community initiative. We analyzed the first Italian Transition initiative: Monteveglio (Bologna), the central hub of the Italian TTM and a key link with the global Transition Network. A qualitative methodology was used to collect and analyze the data consisting of interviews with key informants and ethnographic notes. The results provide further evidence supporting the role of social representations, shared social identities, and collective efficacy beliefs in promoting, sustaining, and shaping activists’ commitment. The movement seems to have great potential to inspire and engage citizens to tackle climate change at a community level. Grassroots engagement of local communities working together provides the vision and the material starting point for a viable pathway for the changes required. Attempting to ensure their future political relevance, the TTM adherents are striving to disseminate and materially consolidate inherently political and prefigurative movement frames – primarily community resilience and re-localization – within community socio-economic and political frameworks. However, cooperation with politics is perceived by most adherents as a frustrating and dissatisfying experience, and an attempted co-optation of the Transition initiative by institutions. It highlights a tension between the open and non-confrontational approach of the movement towards institutions and their practical experience. Corresponding to this tension, activists have to cope with conflicts, contradictions, and ambivalence of social representations about community action for sustainability, which threaten the sense of collective purpose, group cohesion and ultimately its survival.
Keyword(s)
Transition towns new environmentalism collective identity social representationsPersistent Identifier
Date of first publication
2016-05-24
Journal title
Journal of Social and Political Psychology
Volume
4
Issue
1
Page numbers
142–165
Publisher
PsychOpen GOLD
Publication status
publishedVersion
Review status
peerReviewed
Is version of
Citation
Biddau, F., Armenti, A., & Cottone, P. (2016). Socio-psychological aspects of grassroots participation in the Transition Movement: An Italian case study. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 4(1), 142–165. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v4i1.518
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Biddau, Fulvio
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Armenti, Alessandra
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Author(s) / Creator(s)Cottone, Paolo
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PsychArchives acquisition timestamp2018-11-26T12:44:54Z
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Made available on2018-11-26T12:44:54Z
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Date of first publication2016-05-24
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Abstract / DescriptionIn this article, we present a case study investigating the socio-psychological aspects of grassroots participation in a Transition Town Movement (TTM) community initiative. We analyzed the first Italian Transition initiative: Monteveglio (Bologna), the central hub of the Italian TTM and a key link with the global Transition Network. A qualitative methodology was used to collect and analyze the data consisting of interviews with key informants and ethnographic notes. The results provide further evidence supporting the role of social representations, shared social identities, and collective efficacy beliefs in promoting, sustaining, and shaping activists’ commitment. The movement seems to have great potential to inspire and engage citizens to tackle climate change at a community level. Grassroots engagement of local communities working together provides the vision and the material starting point for a viable pathway for the changes required. Attempting to ensure their future political relevance, the TTM adherents are striving to disseminate and materially consolidate inherently political and prefigurative movement frames – primarily community resilience and re-localization – within community socio-economic and political frameworks. However, cooperation with politics is perceived by most adherents as a frustrating and dissatisfying experience, and an attempted co-optation of the Transition initiative by institutions. It highlights a tension between the open and non-confrontational approach of the movement towards institutions and their practical experience. Corresponding to this tension, activists have to cope with conflicts, contradictions, and ambivalence of social representations about community action for sustainability, which threaten the sense of collective purpose, group cohesion and ultimately its survival.en_US
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Publication statuspublishedVersion
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Review statuspeerReviewed
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CitationBiddau, F., Armenti, A., & Cottone, P. (2016). Socio-psychological aspects of grassroots participation in the Transition Movement: An Italian case study. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 4(1), 142–165. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v4i1.518en_US
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ISSN2195-3325
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Persistent Identifierhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12034/1398
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Persistent Identifierhttps://doi.org/10.23668/psycharchives.1726
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Language of contenteng
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PublisherPsychOpen GOLD
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Is version ofhttps://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v4i1.518
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Keyword(s)Transition townsen_US
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Keyword(s)new environmentalismen_US
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Keyword(s)collective identityen_US
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Keyword(s)social representationsen_US
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Dewey Decimal Classification number(s)150
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TitleSocio-psychological aspects of grassroots participation in the Transition Movement: An Italian case studyen_US
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DRO typearticle
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Issue1
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Journal titleJournal of Social and Political Psychology
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Page numbers142–165
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Volume4
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Visible tag(s)Version of Record