StudyHub

Bosi and Davis (2017) “What is to be Done? Agency and the Causation of Transformative Events in Ireland’s 1916 Rising and 1969 Long March” in Mobilization

Part 1 (Read p.223 to p.227)

1. As stated in the first paragraph (p.223), how do sociologists usually use the concept “transformative event” in their causal explanation to contentious politics? What is “transformative event” (Sewell 1996, 2005) in the first place (p.225)?
2. According to Bosi and Davis, what is the “prime mover” of transformative events? Apart from this prime mover, what are the “other variables” involved in making transformative event (p.223)?
3. Why do Bosi and Davis argue that “strategic initiative” are necessary but not sufficient in causing transformative events (p.224)? Do you know what is the difference between a necessary condition and a sufficient condition?
4. On p.224, Bosi and Davis stated that “actors sometimes succeed in bringing about transformative events, even if those events often slip out of their control, and bring with them many unintended consequences.” What is the meaning of unintended consequences?
5. In their study, Bosi and Davis focus on the strategic interaction between different strands within the movement (i.e., intramovement competition). Why do they think that this focus can help them to “look directly at the trails of agency leading to the transformative events in question, rather than seeing those developments as guided by a ‘hidden hand’ of structural forces” (p.224)?
6. Which two transformative events Bosi and Davis propose to investigate in this article? What are the subsequent development after these two events? According to Bosi and Davis, what “deep divisions” are imprinted on the social structure of the island of Ireland over centuries of colonialism (p.224)?
7. On p.225, Bosi and Davis argue that the cycles of contention and conflicts in Northern Ireland “were in large part structural in their causation—but they were not structurally ” Why do they think that those conflicts were not structurally determined?
8. On p.226, Bosi and Davis stated that “scholars have not extensively investigated how internal conflict over ends and/or means can lead to strategic differences within the same social movement, perhaps because they have been looking at “deterministic structures [e.g., environmental and/or organizational conditions], that eliminate choices” (Jasper 2004: 6), instead of interactional processes among different players, within the movements and outside them.” What is the major difference between the “structural” explanation and the “interactional” explanation of strategic calculation?

Part 2 (Read p.227 to 239)

The 1916 Easter Rising

1. What is the “Home Rule”? Who support it and who oppose it in Ireland during the late 19^th century and the early 20^th century? What was the position of the British government at that time? (p.227-p.228)
2. Bosi and Davis claim that the split between insurrectionists and anti-insurrectionists within Irish nationalists during the early 1910s actually reflected what Jasper (2006) calls the “today or tomorrow dilemma” (p.228-p.229). Why? Which of them were having the “thoughts of honor, duty, martyrdom and glory in the short term” rather than the “cold, strategic, long-term thinking” (p.230)? What different strategies (military action/blood sacrifice/guerrilla warfare) did the two camps uphold at that time?
3. Why there was “great confusion” among the Volunteers in the days before Easter Rising? What was the final decision made by MacNeill? At the end, who initiated the Easter Rising? (p.231)
4. Bosi and Davis stated that “the real changes effected by the Rising would take some time to become visible” (p.231). What were these long-term real changes (p.231-p.232)? (skim the Wikipedia entry on “Irish Free State”)

The 1969 Long March

5. After the partition of the island of Ireland in 1920, what are the main characteristics of the new “Northern Ireland”? Why mobilization had grown around demands for civil rights in Northern Ireland in 1968? (p.232)
6. After the announcement of O’Neill’s reform, why the civil rights movement faced a “daunting strategic dilemma” (p.233)? What is this dilemma? What divisions and tensions are reflected in this dilemma? What were the positions of the “moderates” and the “radicals” respectively?
7. Why was the originally proposed “Long March” a “calculated martyrdom” (p.234)? Why the idea of “Long March” was later rejected by the moderates (e.g. the students, the moderate leaders of some movement groups, and also the nationalist newspapers) (p.234-235)? However, why did the moderates join the march at last (p.235)?
8. According to Bosi and Davis’ analysis, how was the civil rights struggle morphed into the “Troubles” (p.236)? (skim the Wikipedia entry on “The Troubles”)
9. How do you understand the key concept of this article—“rebound of structure”?