Self-immolators as a new social movement? An attempt to systemize phenomenon in integral and system conceptualization

In this paper an author highlight that political self-immolation has been occurring for nearly two thousand years and the main center of this phenomenon is in Asia. Unification of attitudes and globalization are factors that in a flash spread information around the world. This means that about self-immolation everyone, potentially, know in a minute after it occur. Against common knowledge self-immolation are done because of socio-political reasons, deeply altruistic and not because of psychological reasons or unadjustedness of self-immolators as proposed by representatives of nondemocratic regimes. Self-immolation phenomenon is worth of permanent observation by political scientists as they may lead to political changes of great importance as it was in Tunisia (2010). Those who have power and authority by breaking human rights are responsible for self-immolation acts.

The article analyses contemporary social and political movements operating in Poland under the rule of the conservative and semiauthoritarian Law and Justice. It traces and reconstructs interactions between organized and trans-nationalized LGBTQIAP movement present in Poland since 1989 and the new women’s movement constituted on the wave of contention against the conservative turn and attempts to further restrict abortion law in Poland that was backed by the government. The strategies employed by both movements differ but for each one of them the interaction has proven a considerable success. In a not-so-obvious manner, the solidarity with LGBTQIAP movement, built gradually by the women’s movement, has helped to strengthen its base and its presence in the public debate. The article rests on textual analysis of social media sources to trace the timing of the most significant gestures of inter-movement solidarity.

Social Movements as a Factor and a Result of Social Changes

The article describes relations between the phenomenon of social movements and social change. The analysis of the most important social movement theories and concepts is primary focused on two normally separately studied issues: the impact of social movements on social change and the impact of social transformations on the social movement sphere. In both of the cases the most important factors and directions of impact are shown. The article is concluded with the proposal of the integrated model of bilateral impact between social movements and social change.