topic 4

Vocabulary flashcards covering systemic versus individual change in Extinction Rebellion (Source 1) and the ideological frameworks, pseudo-legal practices, and radical citizenship of the Sovereign Citizen Movement (Source 2).

Green Consumerism

A neoliberal approach to ecological crisis based on the premise that global environmental problems can be solved through individual purchasing choices, such as buying hybrid vehicles or efficient appliances.

Dependence Effect

John Kenneth Galbraith's economic formulation stating that consumer desires are not autonomous, but are manufactured and directed by the outputs and advertising of corporate producers.

Decoupling

The theoretical premise of 'green growth' that economic expansion (gross domestic product) can be permanently, globally, and absolutely separated from material resource extraction and greenhouse gas emissions.

Paper Terrorism

The strategic filing of fraudulent common-law liens, fake legal decrees, and frivolous court documents by Sovereign Citizens to cause catastrophic economic disruption to their opponents.

Substantive Citizenship

T.H. Marshall's term for the day-to-day interactional practices, informal community engagements, and behavioral routines through which an individual actually experiences and performs citizenship.

Stagflation

An economic condition marked simultaneously by high unemployment and high inflation that ended the post-war 'long boom' during the 1970s recession.

Monetarism

The economic approach that gradually replaced Keynesianism after the 1970s, managing economic fluctuations primarily by controlling the amount of money in circulation.

Neoliberalism

A process of restructuring and re-tasking the state for new forms of intervention and regulation to drive competition, shifting policy away from post-war welfare objectives and individualising risk and responsibility.

Civil Society are involved in

Advocacy: mobilising attention to social problems and organising to pressure states and companies

Service provision: providing services that states dont provide

Regulation: functioning as watch dogs or leadint the development/implementation of standards

Transition Theory

A theoretical model positing that countries democratise through sequential stages from authoritarianism to democracy, positioning civil society as essential for opposing dictators and securing political pluralism.

Critical Perspective on Civil Society

A framework drawn from Antonio Gramsci viewing civil society not only as a site of independent resistance against the state, but also as a space for state co-option, negotiation, and class-based power struggles.

Hegemony (Gramscian Concept)

The mechanism examined by Antonio Gramsci by which the worldview, values, and ideas of a minority ruling class (the capitalist class) gain legitimacy and dominance throughout civil society.

solutions to disengagements in in person social interactions and elections - Output Legitimacy

A route to restoring faith in democratic governance by increasing institutional performance through accountability, transparency, and narrowing the scope of politicians' activities.

solutions to disengagements in in person social interactions and elections - Input Legitimacy

A method for restoring democratic trust through enhanced citizen participation, including deliberative democracy (innovations informing representative bodies) and participatory democracy (local civic education).

Individualised Collective Action

A phenomenon shaped by neoliberalism where the burden of solving major global problems is shifted onto individual consumer habits, choices, and lifestyles rather than powerful institutional actors.

Political Consumerism

An expression of individualised collective action that leverages personal consumption decisions and ethical shopping (e.g., Fair Trade) as a means of political and social activism.