2017/01/01 by James M. Brophy · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Communism, Protests, Social Movements #European history and politics #European Political History Analysis
paper · doi:10.1057/978-1-137-50737-2_2
openalex publication_date 2017/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Traditional protest offered a cultural framework within which ordinary Germans shaped political activism. Customs and rites enabled face-to-face communities to build consensus and legitimize their discontent through practices valorized by historical convention. Whether charivaris, Carnival, parish festivals or other religious rites, such practices endured due to their ability to disarm authority. This chapter points to democratic qualities in these kinds of protest, but it also examines aspects of popular culture that fomented anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic hatred, thus illuminating the darker side of popular politics. Whether invoking rights of liberty and justice or violently excluding an out-group, modern politics has employed popular rites to increase political participation and mobilize the public. This chapter assesses the degree to which traditional forms of popular culture have shaped the evolution of participatory politics over the long nineteenth century. A social history of the ideals and practices of rights-bearing citizenship must include the uses and transformation of popular culture. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.