In search of the language of legitimation: framing the value of contested city objects in Nizhny Novgorod
Research Article
Acknowledgments
The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 24-28- 01093. https://rscf.ru/project/24-28-01093/
How to Cite
Khokhlova A.M. (2024) In search of the language of legitimation: framing the value of contested city objects in Nizhny Novgorod. Zhurnal sotsiologii i sotsialnoy antropologii (The Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology), 27(4): 202–237 (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.31119/jssa.2024.27.4.8 EDN: LGCCIB
Abstract
The paper inspired by the ‘cultural turn’ in social movement studies seeks to comprehend the role of value orientations and discursive practices in grassroots activism, and analyzes the logics and rhetorical tools that urban activists and their opponents use to legitimize their positions in conflicts around city objects. It also studies how conflict participants construct (or reject and dismiss) the value of these contested objects. L. Boltanski’s and L. Thévenot’s pragmatic sociology and, in particular, their classification of ‘orders of worth’ serves as the theoretical framework of the research. Empirically, the paper focuses on two cases from Nizhny Novgorod where the urbanites attempted to protect city parks: Avtozavodskiy park of culture and recreation, and park ‘Switzerland’. A characteristic feature of the cases is that both parks are not only public greenspaces, but also formally recognized cultural heritage sites, which makes it possible to expect a wide-ranging repertoire of legitimation tools both from the proponents and the opponents of the transformations of these city territories. Relying on a collection of semi-structured interviews with conflict participants as well as publications in social media and regional news outlets, the author applies SKAD to reveal how the actors articulated the value of parks (or the lack of such), and what orders of worth they resorted to in their narratives. The analysis reveals the shaping of the discursive repertoires of justification specific for different parties to urban conflicts, and demonstrates the controversial role of the green worth in these repertoires.
Keywords:
discursive practices, the construction/framing of the value of city objects, legitimation tools, orders of worth, urban conflict
References
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Болтански Л., Кьяпелло Э. (2011) Новый дух капитализма. Логос, 1(80): 76–102.
Boltanski L., Chiapello E. (2011) The new spirit of capitalism. Logos, 1(80): 76–102 (in Russian).
Болтански Л., Тевено Л. (2013) Критика и обоснование справедливости. Очерки социологии градов. М.: НЛО.
Boltanski L., Thévenot L. (2013) On justification. The economies of worth. Мoscow: NLO (in Russian).
Воронина О.Н. (2013) Ландшафтная архитектура нижегородских парков. Н.Новгород: Нижегородский государственный архитектурно-строительный университет.
Voronina О.N. (2013) Landscape architecture of Nizhny Novgorod’s parks. Nizhniy Novgorod: Nizhny Novgorod State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering (in Russian).
Гладарев Б.С. (2011) Историко-культурное наследие Петербурга: рождение общественности из духа города. Хархордин О. (ред.) От общественного к публичному. СПб.: ЕУСПб: 71–304.
Gladarev B.S. (2011). Historical and cultural legacy of Petersburg: The birth of the public from the spirit of the city. In: Kharkhordin O. (ed.) From the Communal to the Public. St. Petersburg: EUSPb: 71–304 (in Russian).
Города расходящихся улиц: траектории развития городских конфликтов в России (2021) Отв. ред. Е.В. Тыканова. М.; СПб.: ФНИСЦ РАН.
The Cities of Forking Streets: Trajectories of Urban Conflicts in Russia (2021) Tykanova E.V. (ed.) Мoscow; St. Petersburg: FCTAS RAS (in Russian).
Ковенева О.В. (2006) Тернистый путь защитника природы: экологическое действие в России и во Франции. Неприкосновенный запас, 2(46).
Koveneva O.V. (2006). The thorny path of a green lobbyist: environmental action in Russia and France. NZ: Debates on Politics and Culture, 2(46) (in Russian).
Ковенева О.В. (2008) От «памятника природы» к «monument naturel»? Междисциплинарный подход к асимметрии концептов (на материале французского и русского языков). Вестник Московского университета. Сер. 22. Теория перевода, 2: 49–65.
Koveneva O.V. (2008) From a “natural landmark” to a “monument naturel”? An interdisciplinary approach to the asymmetry of concepts (as exemplified in French and Russian languages). Vestnik of Moscow University. Ser. 22. Translation theory, 2: 49–65 (in Russian).
Медведев И.Р. (2017) Разрешение городских конфликтов. М.: Инфотропик Медиа.
Medvedev I.R. (2017) Resolution of Urban Conflicts. Мoscow: Infotropic Media (in Russian).
Тыканова Е.В., Хохлова А.М. (2011) Ситуативность рамок взаимодействия в условиях защиты локальными сообществами пространства Санкт-Петербурга. Предел, граница, рамка. Интерпретация культурных кодов. Саратов; СПб.: ЛИСКА: 170–183.
Tykanova E.V., Khokhova A.M. (2011) Local communities of St. Petersburg seeking to protect urban space: The situational embeddedness of interaction frames. In: Limits, Boundaries and Frames. The Interpretation of Cultural Codes. Saratov; St. Petersburg: LISKA: 170–183 (in Russian).
Флигстин Н., Макадам Д. (2022) Теория полей. М.: Издательский дом Высшей школы экономики.
Fligstein N., McAdam D. (2022) A Theory of Fields. Мoscow: Publishing house of the Higher School of Economics (in Russian).
Чернышева Л.А., Хохлова А.М. (2021) Создавая ценность и аутентичность: городские конфликты вокруг исторических зданий. Журнал исследований социальной политики, 19(2): 223–238.
Chernysheva L.A., Khokhlova A.M. (2021) Creating value and authenticity: Urban conflicts around historical buildings. The Journal of Social Policy Studies, 19(2): 223–238 (in Russian).
Amna E. (2010) Active, passive, or standby citizens?: Latent and manifest political participation. In: Amna E. (ed.) New Forms of Citizen Participation: Normative Implications. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag: 191–203.
Bourdieu P. (1998) Practical Reason. On the Theory of Action. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Ciżewska-Martyńska Е. (2018) The Cultural Perspective in Social Movement Theories and Past Research on the Solidarity Movement. Polish Sociological Review, 1(201): 27–45.
Gamson W., Meyer D. (1996) Framing Political Opportunity. In: McAdam D., McCarthy J.D., Zald M.N. (eds.) Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements: Political Opportunities, Mobilizing Structures, and Cultural Framings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 275–290.
Gamson W. (1998) Social Movements and Cultural Change. Giugni M.G., McAdam D., Tilly Ch. (eds.) From Contention to Democracy. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield: 57–77.
Giugni M.G. (2008) Political, biographical, and cultural consequences of social movements. Sociology Compass, 2(5): 1582–1600.
Giugni M.G. (2009) Political Opportunities: From Tilly to Tilly. Swiss Political Science Review, 15(2): 361–368.
Goodwin J., Jasper J.M. (1999) Caught in a Winding, Snarling Vine: The Structural Bias of Political Process Theory. Sociological Forum, 14(1): 27–54.
Jacobsson K., Korolczuk E. (2020) Mobilizing grassroots in the city: lessons for civil society research in Central and Eastern Europe. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 33: 125–142.
Jasper J.M. (1997) The Art of Moral Protest: Culture, Biography, and Creativity in Social Movements. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
Jasper J.M. (2010) Cultural Approaches in the Sociology of Social Movements. In: Klandermans B., Roggeband C. (eds.) Handbook of Social Movements Across Disciplines. New York: Springer: 59–101.
Keller R. (2011) The sociology of knowledge approach to discourse (SKAD). Human Studies, 34(1): 43–65.
Keller R., Hornidge A.-K., Schünemann W.J. (eds.) (2018) The Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse. Investigating the Politics of Knowledge and Meaning Making. London: Routledge.
Koopmans R., Statham P., Giugni M., Passy F. (2005) Contested Citizenship: Immigration and Cultural Diversity in Europe. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Lafaye C., Thévenot L. (2017) An Ecological Justification? Conflicts in the Development of Nature. In: Cloutier Ch., Gond J.-P. Leca B. (eds.) Justification, Evaluation and Critique in the Study of Organizations: Contributions from French Pragmatist Sociology. Bingley, UK: Emerald: 273–300.
McAdam D., McCarthy J.D., Zald M.N. (1996) Introduction: Opportunities, mobilizing structures, and framing processes — toward a synthetic comparative perspective on social movements. In: McAdam D., McCarthy J.D., Zald M.N. (eds.) Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements: Political Opportunities, Mobilizing Structures, and Cultural Framings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
McAdam D. (2004) Culture and Social Movements. Gusfield J., Johnston H., Laraña E. (eds.) Ideology and Identity in Contemporary Social Movements. Philadelphia: Temple University Press: 36–57.
Polletta F. (2006) It Was Like a Fever: Storytelling in Protest and Politics. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Reed J.-P. (2014) Social Movement Subjectivity: Culture, Emotions, and Stories, Critical Sociology: 1–16.
Rochon T.R. (1998) Culture Moves. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Steinberg M.W. (1995) Repertoires of discourse: The case of the Spitalfields silk weavers and the moral economy of conflict. In: Traugott M. (ed.) Cycles and repertoires in collective action. Durham, NC: Duke University Press: 57–88.
Steinberg M.W. (2002) Toward a more dialogic analysis of social movement culture. In: Meyer D.S., Whittier N., Robnett B. (eds.) Social movements: Identity, culture, and the state. Oxford: Oxford University Press: 208–225.
Thévenot L., Moody M., Lafaye C. (2000) Forms of Valuing Nature: Arguments and Modes of Justification in French and American Environmental Disputes. In: Lamont C., Thévenot L. (eds.) Rethinking Comparative Cultural Sociology: Repertoires of Evaluation in France and the United States. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press: 229–271.
Tilly Ch. (1995) European Revolutions 1492–1992. Oxford: Blackwell Publisher.
Yin R.K. (2003) Case Study Research. Design and Methods. 3rd ed. London: Sage.
Agafonova I.S., Davydov A.I. (2013) Rodina film theater in Avtozavodsky Park, Nizhny Novgorod. A historical and cultural record [https://opentextnn.ru/space/nn/dom/kinoteatr-rodina-v-avtozavodskom-parke-nizhnego-novgoroda-istoriko-kulturnaja-harakteristika/] (accessed: 03.07.2024) (in Russian).
Болтански Л., Кьяпелло Э. (2011) Новый дух капитализма. Логос, 1(80): 76–102.
Boltanski L., Chiapello E. (2011) The new spirit of capitalism. Logos, 1(80): 76–102 (in Russian).
Болтански Л., Тевено Л. (2013) Критика и обоснование справедливости. Очерки социологии градов. М.: НЛО.
Boltanski L., Thévenot L. (2013) On justification. The economies of worth. Мoscow: NLO (in Russian).
Воронина О.Н. (2013) Ландшафтная архитектура нижегородских парков. Н.Новгород: Нижегородский государственный архитектурно-строительный университет.
Voronina О.N. (2013) Landscape architecture of Nizhny Novgorod’s parks. Nizhniy Novgorod: Nizhny Novgorod State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering (in Russian).
Гладарев Б.С. (2011) Историко-культурное наследие Петербурга: рождение общественности из духа города. Хархордин О. (ред.) От общественного к публичному. СПб.: ЕУСПб: 71–304.
Gladarev B.S. (2011). Historical and cultural legacy of Petersburg: The birth of the public from the spirit of the city. In: Kharkhordin O. (ed.) From the Communal to the Public. St. Petersburg: EUSPb: 71–304 (in Russian).
Города расходящихся улиц: траектории развития городских конфликтов в России (2021) Отв. ред. Е.В. Тыканова. М.; СПб.: ФНИСЦ РАН.
The Cities of Forking Streets: Trajectories of Urban Conflicts in Russia (2021) Tykanova E.V. (ed.) Мoscow; St. Petersburg: FCTAS RAS (in Russian).
Ковенева О.В. (2006) Тернистый путь защитника природы: экологическое действие в России и во Франции. Неприкосновенный запас, 2(46).
Koveneva O.V. (2006). The thorny path of a green lobbyist: environmental action in Russia and France. NZ: Debates on Politics and Culture, 2(46) (in Russian).
Ковенева О.В. (2008) От «памятника природы» к «monument naturel»? Междисциплинарный подход к асимметрии концептов (на материале французского и русского языков). Вестник Московского университета. Сер. 22. Теория перевода, 2: 49–65.
Koveneva O.V. (2008) From a “natural landmark” to a “monument naturel”? An interdisciplinary approach to the asymmetry of concepts (as exemplified in French and Russian languages). Vestnik of Moscow University. Ser. 22. Translation theory, 2: 49–65 (in Russian).
Медведев И.Р. (2017) Разрешение городских конфликтов. М.: Инфотропик Медиа.
Medvedev I.R. (2017) Resolution of Urban Conflicts. Мoscow: Infotropic Media (in Russian).
Тыканова Е.В., Хохлова А.М. (2011) Ситуативность рамок взаимодействия в условиях защиты локальными сообществами пространства Санкт-Петербурга. Предел, граница, рамка. Интерпретация культурных кодов. Саратов; СПб.: ЛИСКА: 170–183.
Tykanova E.V., Khokhova A.M. (2011) Local communities of St. Petersburg seeking to protect urban space: The situational embeddedness of interaction frames. In: Limits, Boundaries and Frames. The Interpretation of Cultural Codes. Saratov; St. Petersburg: LISKA: 170–183 (in Russian).
Флигстин Н., Макадам Д. (2022) Теория полей. М.: Издательский дом Высшей школы экономики.
Fligstein N., McAdam D. (2022) A Theory of Fields. Мoscow: Publishing house of the Higher School of Economics (in Russian).
Чернышева Л.А., Хохлова А.М. (2021) Создавая ценность и аутентичность: городские конфликты вокруг исторических зданий. Журнал исследований социальной политики, 19(2): 223–238.
Chernysheva L.A., Khokhlova A.M. (2021) Creating value and authenticity: Urban conflicts around historical buildings. The Journal of Social Policy Studies, 19(2): 223–238 (in Russian).
Amna E. (2010) Active, passive, or standby citizens?: Latent and manifest political participation. In: Amna E. (ed.) New Forms of Citizen Participation: Normative Implications. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlag: 191–203.
Bourdieu P. (1998) Practical Reason. On the Theory of Action. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Ciżewska-Martyńska Е. (2018) The Cultural Perspective in Social Movement Theories and Past Research on the Solidarity Movement. Polish Sociological Review, 1(201): 27–45.
Gamson W., Meyer D. (1996) Framing Political Opportunity. In: McAdam D., McCarthy J.D., Zald M.N. (eds.) Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements: Political Opportunities, Mobilizing Structures, and Cultural Framings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 275–290.
Gamson W. (1998) Social Movements and Cultural Change. Giugni M.G., McAdam D., Tilly Ch. (eds.) From Contention to Democracy. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield: 57–77.
Giugni M.G. (2008) Political, biographical, and cultural consequences of social movements. Sociology Compass, 2(5): 1582–1600.
Giugni M.G. (2009) Political Opportunities: From Tilly to Tilly. Swiss Political Science Review, 15(2): 361–368.
Goodwin J., Jasper J.M. (1999) Caught in a Winding, Snarling Vine: The Structural Bias of Political Process Theory. Sociological Forum, 14(1): 27–54.
Jacobsson K., Korolczuk E. (2020) Mobilizing grassroots in the city: lessons for civil society research in Central and Eastern Europe. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 33: 125–142.
Jasper J.M. (1997) The Art of Moral Protest: Culture, Biography, and Creativity in Social Movements. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
Jasper J.M. (2010) Cultural Approaches in the Sociology of Social Movements. In: Klandermans B., Roggeband C. (eds.) Handbook of Social Movements Across Disciplines. New York: Springer: 59–101.
Keller R. (2011) The sociology of knowledge approach to discourse (SKAD). Human Studies, 34(1): 43–65.
Keller R., Hornidge A.-K., Schünemann W.J. (eds.) (2018) The Sociology of Knowledge Approach to Discourse. Investigating the Politics of Knowledge and Meaning Making. London: Routledge.
Koopmans R., Statham P., Giugni M., Passy F. (2005) Contested Citizenship: Immigration and Cultural Diversity in Europe. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Lafaye C., Thévenot L. (2017) An Ecological Justification? Conflicts in the Development of Nature. In: Cloutier Ch., Gond J.-P. Leca B. (eds.) Justification, Evaluation and Critique in the Study of Organizations: Contributions from French Pragmatist Sociology. Bingley, UK: Emerald: 273–300.
McAdam D., McCarthy J.D., Zald M.N. (1996) Introduction: Opportunities, mobilizing structures, and framing processes — toward a synthetic comparative perspective on social movements. In: McAdam D., McCarthy J.D., Zald M.N. (eds.) Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements: Political Opportunities, Mobilizing Structures, and Cultural Framings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
McAdam D. (2004) Culture and Social Movements. Gusfield J., Johnston H., Laraña E. (eds.) Ideology and Identity in Contemporary Social Movements. Philadelphia: Temple University Press: 36–57.
Polletta F. (2006) It Was Like a Fever: Storytelling in Protest and Politics. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Reed J.-P. (2014) Social Movement Subjectivity: Culture, Emotions, and Stories, Critical Sociology: 1–16.
Rochon T.R. (1998) Culture Moves. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Steinberg M.W. (1995) Repertoires of discourse: The case of the Spitalfields silk weavers and the moral economy of conflict. In: Traugott M. (ed.) Cycles and repertoires in collective action. Durham, NC: Duke University Press: 57–88.
Steinberg M.W. (2002) Toward a more dialogic analysis of social movement culture. In: Meyer D.S., Whittier N., Robnett B. (eds.) Social movements: Identity, culture, and the state. Oxford: Oxford University Press: 208–225.
Thévenot L., Moody M., Lafaye C. (2000) Forms of Valuing Nature: Arguments and Modes of Justification in French and American Environmental Disputes. In: Lamont C., Thévenot L. (eds.) Rethinking Comparative Cultural Sociology: Repertoires of Evaluation in France and the United States. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press: 229–271.
Tilly Ch. (1995) European Revolutions 1492–1992. Oxford: Blackwell Publisher.
Yin R.K. (2003) Case Study Research. Design and Methods. 3rd ed. London: Sage.
Article
Received: 11.10.2024
Accepted: 25.12.2024
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Other cite formats:
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[1]
Khokhlova, A.M. 2024. In search of the language of legitimation: framing the value of contested city objects in Nizhny Novgorod. Zhurnal sotsiologii i sotsialnoy antropologii (The Journal of Sociology and Social Anthropology). 27, 4 (Dec. 2024), 202–237. DOI:https://doi.org/10.31119/jssa.2024.27.4.8.
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