The Cultural Analysis Of Discourse And Symbolic Behaviors In Collective Action

On the investigation about collective action on Datong "kneeling to mayor", this paper attempts to explore that in the organization and process of collective action,which strategies action organizer use to stimulate public participation? How collective action participants look for the legitimacy of action? Why two big contrast behaviors can exist between rational and traditional convention in the same operation? Which kind of cultural background that words and symbols reflected from collective action can generate?From perspective of cultural sociology, the author makes a diachronic description about the collective action of Datong "kneeling to mayor".The author makes analysis from three dimensions : rhetorical strategies, legitimacy basis for action and the rhetoric and symbolic resources in collective action. Firstly, in the mobilization of the strategies of collective action, the author summarizes that the action organizer doesn’t take discourse system which can express demands directly, but uses "hidden text" and "weapons of the weak" action strategy; secondly, from the beginning to the end, the whole event proceeding orderly within the framework of government and law defined, action participants establish emergent specification in the marching process, cite political authority and get free from the legitimacy dilemma, in some sense, this formulate a field of safe space; thirdly, the discourse strategies and symbolic action of participants in the affair "kneeling to mayor",also revel some habits formulate from the effect of cultural traditions casually. As a long time of precipitation cultural tradition and values, the continuation of the tradition of struggle and the government moral foundation associated with "discussion",imperceptibly affect collective action participants’ thinking mode and social behavior in many aspects. In the face of the unexpected, they will make instinctive reaction without hesitation according to the internalization of the text – express interest demands through collective action. Finally the author draws conclusion: what the collective action participants face is not a cultural repository with uniform script, but many interconnected or not very coherent, even is a combination of contradictory symbols, ideology, values and traditions.However, the answers to the above questions are not intended to promote understandings about details of collective action, but hope to study social and cultural factors and explain the cultural tradition of collective action function through this typical case.