How do social movements contribute to the formation of values?
Before responding to your question, I would like to remove one misunderstanding that often creeps into discussions on social movements. This is framed by the question: what is the difference between social and political movements? It needs to be clarified here that for me, social movements are intensely and inherently political. As discussed in the first instalment of this interview, they engage with power – whether legitimised by patriarchy or by corporate capital and such engagement is both social and political. Now to your question. As more of the world comes under the aggressive influence of neo-liberalism, the dominant economic and political systems continue to privilege the materialist side of human beings. The neo-liberal system and its institutions continue to seek to maximize private profit and in the process see value only in what the system can commodify. Nature is equally victimized so a complex ecosystem like a rainforest is only worth its value in tradable timber. The val
