Reflections on the free fare movement and other "new social movements"

Abstract

On June 6, 2013, the Free Fare Movement (Movimento Passe Livre) began a very aggressive campaign against the rise in bus and metro fares in São Paulo, Brazil. In an ultimately two-week campaign, the movement organized six demonstrations blocking some of São Paulo's most vital avenues. After the demonstrations became massive (some in excess of one million people), both city and state governments relented and reduced the fares. The June mobilizations were horizontal, non-partisan, and based on direct action. These events are akin to other recent mobilizations such as Occupy Wall Street and the 15M movement in Spain but are different in one important aspect: they had only one demand—a 20-cent reduction in bus and metro fares. This one demand allowed the movement to develop a clear and successful strategy while retaining the horizontality and countercultural creativity of other new movements. Indeed, this series of demonstrations may have provided a model for coordinating a concern for processes with strategically aiming for outcomes.