Social Mobilization of the Underdogs: The Damansara Save Our School Movement in Malaysia

How are social movements of the underdogs sustained and how are constraints of these movements overcome, in particular, constraints imposed by non-liberal democratic states? Utilizing the Damansara Save Our School movement in Malaysia as its case study, this article describes factors that led to the successful resistance of the Damansara New Village community against the closure of its community school, the Damansara Chinese Primary School. Although inexperienced in social movement activities, small in size, financially and socially disadvantaged, the villagers of Damansara New Village successfully sustained their resistance for seven years and eventually procured compromises from the Malaysian authorities, which reopened the school premises in January 2009. Lacking access to democratic institutions in the country, the Damansara Save Our School movement relied on unconventional—yet highly institutionalized—resistance methods to mobilize support and engage in political contention. This article analyzes three components that had led to the movement’s successful endurance: institutionalization of the Save Our School Committee as the main mobilization machinery; formation of a temple school that sustained the functioning of the school, physically and symbolically; and dynamic adaptation of movement repertoires to overcome constraints imposed by the stronger and not so liberal state. For the movement community and supporters alike, the reopening of the school premises in 2009 attests to the miracle of everyday resistance by underdogs in surmounting unjust policies imposed by a powerful state.

弱势群体的社会动员：马来西亚的白沙罗保校运动 洪敏芝

弱势群体的社会运动如何得以持续进行，而这些社会运动如何战胜其所面临的限制，尤其是来自於非自由民主国家所强加的限制呢？本文以白沙罗新村村民们的保护白沙罗华文小学（白小）运动为例，分析弱势群体如何在缺乏社会运动经验和经费下，成功保留了这间社区学校。在缺乏民主制度的情况下，白小保校运动依赖非常规但高度制度化的抵抗手段来动员其支持者，并得以持续最终成功达到保校运动的目标。本文将详细分析白小保校运动的三大成功因素：（一）本土性制度化的内部安排维持了一个稳定及可信赖的保校运动动员机制；（二）当白小被强行关闭后，其学校的实体功能及象徵意义由民间延办的临时学校而得以延续；（三）灵活的社会动员策略克服了来自当局的强权压力及各项限制。这僵持了七年之久的抵抗运动，见证了弱势群体的持续抵抗也可以创造奇迹。民意及民权的力量最终迫使马国联邦政府当局妥协，并于二零零九年一月重新开启白小原校校院。

Translated from English by Xin Huang