Journal Article

Dalla fabbrica al simbolo: mobilitazione e convergenza nel conflitto Gkn

Galiano, Angelo

2025

Overview

The concept of ‘convergence’ represents an innovative perspective for analysing collective mobilisations and contemporary conflicts. This article develops a theorisation of convergence as a dynamic process that integrates actors, resources and repertoires of action into collective configurations capable of transcending immediate contingencies. Through the case of the Gkn dispute, one of the most significant workers’ mobilisations in Italy, the study analyses how workers built a network of solidarity and resistance, transforming a local crisis into a national symbol. Using methodological tools such as Protest Event Analysis (PEA) and a mechanism-process approach, the research highlights how convergence functions as a catalyst for the construction of collective identities, the articulation of innovative strategies and the redefinition of power relations. The work thus proposes a critical reinterpretation of contemporary mobilisations, suggesting that convergence, in addition to explaining the duration and impact of conflicts, can be an explanatory model of contemporary socio-political transformations.

• Publisher: Firenze University Press Università degli Studi di Firenze
• Subject: Conflicts of interest / Contingencies / Convergence / Group identity / Innovations / Political change / Power / Redefinition / Resistance / Workers