Social Mutualism as the Psychology of Alter-cultural Praxis

Drawing from various social scientific literatures, this dissertation focuses on a set of activist communities I term alter-cultures. These groups are communities of practice whose aims and principles coincide in: a) rejecting for themselves (but not for others) significant aspects of dominant cultures and systems of living detrimental to a commons, and b) constructing manifest beneficial alternatives to these systems. Through qualitative and quantitative analyses and comparisons of the rhetoric, relational configurations, and behavioral approaches of different activist groups, I show that alter-cultures are organized to transcend traditional social identity boundaries, and adopt a unique relational model of social interaction (termed social mutualism) that is communal and care-based but neither exclusive nor localized. Social psychologically, I show that these communities are focused on the positive, are systematic, deliberative, holistic, and engaged in commons care for the benefit of themselves, others, and a commons. In contrast, more typical counter-dominant groups and activists are more focused on the negative, on agents, and are more emotional, and adversarial in their approaches to and psychology of collective action.