Co-optation

Co-optation or recuperation is a concept developed by the Situationists to explain why social movements often fail to deliver on their promises. It talks about how various forms of power are able to destroy threats to them by integrating the movement into power itself.

Hijacking involves flipping the roles, where social movements take cultural concepts from the power structures.

Examples

• States often tend to promote pacifist ideas and movements in order to co-opt them.
• The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. - a socialist who criticized 'white moderates' - is often quoted out of context to guilt modern activists who are loud or militant.

See Also

• Hijacking
• Normalisation
• Internalisation