Moral Grievance as a Catalyst for Collective Action

The objective of this article consists of showing that the sentiment of moral grievance, while it does not determine or completely explain collective action, does appear repeatedly as one of the arguments put forward by actors mobilized in the defense of their own judgments of what they consider to be just or unjust, in opposition to those acts or actors by whom they consider themselves to have been aggrieved, and from whom they demand restitution for the damage inflicted. Such was the case of the social movement that took place in Oaxaca (Mexico) in 2006: a conflict which began as a teachers' protest and then turned into one of the most important organizational popular fronts of the new century in Mexico. In general terms, it proposes considering morality and the values that emanate therefrom, as well as human experience, to be significant elements for the understanding of collective action and of social movements.