Soc 61.6 Social Movements

The state is unique as an actor in the field of social movements because it has a monopoly on the legitimate use of coercive power — violence or the threat of it. In a very basic sense, the political opportunity structure depends on the likelihood of state violence. Participation in social movements has a higher cost — often, much higher — when the state responds with violence. The state can use coercive power by deploying the police or military directly, or by allowing non-state actors to use violence with impunity.

1. Policing strategies
   1. coercive

   2. persuasive
   3. informative
2. Political context
3. Movements and the media

I've updated the gradebook and our points leaders are: Antonnio, Evgeny, David, Leah, Gennady, and, Douglas. Keep up the good work!

UPDATE: Oops! I omitted Antonnio. The leaderboard is corrected now.

Globalization theorists suggest that one of the most significant consequences of globalization is that it makes the world smaller and faster — that is, the circulation of information and material goods is so ubiquitous and rapid that ideas and practices create connections between individuals and communities that in earlier periods were isolated. How does this affect social movements? Have movements globalized to the same extent as other institutions or interest groups? How does globalization happen in social movements?

Where do social movement participants learn protest behaviors and norms? We've looked at SMOs and how organizations make decisions. Now, let's focus on how collective action occurs and how it is coordinated. Prior to social movements research, it was assumed that collective behavior followed the logic of crowds. We know that isn't the case with most forms of collective action. Consider the most common forms of protest in your social movement. How are these actions selected? How are they communicated? How are they coordinated on site?

I've updated the syllabus to reflect the new online participation policy.

The authors identify three distinct logics of protest: numbers, damage, and, witness. These incorporate both a material and a symbolic dimension. Consider the history of protest in the movement you are studying. How does the form of protest change over time? Does one logic predominate? Can you identify tension within the movement surrounding the forms of protest? Post your thoughts as a comment to this page.

Note: This is an in-class discussion.

1. collective action repertoires

2. logic of protest
3. cycles of protest

Some questions to consider: why do movements chose the kinds of collective actions that they do? how do movements influence each other? why do some historical periods have more or less protest?

I want to pay particular attention to the different kinds of protest logics. The authors identify numbers, damage, and, witness as the main types. I want to compare and contrast material and symbolic factors.

The main theoretical perspective in this chapter is political process.

One of the risks of formal organization — perhaps the most important risk — in social movements in co-optation. SMOs are dedicated to social change, sometimes of a reform nature and sometimes revolutionary. But organizations tend to follow their own logic. In order to work effectively in the mass media or political system, an organization tends to cultivate contacts and reciprocal relations with power-holders. This has the ironic effect of making the organization invested in the status quo. The end result, it has often been argued, is a kind of self-defeating impulse in all SMOs.