The Social Movement Reader: Cases and Concepts Jeff Goodwin and James Jasper pp

When, and Why SM occur? Why do SM occur? Initial focus was on: 1) Characteristics of the participants 2) Broader environment More recently, cultural approaches have tried to link participants and the environment.

When, and Why SM occur? Resource Mobilization: Formal SM Organizations Focus on formal organizations (and away from participants): There is always enough discontented people in a society. What matters is organization. “What varied over time –and so explained the emergence of movements—was the resources [particularly, the organization] available to nourish it.” Focus on organization: how do SM raise money, recruit people, etc.

When, and Why SM occur? Political Process: Political Opportunities (12) Focus has been on movement emergence, “opportunities” offered by the state. “Political and economic shifts occur usually independent of the protestor’s own efforts, that open up space for the movement.” SM Primarily Political: they make demands on the state and ask for changes in laws and policies,

When, and Why SM occur? Political Opportunities: SM emerge when “opportunities” emerge These “opportunities” result from “slackening in the repression that organizers… Reasons for Political Opportunity Possible reasons for a divide include: 1) Divisions among political elites (the movement may have found allies within the govt) 2) Political and econ. elites have divergent interests. 3) Or there has been “a general crisis in govt,” or external threat (Skocpol, 1979).

When, and Why SM occur? Social Networks: Focus here has been on the social networks “through which people are mobilized into SM.” Who is Recruited? It is an approach that addresses the question of “who is recruited…and the very existence of social ties among potential recruits is seen as prerequisite for the emergence of a SM.” (12)

When, and Why SM occur? Internal Conditions: Focus on internal structural conditions within a community That promote the dev. of a SM. And that facilitate recruitment. “Those with dense ‘dense’ ties, or preexisting formal orgs will find it easier to mobilize supporters and build a movement.” (12)

When, and Why SM occur? Social Network Essays: Jo Freeman, “The Origins of a Women’s Liberation Movement’ was one of the first accounts of a movement to place networks front and center.” Freeman challenged idea that SM dev. Spontaneously. (12) Critique: social network theorists neglect the emotions of politics. (12) “John D’Emilio’s Stonewall Rebellion’ also emphasized the critical importance of social networks…” Many of the activists in “gay liberation” movement came from the New Left, Anti-War and women’s movements, where they had learned protest tactics. (12-13)

When, and Why SM occur? Cultural Approaches: Social Symbols and Understanding “SM are seen as efforts to control the direction of social change largely by controlling a society’s symbols and self-understanding.” Example: Animal rights: Resulted from changes in cultural sensibilities toward animals (they are no longer seen as “living tools” as in most agricultural societies).

When, and Why SM occur? Essays: Charles Kurzman’s “Iranian Revolution” “helped change the way scholars think about political opportunities.” Pol. Opps are not necessarily “objective” changes in the econ. or pol. Environment. “Kurzman shows that perceptions matter more than some underlying ‘reality.’” (13) “Cultural perceptions can play as important a role as changes in state structure.” (13)