Meyer and Snow, Social Movements Seminar

GRADUATE SEMINAR ON SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
Sociology 240a (Political Science 219)
University of California-Irvine
Fall 2003

David S. Meyer David A. Snow
SSPA 3133 SSPB 4295
(949) 824-1475 (949) 824-9323
Office Hours: Thursdays, 2:00-4:00, Office Hrs: Weds.3:00-4:00
and by appointment. and by appointment.

E-mail: dmeyer@uci.edu E-mail: dsnow@uci.edu

Course Scope and Objectives: Social movements and protest appear to have become

permanent features of the contemporary social landscape, challenging almost continuously political institutions and other forms of authority. These challenges to institutional authority occur both in contexts where there is little hope for institutional redress and activists seek to open up democratic avenues for affecting political influence, and in democratic states where we assume there would be more direct routes to political influence. Within the political arena, movements are carriers not only of grievances about a particular set of issues, but also of frustration with more established political forms of making claims. Those employing social movements for political goals include people who want to extend democracy and make it more effective, as well as those who are resistant to such changes and may even seek to narrow its scope. When actors on different sides of political issues employ similar social movement forms and tactics to advance their causes, we are witnessing a growth in public distrust of more institutional democratic politics. To the extent that social movements have become increasingly routinized and institutionalized element of contemporary politics, they reflect a permanent skepticism about more conventional democratic procedures. Protest outside institutions is closely linked to the politics inside institutions, and sometimes protest even wells up within institutions in response to the decisions, procedures, or behaviors of authorities. Thus, there are a variety of venues and contexts nurturant of various kinds of social movements and protest.

In this course, we will examine some of these contexts and a host of related issues by engaging major theoretical debates in the study of social movements by reading and discussing both empirical treatments of particular movements and theoretical treatments of key issues. We will be particularly concerned with the socio-cultural and political context and consequences of protest, focusing on basic questions, such as: Under what circumstances do social movements emerge? How do dissidents choose political tactics and strategies? And how do movements affect socio-cultural and political change? By the end of the quarter, students should have sufficient mastery of much of the theoretical literature to ground their own research.

Course Requirements: You are expected to attend all seminar meetings, complete the assigned readings, formulate thoughtful questions and/or comments, and listen and respond to each others' comments and concerns. As well, you have three concrete assignments:

Summaries/Synopses of Selected Reading Assignments: Each of you will be expected to take the lead on one or more readings throughout the term by preparing a one page, typed summary discussion of the assigned/selected reading. You will bring copies of your synopsis for everyone in the seminar, and take the lead in discussion of the piece.

Weekly Discussion Papers: You are expected to submit no fewer than 5 weekly papers addressing one of the questions from a list of questions we will give you a week prior to when the papers are due. The papers are to be one to two pages.

Final Project: There are three basic choices for the final project. First, you may submit a general research design on some issue that you want to study, perhaps as a warm-up for your second year paper or your dissertation. This should outline what you know about the empirical material, relevant theoretical issues, and ways to pursue them. Second, if you are further along in your work, you may submit a more detailed research design, in the form of a grant proposal to some agency that might fund your dissertation work. Finally, if you already have a case you would like to explore, you may write a term paper as a draft of a journal article (15-30 pages). We will reserve a portion of a number of seminar periods to discuss your project topics and/or more general curiosities about currently operative social movements.

Seminar Grades: Your final grade will be based on the quality of your performance with respect to the above responsibilities and assignments. The allocation of points for each set of responsibilities follows:

Reading Synopses and Participation: 10%
Weekly Discussion Papers: 40%
Final Project: 50%

Required Reading: We have ordered the following books, which will be on reserve in the library, and available for purchase in the bookstore.

Blee, Kathleen. 2002. Inside Organized Racism: Women in the Hate Movement. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Piven, Frances Fox and Richard A. Cloward. 1977. Poor People's Movements.

New York: Vintage.

Tarrow, Sidney. 1998. Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics, 2^nd ed., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

The reading load is relatively heavy, but the material should be interesting and accessible. Partly, this a function of a literature which is growing very quickly and touches upon many interesting issues, and partly a function of the tyranny of the quarter system. With only ten weeks, we will be giving short shrift to a number of areas of inquiry in the study of social movements. But this should not deter us from pursuing our major course objective: developing a working knowledge of some of the major theoretical debates and issues among social movement scholars.

UCI Scholarship on Social Movements and Protest: UCI is a great place to study social movements. Many faculty here have published important books in the area, employing a variety of approaches. Many others are interested in areas that intersect with social movements, such as political participation and public policy. Check out these books, if you're interested. You can search for the numerous articles as well, or just go talk to people about their interests.

Alison Brysk. 1994. The Politics of Human Rights in Argentina: Protest, Change, and Democratization, Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.

Russell J. Dalton and Manfred Kuechler (eds). 1990. Challenging the Political Order: New Social and Political Movements in Western Democracies. New York: Oxford UP.

Russell J. Dalton. 1999. Critical Masses. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

Russell J. Dalton. 1994. The Green Rainbow: Environmental Groups in Western Europe. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Valerie Jenness and Kendal Broad. 1997. Hate Crimes: New Social Movements and the Politics of Violence. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

Valerie Jenness and Ryken Grattet. 2001. Making Hate a Crime: From Social Movement to Law Enforcement. New York: Russell Sage.

Valerie Jenness. 1993. Making it Work: The Prostitute's Rights Movement in Perspective. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

Claire Jean Kim. 2000. Bitter Fruit: The Politics of Black-Korean Conflict in New York. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Cecelia Lynch. 1999. Beyond Appeasement; Interpreting Interwar Peace Movements in World Politics. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press.

Doug McAdam and David A. Snow (eds.). 1997. Social Movements: Readings on Their Emergence, Mobilization, and Dynamics. Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury Publishing

David S. Meyer. 1990. A Winter of Discontent: the Nuclear Freeze and American Politics. New York: Praeger.

David S. Meyer and Sidney Tarrow (eds.). 1998. The Social Movement Society: Contentious Politics for a New Century. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.

Thomas R. Rochon and David S. Meyer (eds.) 1997. Coalitions & Politial Movements: The Lessons of the Nuclear Freeze. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner.

David S. Meyer, Nancy Whittier, and Belinda Robnett (eds). 2001. Social Movements: Identity, Culture, and the State. New York: Oxford University Press.

Belinda Robnett. 1997. How Long? How Long?: African-American Women in the Struggle for Civil Rights. New York: Oxford University Press.

David A. Snow. 1993. Shakubuku: A Study of the Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist Movement in America, 1960-1975. New York: Garland.

David A. Snow, Sarah A. Soule, and Hanspeter Kriesi (eds.). 2004. The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements. Oxford, England: Blackwell.

Judith Stepan-Norris and Maurice Zeitlin. 1996. Talking Union. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Judith Stepan-Norris and Maurice Zeitlin. 2002. Left Out: Reds and America's Industrial Unions. New York: Cambridge University Press.

SEMINAR SCHEDULE

I. (October 1) Introduction to the Course and to Social Movements

Tarrow, Introduction (Chapter 1) and Part 1 (Chapters 2 - 4)

Snow, David A., Sarah A. Soule, and Hanspeter Kriesi. 2004. "Mapping the Terrain." Pp. 3-16 in The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements, edited by D. A. Snow, S. A. Soule, and H. Kriesi. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers.

II. (October 8) Political Context and Opportunities

Tarrow, Chapter 5, "Political Opportunities and Constraints," and Chapter 9, "Cycles of Contention."

Piven and Cloward, Poor People's Movements, Chapter 1, and one substantive chapter.

Meyer, David S. Forthcoming, 2004. "Protest and Political Opportunities." Annual Review of Sociology.

Meyer, David S. and Suzanne Staggenborg. 1996. "Movements, Countermovements, and the Structure of Political Opportunity." American Journal of Sociology 101: 1628-1660.

McCammon, Holly J., Karen E. Campbell, Ellen M. Granberg, and Christine Mowery. 2001. "How Movements Win: Gendered Opportunity Structures and U.S. Women's Suffrage Movements, 1866-1919." American Sociological Review 66: 49-70.

III. (October 15) Resources and Organizations

Tarrow, Chapter 8, "Mobilizing Structures and Contentious Politics"

Clemens, Elisabeth S. and Debra C. Minkoff. 2004 "Beyond the Iron Law: Rethinking the Place of Organizations in Social Movement Research." Pp.155-170 in The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements.

McCarthy, John D. and Mayer N. Zald. 1977. "Resource Mobilization and Social Movements: A Partial Theory." American Journal of Sociology 82: 1212-41.

Cress, Daniel M. and David A. Snow. 1996. "Mobilization at the Margins: Resources, Benefactors, and the Viability of Homeless Social Movement Organizations." American Sociological Review 61: 1098-1109.

Robnett, Belinda. 1996. "African American Women and Leadership in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement." American Journal of Sociology 101: 1661-1693.

Staggenborg, Suzanne. 1988. "The Consequences of Professionalization and Formalization in the Pro-Choice Movement." American Sociological Review 53: 585-606.

Voss, Kim and Rachel Sherman, "Breaking the Iron Law of Oligarchy: Union Revitalization in the American Labor Movement." American Journal of Sociology 106: 303-349.

IV. (October 22) Culture, Media, and Framing

Tarrow, Chapter 7, "Framing Contention"

Snow, David A. 2004. "Framing Processes, Ideology, and Discursive Fields." Pp. 380-412 in The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements.

Gamson, William A. forthcoming. 2004. "Bystanders, Public Opinion, and the Media." Pp. 242-261 in The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements.

Rohlinger, Deana A. 2002. "Framing the Abortion Debate: Organizational Resources, Media Strategies, and Movement-Countermovement Dynamics." Sociological Quarterly 43: 479-507.

McCarthy, John D., Clark McPhail, and Jackie Smith. 1996. "Images of Protest: Dimensions of Selection Bias in Media Coverage of Washington Demonstrations 1982 and 1991." American Sociological Review 61: 478-99.

Oliver, Pamela and Gregory M. Maney. 2001. "Political Processes and Local Newspaper Coverage of Protest Events: From Selection Bias to Triadic Interactions." American Journal of Sociology 106: 463-505.

V. (October 29) Recruitment, Participation, and Collective Identity.

Diani, Mario. 2004. "Networks and Participation." Pp. 339-359 in The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements.

Snow, David A. 2001. "Collective Identity and Expressive Forms." International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavior Sciences

Polletta, Francesca. 1998. "'It Was Little a Fever....': Narrative and Identity in Social Protest." Social Problems 45:137-159.

Blee, Inside Organized Racism.

VI. (November 5) Tactics and Dynamics

Tarrow, Chapter 6, "Acting Contentiously"

Rucht, Dieter 2004. "Movement Allies, Adversaries, and Third Parties." Pp.197-216 in The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements.

Taylor, Verta and Nella Van Dyke. Forthcoming 2004. "'Getup, Stand Up': Tactical Repertoires of Social Movements." Pp. 262-293 in The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements.

McAdam, Doug 1983. "Tactical Innovation and the Pace of Insurgency." American Sociological Review 48: 735-54.

Bernstein, Mary. 1997. "Celebration and Suppression: The Strategic Uses of Identity by the Lesbian and Gay Movement." American Journal of Sociology 103: 531-565.

Roscigno, Vincent J. and William F. Danaher 2001. "Media and Mobilization: The Case of Radio and Southern Textile Worker Insurgency, 1929 to 1934." American Sociological Review 66: 21-48.

VII. (November 12) Protest in Institutions, Institutionalization and Abeyance.

Zald, Mayer N. and Michael A. Berger 1978. "Social Movements in Organizations: Coup d'etat, Insurgency, and Mass Movements. American Journal of Sociology 83: 823-861.

Burstein, Paul, R. Marie Bricher, and Rachel Einwohner. 1995. "Policy Alternatives and Political Change: Work, Family, and Gender on the Congressional Agenda." American Sociological Review 60: 73-83.

Katzenstein, Mary F. "Feminism within American Institutions: Unobtrusive Mobilization in the 1980s." Signs 16: 28-54.

Taylor, Verta A. 1989 "Social Movement Continuity: The Women's Movement in Abeyance." American Sociological Review 54: 761-75.

Sawyers, Traci M. and David S. Meyer 1999. "Missed Opportunities: Social Movement Abeyance and Public Policy." Social Problems 46: 187-206.

VIII. (November 19) Outcomes I: Political and Beneficiary Consequences

Tarrow, Chaper 10, "Struggling to Reform."

Amenta, Edwin, Kathleeen Dunleavey, and Mary Bernstein. 1994. "Stolen Thunder? Huey Long's 'Share our Wealth,' Political Mediation, and the Second New Deal." American Sociological Review 56: 250-65.

Andrews, Kenneth T. 1997. "The Impacts of Social Movements on the Political Process: The Civil Rights Movement and Black Electoral Politics in Mississippi." American Sociological Review 62: 800-19.

Andrews, Kenneth T. 2001. "Social Movements and Policy Implementation: The Mississippi Civil Rights Movement and the War on Poverty, 1965-1971." American Sociological Review 66: 71-95.

Quadagno, Jill. 1992. "Social-movements and State Transformation: Labor Unions and Racial Conflict in the War on Poverty." American Sociological Review 57 (5): 616-634.

Cress, Dan and David A. Snow, 2000. "The Outcomes of Homeless Mobilization: The Influence of Organization, Disruption, Political Mediation, and Framing." American Journal of Sociology 105: 1063-1104.

Minkoff, Debra C. 1997. "The Sequencing of Social Movements." American Sociological Review 62: 779-799.

IX. (November 26) Outcomes II: Individual, Cultural, and Movement Consequences

Giugni, Marco G. 2004. "Personal and Biographical Consequences." Pp. 489-507 in Blackwell Companion to Social Movements.

Klatch, Rebecca E. 2002. "The Development of Individual Identity and Consciousness among Movements of the Left and Right." Pp. 185-204 in Social Movements: Identity, Culture, and the State, edited by David S. Meyer, Nancy Whittier, and Belinda Robnett. New York: Oxford University Press.

McAdam, Doug. 1989. "The Biographical Consequences of Activism." American Sociological Review 54: 744-60.

Earl, Jennifer. 2004. "The Cultural Consequences of Social Movements." Pp. 508-530 in Blackwell Companion to Social Movements.

Meyer, David S. and Nancy Whittier. 1994. "Social Movement Spillover." Social Problems 41: 277-298.

Whittier, Nancy E. 1997. "Political Generations, Micro-Cohorts, and the Transformation of Social Movements." American Sociological Review 62: 760-778.

X. (December 3) Conclusion and Final Review