The Experts below are selected from a list of 360 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Todd Nicholas Fuist - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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culture within sites culture as resources and culture as wider contexts a typology of how culture works in Social Movement Theory
Sociology Compass, 2013Co-Authors: Todd Nicholas FuistAbstract:Sociologists of Social Movements agree that culture matters for studying collective action, and have proposed a variety of theoretical concepts to understand culture and mobilization, including framing, free spaces, and collective identity. Despite this, what we mean when we say “culture matters” remains unclear. In this paper, I draw on 30years of Social Movement Theory and research to construct a typology of three ways that culture is seen as shaping Social Movement activity: (i) culture renders particular sites fruitful for Social Movements to mobilize out of; (ii) culture serves as a resource that assists in Movement action; and (iii) culture provides wider contexts that shape Movement activity. This typology represents the analytic building blocks of theories about culture and Social Movements, and is presented towards the end of clarifying and sharpening our theoretical concepts. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research that draw on, refine, and extend these three building blocks. Beginning in the 1980s, the sociology of Social Movements experienced a “cultural turn” resulting in greater attention to symbols, meaning, and the expressive elements of Social behavior. Resource mobilization and political process Theory, the dominant sociological theories of Social Movements in the 1980s, had largely excised cultural factors from their analysis (Williams 2004), but the rise of identity politics, “new Social Movements,” and contemporary right-wing Movements made ignoring meaning and expression in our theorizing increasingly problematic (Garner 1997). As such, sociologists have spent the past 30years bringing cultural concerns into Social Movement studies without losing sight of the significant theoretical gains made by resource mobilization and political process Theory. Despite the widespread agreement that culture matters and the proliferation of concepts to understand culture and Social Movements, how culture factors into collective action is not always apparent. In this paper, I clarify some of this uncertainty by presenting a typology of the three primary ways that sociologists have understood culture as contributing to collective action: (i) culture renders particular sites fruitful for Social Movements to mobilize out of; (ii) culture serves as a resource that assists in Movement action; and (iii) culture provides wider contexts that shape Movement activity (Figure 1). This typology is not an arrangement of theories. In fact, single theories often present culture as working in multiple ways. Rather, this typology is presented to help sociologists of Social Movements think through our theorizing by breaking culture into analytic building blocks that can be arranged, refined, and expanded. Through examining these three analytic building blocks, I clarify how sociologists of Social Movements understand culture, delineate what theorists suggest that culture “does” in relation to collective action, and present possibilities for future research that consider ho wt he three elements of the typology intersect and relate.
James M Jasper - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Social Movement Theory today toward a Theory of action
Sociology Compass, 2010Co-Authors: James M JasperAbstract:Grand theories of Social Movements, relating them to History or Society, are being dismantled and reevaluated. In their place approaches are emerging that offer a cultural and emotional Theory of action, allowing analysts to build from the micro-level to the macro-level in a more empirical way rather than deductively from the top down. Social Movements are composed of individuals and their interactions. Rational-choice approaches recognize this, but their version of the calculating individual is too abstract to be realistic or helpful. Pragmatism, feminism, and related traditions are encouraging a rethinking of collective action.
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the return of the repressed the fall and rise of emotions in Social Movement Theory
Mobilization, 2000Co-Authors: Jeff Goodwin, James M Jasper, Francesca PollettaAbstract:In recent years sociologists have made great strides in studying the emotions that pervade Social life. The study of Social Movements has lagged behind, even though there are few arenas where emotions are more obvious or important. We hope to understand this lag as well as make some suggestions for catching up. To do this we examine the history of scholarship on Social Movements, finding that emotions were poorly specified in the early years, ignored entirely in the structural and organizational paradigms that emerged in the 1960s, and still overlooked in the cultural era of the 1980s and 1990s. Despite isolated efforts to understand the emotions of Social Movements, they remain today a fertile area for inquiry.
Colin J. Beck - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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The Contribution of Social Movement Theory to Understanding Terrorism
Sociology Compass, 2008Co-Authors: Colin J. BeckAbstract:The study of terrorism and political violence has been characterized by a lack of generalizable Theory and methodology. This essay proposes that Social Movement Theory can contribute a necessary conceptual framework for understanding terrorism and thus reviews the relevant literature and discusses possible applications. Terrorism is a form of contentious politics, analyzable with the basic Social Movement approach of mobilizing resources, political opportunity structure, and framing. Cultural perspectives call attention to issues of collective identity that allow for sustained militancy, and Movement research recommends alternative conceptions of terrorist networks. Previous research on Movement radicalization, repression, and cycles of contention has direct bearing on militancy. Emerging perspectives on transnational collective action and the diffusion of tactics and issues informs an understanding of contemporary international terrorism. Research on Movement outcomes suggests broader ways of considering the efficacy of political violence. Finally, methodological debates within the study of Social Movements are relevant for research on terrorism. In sum, a Social Movement approach to terrorism has much to contribute, and research on terrorism could have important extensions and implications for Social Movement Theory.
Andreas Pekarek - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Social Movement Theory collective action frames and union Theory a critique and extension
British Journal of Industrial Relations, 2013Co-Authors: Peter Gahan, Andreas PekarekAbstract:The publication of John Kelly's Rethinking Industrial Relations in 1998 spawned a growing interest among researchers in exploring how Social Movement (SM) Theory can be used to inform union research, particularly in the context of revitalization/renewal debates. Our starting proposition is that this approach can be extended through an engagement with the larger corpus of SM Theory. We focus in particular on the ‘collective action frame’ concept. Drawing on examples used by SM scholars, we illustrate how these concepts can be used to extend and enrich union Theory and pose new questions concerning the role of unions.
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Social Movement Theory colletcive action frames and union Theory a critique and extension
Social Science Research Network, 2013Co-Authors: Peter Gahan, Andreas PekarekAbstract:The publication of John Kelly's Rethinking Industrial Relations in 1998 spawned a growing interest among researchers in exploring how Social Movement (SM) Theory can be used to inform union research, particularly in the context of revitalization/renewal debates. Our starting proposition is that this approach can be extended through an engagement with the larger corpus of SM Theory. We focus in particular on the ‘collective action frame’ concept. Drawing on examples used by SM scholars, we illustrate how these concepts can be used to extend and enrich union Theory and pose new questions concerning the role of unions.
Ludger Mees - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Politics, economy, or culture? The rise and development of Basque nationalism in the light of Social Movement Theory
Theory and Society, 2004Co-Authors: Ludger MeesAbstract:Nationalism & Social mobilization are two of the most prominent areas of research within the Social sciences since the end of World War II. Yet, the scholarly specialization has so far impeded a mutual exchange of the theoretical & methodological literatures of both areas. While theorists on nationalism dispute about the validity & scientific efficacy of approaches such as primordialism, perennialism, modernism, functionalism, or more recently -- ethno-symbolism, scholars concerned with Social Movement Theory have been divided about approaches commonly known as resource mobilization, political process, framing, or new Social Movement theories. The recent proposal forwarded by McAdam, Tarrow, & Tilly (MTT) in their book Dynamics of Contention is an important attempt to overcome the scholarly specialization by presenting a new explanatory framework that aims at opening new analytical perspectives to a better comprehension of contentious politics beyond the "classic Social Movements agenda." This article focuses on the rise & development of Basque nationalism, however, while accepting the proposal as a valid focus for the macro-analysis & comparison of broad structures & processes, is rather skeptical as far as its hypothetical productivity on the theoretical meso-level (analysis & comparison of one or a few single cases) is concerned. Instead, in the light of the historical evolution of Basque nationalism since the end of the 19th century, including its more recent violent dimension, it is suggested that a productive & intelligent combination of approaches coming from both areas: theories on nationalism & on Social Movements, is still a useful & necessary task to carry out in order to facilitate a better understanding of nationalism in particular & contentious politics in general. Adapted from the source document.
