Social Movements Weeks 14-15 in Syllabus Social Movement A

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Social Movements

• Weeks 14-15 in Syllabus

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Social Movement

• A Political Social Movement
• An ongoing organization of people working to
  achieve a common political goal outside the
  normal electoral political process

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Three Ingredients for a Social Movement

• Grievance
• Resources
• Frame

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Grievance

• Perceived Wrong
• Not Addressed by Politics as Usual

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Resources

• Tools of Power
• People
• Organization
• Money
• Leadership
• Connections (allies)

Thurgood Marshal US Supreme Court Justice
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Frame

• Define the Issue
• Identify an Opportunity
• Calls to Action
• Usually 3 levels

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History of Theory

• Theory seeks to understand when and why social
  movements emerge.
• Early Social Movements focus on Grievance.
• People mobilize when their grievance was severe
• Does this work?
• Do those with the most severe problems or
  grievances mobilize social movements?

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History of Theory

• Resource Mobilization Theory 1960s and 1970s
• Not the grievance, but the access to new
  resources explains social movements
• People mobilize when they can.
• New resources make them more able to mobilize, so
  they do.
• Reasonable?

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History of Theory

• US Theory Political Opportunity Structure
  Theory 1980s and 1990s
• Yes, resources matter, but we also need to look
  at opportunities.
• People mobilize when something creates a window
  of opportunity.
• Change in environment
• New political situation
• Special event draws attention to our issue

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History of Theory

• European Theory New Social Movements School
  1980s and 1990s
• Resources matter, but how an issue is articulated
  matters more.
• Movements arise when leaders can Frame the
  issue in a way that resonates with peoples
  emotions
• How the issue is pitched makes all the difference
• Leadership matters
• Not only defining the issue
• Also articulating an appropriate response is
  crucial.

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My Synthesis

• Three Ingredients for a Social Movement
• Grievance
• Resources
• More is better
• New is better

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My Synthesis

• Three Ingredients for a Social Movement Cont.
• Frame
• Leaders must articulate an effective Frame
  define the issue in a moving way
• Leaders must identify and publicize an
  opportunity
• Why is it possible to win now, and perhaps only
  now when it usually is not possible
• Leaders must articulate a coherent Call to Action
  to involve all possible supporters 3 levels
• Difficult, costly, and dangerous for the zealots
• Costly but safe for the committed with a real
  life
• Easy, low-risk, low-cost for the casual supporter

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Social Movement Case Studies

• Civil Rights Movement
• Time frame 1958- 1970
• Grievance
• Racial Discrimination
• Segregation Jim Crow Laws
• Unequal treatment

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Civil Rights Movement

• Grievance
• Is this the worst time in US history for African
  Americans?
• Why mobilize now?
• Early theory not so helpful

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Civil Rights Movement

• Resources Whats new?
• Post WWII Blacks in America
• Higher education levels (GI Bill)
• Better Jobs
• Higher Incomes
• Post WWII Organization
• Southern Christian Leadership Council (SCLC)
• NAACP stronger
• College Student Organizations

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Civil Rights Movement

• Resources Whats new?
• Allies in Post WWII
• US President not hostile (Eisenhower, Kennedy,
  Johnson)
• Executive branch allies Bobby Kennedy, etc.
• US Supreme Court supportive
• 1948 Shelley V Kraemer
• 1954 Brown V Board of Education, etc.

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Civil Rights Movement

• Resources Whats new?
• Network News
• Walter Cronkite
• ACLU
• Jewish immigrants
• Deep commitment to others rights
• White student movements
• Etc. too numerous to cover here.

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Civil Rights Movement

• Resources Whats new?
• Leadership
• SCLC leaders, esp. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Other leaders Malcolm X, etc.

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Civil Rights Movement

• Frame Define the issue
• Segregation/discrimination is Un-American
• I have a dream that one day this great nation
  shall live up to its creed We hold these
  truths to be self-evident, that all men are
  created equal
• Diagnosed a collective Cognitive Dissonance

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Civil Rights Movement

• Frame Identify an opportunity
• Recognized changing culture
• Recognized new allies
• Recognized Supreme Courts new tone
• Jumped on Rosa Parks protest and the spontaneous
  boycott

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Civil Rights Movement

• Frame Call to action
• Peaceful civil disobedience
• Borrowed from ???
• Boycotts
• Sit-ins
• Rallies
• Confrontational stuff for the Zealots
• Protests deliberately staged when they would
  provoke violent responses in front of TV cameras
• Many were beaten
• Some were killed
• Many were jailed

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Civil Rights Movement

• Frame Call to action middle level
• Request help from ACLU
• Request help from Ladies Auxiliaries in local
  congregations and other committed people with
  real lives
• Pack lunches
• Make jail visits
• Be witnesses to law violations
• Donate money

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Civil Rights Movement

• Frame Call to action middle level
• Request assistance from government officials
  outside the South
• Request attention and coverage of real and
  dramatic news for broadcast nationally

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Civil Rights Movement

• Frame Call to action Low level
• Ask for small donations
• Ask for letters to Congress
• Ask for votes during elections

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UC Berkeley Fair Housing

• Coming Case study