Social movement

About: Social movement is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 23103 publications have been published within this topic receiving 653076 citations. The topic is also known as: movement & syndical movement.

Hotbeds of Activism: Locations of Student Protest

Abstract: Some colleges and universities stand out in the popular imagination as hotbeds of political activism, while others do not. In this paper, I examine the factors that account for this variation in campus activism: why student activism occurred on some campuses during the 1960s and not others. With some notable exceptions (e.g., Soule 1997) theoretical developments and insights in the social movement literature have not been applied to student activism. In addition, most existing studies of student protest are ahistorical. They examine protest only within one time period, failing to recognize the influence of history and culture in fostering protest activity. I use social movement theory to explore the factors that influence the location of student protest, and develop the hypothesis that a history of activism is strongly associated with student protest. I also demonstrate that locations that have protest around one issue are likely to have protest around multiple issues. I suggest that this is due to the influence of activist subcultures, which underlie movement families within a protest cycle, influencing the ideology and tactics of activist organizations. A sample of 423 colleges forms the basis for these analyses, conducted using logistic and OLS regression models.

Multiculturalism, or the united colors of capitalism?

Abstract: In this paper I examine the political manipulation of the meanings of “race” and nation in the context of increasing Pacific Rim ties and multinational capitalist development in Vancouver. As many wealthy Hong Kong Chinese move to Vancouver in advance of 1997, racist incidents and urban social movements aimed at preserving neighborhood “character” have increased, thus discouraging international business activity and blocking capital flow into and through the city. As racism and localism hinder the social networks necessary for the integration of global capitalisms, businesspeople and politicians interested in increasing Vancouver's integration have sought to counter these processes through ideological production. The liberal doctrine of multiculturalism has become linked with the attempt to smooth racial friction and reduce resistance to the recent changes in the urban environment and experiences of everyday life in Vancouver. In this sense, the attempt to shape multiculturalism can be seen as an attempt to gain hegemonic control over concepts of race and nation in order to further expedite Vancouver's integration into the international networks of global capitalism.

Autoconstruction in Working-Class Brazil

Abstract: The ideologues of Brazil's industrialization have long advanced home ownership as a recipe for disciplining the work force. They argue that it brings social stability and moral development to the "dangerous classes." Over the last 50 years, however, millions of workers have become home owners through a radicalizing process called autoconstruction (autoconstrucdo), in which they build their own houses in the urban hinterland under precarious material and legal circumstances. These conditions politicize them, becoming core issues of grassroots organizations and social movements. At the same time, autoconstruction is a domain of symbolic elaboration about the experience of becoming propertied and participating in mass consumer markets, in which both ruling-class and working-class ambitions for developing new social identities intersect. This elaboration occurs in the context of what is for most autoconstructors their greatest lifetime project: the transformation over decades of an initial shack of wood or concrete block into a dream house-a finished, furnished, and decorated masonry home.