Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change – serie

This is the 20th volume in a series of research articles in social movements, conflicts and change. The papers are broad in scope and methodologically diverse.

This work is part of a series of original articles on research in social movements, conflicts and change. It carries papers that are broad in scope and methodologically diverse.

The contents of this volume reflect the multiple foci that have historically defined the series. We present here two papers on methodological issues facing the study of social movements, four papers on specific social movements or social movement organizations (including two on environmental movements), two papers on aspects of social change and inequality, and one study critically analyzing the conflict resolution prospects in a situation of protracted violence.

As political opportunities shift, social movement decline or mobilization may result. The first section of this intriguing volume examines this phenomenon in depth while also moving theory-building forward. Significant contributions are made to collective identity theory, stalemate theory, and political process theory. This volume's concentration on political opportunity and social movements is accomplished through a focused series of papers that include case studies of specific social movements, comparative case studies of social movements, and comparative case studies of transnational issue networks. They include movements including the U. S. anti-nuclear power movement, the Rastafarians, the alternative and complimentary medicine movement, indigenous rights movements in Panama and Brazil, the animal rights movement, the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, and the housing reform movements in post-Soviet Union Moscow and Budapest. A shorter, but no less important section closes this volume while taking up another historic focus of the series: social and political change. Here one paper documents democratization in Wales via the use of 'inclusive politics' by Plaid Cymru, another analyzes the use of 'political homicide' in Mexico during the 1990s, and a third explores campus unrest in the United States.

Decision making is the oil that greases the wheel of social movement organizing. Done poorly, it derails organizations and coalitions; done well, it advances the movement and may model those changes movements seek to effect in society. Despite its importance, movement decision making has been little studied. Section One makes a singular contribution to the study of social movement decision making through seven focused case studies, followed by a critical commentary. The case studies on decision making cut across a wide breadth of social movement contexts, including Peace Brigades International teams, a feminist bakery collective, Earth First, the NGO Forum on Women, Friends of the Earth, the Tlapanec indigenous movement in Mexico, an on-line strategic voting campaign, and Korean labor movements. The section concludes with Jane Mansbridge's synthesis and critical commentary on the papers, wherein she continues to make her own substantive contributions to the literature on consensus decision making. The three papers in Section Two focus on Northern Ireland, where frustration with inter-community conflict resolution spawned a movement promoting intra-community or 'single tradition' programs. Two chapters provide invaluable comparative studies of the benefits and shortcomings of these counter-movements, while the third paper applies constructive conflict and nonviolent action theories to recent developments in the annual parades disputes. The volume closes with two papers on Native American issues. The first examines an initiative to teach conflict history and build conflict analysis and resolution skills among the Seneca Nation. The final case study of two Native American women's organizations demonstrates how socially constructed identities are critical to movement framing processes and collective actions. With this volume, RSMCC continues its long-standing tradition of publishing cutting edge studies in social movements, conflict resolution, and social change.

In recent years, there has been a surge in social movement theorizing known as the contentious politics approach to studying political protest activity. In 2002, a conference sponsored by the Collective Behavior and Social Movements Section of the American Sociological Association was held at the University of Notre Dame to consider, in part, this development in field. But the conference organizers also wanted to consider more broadly what we collectively consider to be social movement research and theorizing. In part, this means moving beyond a state-centered view of contentious politics and toward a more open definition of what might be fruitfully examined by social movement theories - and in turn what might inform those theories even as we use then in more traditional social movement arenas. This volume represents some of the fruits of that conference and includes four sections that defines social movement authorities challenges beyond state targets, expands our notions of what constitutes repression of social movement activity, examines challenges to cultural authorities and processes, and illustrates the broader notions of authority challenge in three case studies of corporate systems. With this volume, "Research in Social Movements, Conflict and Change" celebrates its 25th anniversary and a history of publishing important, leading edge research and theorizing in the areas pf protest, social conflict, and political change.

Over the past decade social movement scholarship has reflected the robust nature of many of the movements themselves. Innovative lines of inquiry and new theoretical frameworks have opened up to reinvigorate the field. This volume reflects this welcome trend. The volume opens with two papers analyzing tactical and strategic innovations in movement organizing. One establishes that the woman's suffrage movement relied on both outsider (contentious) politics and insider (institutionalized) politics, while the other addresses the promises and pitfalls of transitional social movements that organize through the Internet. Another area of recently invigorated research is on the repression of social movements, and this volume includes two such papers. Mobilization concerns associated with political protest in high-risk settings are empirically addressed in one paper while the other contributes to the policing of protest literature by critically analyzing the costs to movements of arrests. Using newspaper coverage of social movements for events data has risen lately thanks in part to the Internet and new software. We include two papers that reflect this trend and which address emerging methodological concerns associated with it. Perhaps the most fertile area of social movement research examines the increasingly complex and busy intersection of collective identity issues with social movement membership and mobilization. Thus we close this volume with three papers representing this new theorizing. "Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change" continues it distinguished tradition of reflecting recent trends in social movement scholarship while also contributing to new theorizing.

This volume of "Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change" contains a strong collection of theoretically rich and data-driven papers, which address a series of interrelated questions that are at the forefront of todays social movement scholarship. For example, political opportunity theory has been justly criticized for privileging structure over agency, politics over culture, and for failing to adequately specify how political opportunities differ for social movements in democracies vs. in non-democracies. In this volume, political opportunity theory receives careful, empirically-informed correctives from a number of quarters. In addition, a synthesis is achieved between nonviolent action scholarship and the contentious politics school of research. Equally important, the roles of collective identities, ideologies, identity talk, art, biographies, social networks, police repression, and participation pathways are analyzed within the context of social movements in the United States, Mexico, the Netherlands, India, Brazil, Northern Ireland, and in various non-democracies. This is that too rare collection which when taken together builds bridges between scholarship on social movements and on social conflicts, and in the process makes theoretical advances in each area in much needed yet creative ways. In that way, this volume carries on the distinguished tradition of the Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change series.

Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change seeks to encourage dialogue and cross-fertilization across a number of related but too disconnected research literatures: social movements, conflict resolution, and social and political change. This volume showcases deeply empirical and often multi-method research by senior and junior scholars alike. Divided into three sections, the first section casts a spotlight on the institution that the RSMCC series exists within and primarily serves: higher education. Papers in the middle section are linked by their investigation of the dynamics of political protest. The volume concludes with three papers linked by their various connections to the theoretical framework of frame analysis in social movements research. Topics discussed include: framing illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexican Border; movement publications as data; social networks and social protest; and the ethics of social movement research in a post-9/11 political climate. Comparative case analysis and qualitative studies push into new theoretical territories in this illuminating and important research which helps define and advance the multiple fields reflected in the series title.

This latest volume in the "Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change" series contains three sections of data-driven articles that address topics central to scholarship on social movements and conflict resolution. Section One contains two papers on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, one focused on the Arab Israeli Land Day campaign and its implications for political process theory, while the other analyzes the emotional landscape of the long-running Women in Black vigils. Section Two contains four papers linked by their treatment of tactical and strategic issues associated with gender-based and gay and lesbian social movements, organizations, and their campaigns and activities. The two articles in Section Three treat themes associated with the complex intersection of identity formation and mobilization. As has long been the RSMCC series tradition, Volume 31 showcases top-level, original, and multi-method research on a variety of movements, organizations and conflicts in ways that contribute to theory-building.

This volume of "Research in Social Movements, Conflicts, and Change" investigates gendered aspects of social activism and peacebuilding, an area of research that continues to be undertheorized. Gender cuts across all forms of conflict and all aspects of society politically, economically, and socially. As a basic organizing principle in society, gender roles, relations, and inequalities impact social processes. From a gender perspective, the transformation of society requires investigating the overlapping and intertwined root causes of conflict from the interpersonal to the community and structural level, and the critical role that women play in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and social movements. With a focus on the agency of grassroots citizens, refugee, indigenous, and ethnic minority women, this volume seeks to bring light to gendered aspects of practice that will assist scholars and practitioners in research and policy development. From reconciliation commissions in Sierra Leone, environmental activists in the Czech Republic, women's organizations in Burmese refugee camps, women's work in conflict resolution rituals in Laos, Minutewomen's e-activism in the United States, to women's social networks in Uzbekistan, this book explores complex contexts and critical issues central to women's grassroots activism, peacebuilding, and social movements.

This volume of Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change explores the relationships between mass media, social movements, and political change. Media plays an important role in social and political change and this volume advances scholarly understanding of how activists and elites alike use books, newspapers, and Internet-enabled technologies to affect change. Chapters include analyses of the role of media in the (Anti-)Abortion, Globalization, Labor, Townsend, and White Power movements as well as Barack Obama's 2008 campaign. Section one is focused on the role of books in movements and on explaining differences in movement media coverage across diverse print outlets. The second and third sections engage contemporary debates involving print media by outlining how scholars might explain and/or expand the overall quality of media coverage that movements receive. Also exploring social movements' use of Internet-enabled technologies, and how the Internet expands the horizons of activism by facilitating activism outside of organizations and creating culture milieus that support movement participation. The final chapter then explores influences on the growth of the ex-gay movement across US states. Altogether, this volume suggests new avenues for research, provides new insights into the strategic use and influence of media, and challenges existing assumptions of media-movement relationships.

This volume of Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change analyzes examples of nonviolent resistance from across the globe. It covers how regime changes, political movements and nonviolent unrest develop and then shape the political decisions of both civil society and the state. Section one is focused on the strategic interactions between nonviolent movements and the state. This includes discussions on the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland, youth movements in Post-Communist states and nonviolent Islamic movements in Turkey. The second and third sections examine regime conflicts and the global diffusion of nonviolent movements. Here chapters center on the Iranian Revolution, social psychological approaches to nonviolent civil resistance, the Palestinian human rights movements, the efforts of nonviolent INGOs and the Nashville civil rights movement. This volume introduces new analytical concepts and theoretical frameworks for understanding nonviolent resistance, merging social movement scholarship with nonviolent studies in fresh and exciting ways.

This special issue is a key text in the current study of social movements. It introduces new analytical concepts for understanding visuals in social movements and examines case studies from across the globe; such as analysis of the symbols used in the Egyptian uprising, and contested images from anti-surveillance protests in Europe.

This latest volume in the august Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change series carries on a long tradition of featuring only the best data-driven and multi-method research upon which useful theory can be painstakingly built. Part one focuses on old and new media platforms and their intersections with mobilization issues, highlighting protest websites and the US Tea Party movement. Part two investigates the roles elites play in advancing movement campaigns for increased rights and decreased inequalities in the US and Peru. The third section spotlights best and worst practices in conflict transformation and peacebuilding ventures in Croatia and Israel/Palestine, while the fourth section interrogates the use of consensus building processes in Local Social Forums and in the Occupy Movement. Finally, on the 50th anniversary of the publication of Neil Smelser's A Theory of Collective Behavior, we close with a creative combining of Smelser's structural functionalist approach with social identity models for understanding crowd behaviors in the context of university party riots.

Volume 37 explores the question, what can the emerging discipline of intersectionality studies contribute to our quest to understand and analyze social movements, conflict and change? This collection is part of a continued broadening and deepening of the theoretical contributions of intersectional analysis in understanding social structures and human practices. It lends analytical eye to questions of how race, class, and gender shape strategy and experience in social change processes. It also stretches to include thinking about how analysis of age, religion, or sexual identity can influence the model. The papers contribute to our growing understanding of ways to use the social power analysis unique to the intersectional lens to offer new perspectives on well-researched questions such as group identity development in conflict, coalition organizing, and movement resonance. Through the intersectional lens questions often ignored and populations traditionally marginalized become the heart of the analysis. Additionally, the volume also considers how surveillance and information sharing shape the complex relationship between democratic freedoms and hegemonic governmental systems.

A long-standing characteristic of the Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change series is publishing new theoretical and empirical work that connects previously disparate sub-fields. This volume continues that tradition by opening with five papers that join social movements research with organizational theory, new institutionalism, strategic action fields, and nonviolent action. One study does this by examining how the Fenian Brotherhood organized a transnational revolutionary movement for Ireland's independence. Another paper analyzes the strategic relations between conservative, moderate and radical organizations in different movements, while a further study zeroes in on nonviolent action campaigns. One chapter examines how the North American SlutWalk campaign responded to the organizational field by strategically adapted their framing to make it more resonant transnationally. Other chapters examine how LGBT organizational presence influences the passage of hate crime legislation, and how the women's movement in Franco's Spain persevered through repression and abeyance partly due to cultural practices.

In light of the limited achievements of the Arab Spring and other pro-democracy movements, volume 39 examines and unpacks arguments that these protests represent both a new phase and new prospects for democratic mobilization. The volume engages with new theoretical and methodological perspectives and illuminates novel aspects of transnational social movement dynamics, such as the evolving role of information technology, deterritorialisation and government counter-responses.

This volume of Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change is divided into two parts. Part I presents a series of cases that tie together narratives of being, knowing and contestation surrounding the claiming of identity for the self or the categorization of the other. It does this by exploring narratives to claim identities and assert agency; showing us the dialectic between dominant forces and those who would challenge existing narratives about place, identity or space. Part II continues RSMCC’s tradition of cutting edge research in social movement formation, conflict and change. These chapters focus on a wide range of social organizations from immigrant movements, to the occupy struggle, to the narratives around the framing and counter-framing of the radical environmental movement. The volume concludes with two chapters focusing on more recent developments in data gathering and analysis to examine changes in how researchers collect and analyze data. Each of the nine chapters engages with notions of identity, whether in the examination of the subject or in the reference to the researcher him or herself.

This volume of Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change analyzes examples of nonviolent resistance from across the globe. It covers how regime changes, political movements and nonviolent unrest develop and then shape the political decisions of both civil society and the state. Section one is focused on the strategic interactions between nonviolent movements and the state. This includes discussions on the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland, youth movements in Post-Communist states and nonviolent Islamic movements in Turkey. The second and third sections examine regime conflicts and the global diffusion of nonviolent movements. Here chapters center on the Iranian Revolution, social psychological approaches to nonviolent civil resistance, the Palestinian human rights movements, the efforts of nonviolent INGOs and the Nashville civil rights movement. This volume introduces new analytical concepts and theoretical frameworks for understanding nonviolent resistance, merging social movement scholarship with nonviolent studies in fresh and exciting ways.

This volume focusses on non-state actors and political conflicts but also attends to the broader themes of the series. The research emphases the roles and motivations of non-state actors in conflicts or post-conflict situations in the post-Cold War era; as well outlining the dynamics of social movements, conflicts, or change. This volume highlights the motivations and interests of non-state violent actors (NSVAs) in the post-Cold War era; the role of identity and/or ideology in the conflicts or resolutions of so-called "new wars;" the impact of NSVAs in conflict and/or peace-making; and the ways in which IGOs and NGOs interact with NSVAs in conflicts or post-conflict zones.

Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change has now published continuously for over 40 years, and this volume continues its tradition of delivering data-driven and multi-method research by scholars who constantly push theory forward. Covering a compelling range of subjects, this important collection begins by addressing the critically important dimensions of the relationships that social movements, their activists, and their organizations have with the state and other institutions. It then moves on to examine three movements linked by frame and discourse analysis, before concluding with a survey of the biographical trajectory of activism. The contributions focus on a number of topical and crucially important issues, including, among others: environmental activism in China, the Black Lives Matter movement, the 2011 uprising in Tunisia, and Russian opposition movements. With a strong contributor team and a confident style, this volume is a significant addition to the RSMCC series and will be of great interest to those working and researching within the social movement field.

The 43rd Volume of Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change continues the series' tradition of publishing peer reviewed chapters, which advance our understanding of peace, political contention, and social change, by offering new ways to research and theorize attempts to challenge divides. Dedicated to the memory of Gregory M. Maney, Bringing Down Divides engages with and continues Maney's work on international conflicts, peace and justice movements, and community-based research. The volume is organized around three types of divides:Attributional divides, meaning the quality or feature of people around which resources, rights, and powers are distributed unequally, such as race, gender, and ethno-nationality. Ideological divides which encompass the systems of meaning, ideas, and beliefs that split and polarize people, such as conservative vs. progressive and antiwar vs. pro-war.Epistemological divides, namely the types, productions, and usages of knowledge over which conflicts occur, such as the academic-activist divide.   The contributions to each of these sections focus on a variety of global issues, including the changing nature of political murals in Northern Ireland; armed actors' responses to civilian demands in Colombian peace territories; boundary-blurring in Turkey's leftwing-Islamist movement; and community-based action research. This makes Bringing Down Divides essential reading for those working and researching within the social movement field.

This Special Issue of Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change reflects upon global student and youth activism 50 years after the infamous May 4, 1970 National Guard shootings of student activists demonstrating against the US wars in Vietnam and Cambodia at Kent State University in Ohio, USA. That incident drew attention to state violence and youth attempts to build peace. However, it was neither the first nor last time student movements faced violent opposition during protests for peace, equity, democracy, and structural change.This volume examines how youths mobilized for change, faced repression, and were commemorated. The first section focuses on how society views and responds to youth and student political engagement. Chapters assess mobilizing a global movements; how fear of and constraints on youth undermine activism, and the construction student peace programming. The second section highlights how violent repression of students and youth occurs around the world, with chapters addressing how student movements evolve in response to violence. The final section of this volume examines the contestation and commemoration of activism and violence.Taken together, this volume provides much needed space for the narratives of those youths and students who have fought, and continue to fight, for change.

This Special Issue of Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change reflects upon global student and youth activism 50 years after the infamous May 4, 1970 National Guard shootings of student activists demonstrating against the US wars in Vietnam and Cambodia at Kent State University in Ohio, USA. That incident drew attention to state violence and youth attempts to build peace. However, it was neither the first nor last time student movements faced violent opposition during protests for peace, equity, democracy, and structural change.This volume examines how youths mobilized for change, faced repression, and were commemorated. The first section focuses on how society views and responds to youth and student political engagement. Chapters assess mobilizing a global movements; how fear of and constraints on youth undermine activism, and the construction student peace programming. The second section highlights how violent repression of students and youth occurs around the world, with chapters addressing how student movements evolve in response to violence. The final section of this volume examines the contestation and commemoration of activism and violence.Taken together, this volume provides much needed space for the narratives of those youths and students who have fought, and continue to fight, for change.

The 2020 Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests highlighted with sharp clarity the role of race in social conflict and social movements. Building on more than a century of political and sociological scholarship, Race and Space considers the connections between race as a descriptor of physical differences between humans and space as a geographic location, and their subsequent impact on the human experience.The chapters address racialized issues spanning from how the characteristics of our community shape whether we experience police or immigrant violence, whether first-hand experience (or lack thereof) of this violence is likely to shape one’s choice to engage in ethno-racial justice activism, to analysing how the space of the prison shapes one’s sense of self and political possibility post-incarceration. Drawing together key drivers of activism such as flaws within the criminal justice system, race, ethnicity, and citizenship, this collection demonstrates how these elements interact to shape immigration policy and the experience of being accepted as a full member of one’s society.Emphasising location-specific human experience and incorporating insights from geography, Race and Space’s careful study of the differences of physical spaces gives rise to more complete explanations for social issues and variances in social movements.

The 21st century has brought many changes to peacebuilding, armed conflicts, and social movements. Organizations and scholars alike have developed new techniques for bridging cultural divides and enhancing democracy and respect for human rights. Moreover, technological changes have significantly altered conflict spaces.Methodological Advances in Research on Social Movements, Conflict, and Change explores methods for studying contentious politics in the context of these broader social changes. Contributors advance methodological scholarship by developing new tools, discussing new sources of data and their relative value, and addressing controversies and ethical issues that have emerged in the process of collecting or analyzing data.Acknowledging how more movements are using a wider range of tactics to influence a rapidly changing, deeply interconnected world, Methodological Advances in Research on Social Movements, Conflict, and Change appeals to scholars interested in how the study of social movements, peace, and conflict has developed and adapted to keep pace with ongoing socio-political and technological change.

Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change, Volume 49 presents a rigorous and timely examination of contemporary social change, conflict, and collective action across global contexts. Through peer-reviewed chapters, it explores how individuals and communities respond to systemic challenges and engage in constructive interventions aimed at fostering justice and resilience.The first two chapters focus on activism in response to pressing social issues. One offers a comparative analysis of racial justice movements in the United States and Cape Verde, highlighting both convergences and divergences in their approaches. The other investigates how service providers navigate and resist state anti-trafficking policies they perceive as detrimental to survivor welfare. Subsequent chapters examine diverse strategies for addressing entrenched social problems. In India, theatre is employed as a medium for confronting oppression and promoting civil discourse. In Ohio, USA, community-engaged research offers and analyses initiatives that foster connection between refugees and locals. A European case study explores participatory technology development among farmers, contributing to the literature on innovation and social change. The final chapter addresses Nigerian chieftaincy conflicts, offering qualitative insights into how local actors and state institutions might facilitate more peaceful transitions.This collection is interesting reading for scholars seeking global, interdisciplinary perspectives on the mechanisms and impacts of social transformation.

Fulfilling a need for innovative research that derives from multiple countries and time periods, Volume 48 of Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change offers a collection of cutting-edge scholarship on protest politics, effects of activism, and rights and equality based social movements.Split into separate parts on strategies and outcomes, chapters analyze the mobilization, organization, tactics, diffusion, repression, and successes/failures of social movements. Authors present research about attempts to make change on issues such as sustainability, animal rights, racial inequality, labor, white supremacy, and opposition to former U.S. President Donald Trump.In the same way that social movements influence policy and culture by raising awareness and framing issues, Strategies and Outcomes stands ready to influence future scholarship on these topics.