SOC 424 Syllabus Spring 2002

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS & COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR

11:00-12:15 Tuesdays & Thursdays

Quigley 202

Professor: Rob Benford,Faner 3398

Office Hours: 1:30-3:30 Tues. & Thurs., 453-7614

9:00-11:00 Wed., or by appointment

Email: rbenford@siu.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION AND OBJECTIVES

In no small way, the world in which you live was forged and continues to be reshaped by social movements and collective behavior. Slavery was abolished by a social movement and collective action. So were the Jim Crow laws in the United States and apartheid in South Africa. Social movements can be credited with not only affecting the rights of women, children, racial and ethnic minorities, indigenous people, gays and lesbians, older citizens, and the disabled, but also with changing how we think about those categories of people. Moreover, no one could argue that individual lives, social relations, institutions, and social structures dramatically changed as a consequence of collective actions such as the Boston Tea Party, the Bolshevik Revolution, the Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins, the Tiananmen Square demonstrations and massacre, and the "terrorist" attacks on September 11, 2001. But our world has also been shaped by lesser known, albeit significant, collective actions such as the siege of Wounded Knee, the Stonewall Rebellion, Greenham Common women's peace camp, and the WTO protests. Learning about the dynamics of social movements and collective behavior will enhance our understanding of how social change occurs. Moreover, such knowledge provides the activist/scholar with the tools to help change the world.

With that in mind, the goals of this course include: 1) to introduce you to sociological concepts, theories, and research to help illuminate social movements and collective behavior; 2) to promote interest in and excitement about the systematic study of social movements; and 3) to provide you with an opportunity to augment your communication skills.

In order to achieve the course objectives, we will entertain various questions pertaining to social movements and collective behavior. What factors affect movement emergence? Why does a movement emerge at a particular time? Why do movements tend to cluster together? How do movements and movement ideas spread from one culture to another? How do movements change? How do elites react to challenges to their power and hegemony? What happens when elites attempt to repress movements? When and why do countermovements emerge? What effect do movements and countermovements have on one another? How are movements and culture related? When and how does oppositional consciousness form? Who joins movements and why? What role does identity play in movement participation and collective action? How are collective identities constructed? How are social movements organized? What affects a movement's choice of particular strategies and tactics? Under what conditions do specific strategies and tactics work effectively? What role do narratives play in movement emergence? Under what conditions does a movement succeed or fail? What future do social movements have?

In order to seek to address these questions in a systematic fashion, I've divided the course into five sections. During the first five weeks, we will examine and evaluate social movement theories. This will provide us a general understanding of the major conceptual frameworks and thus guide us in developing and evaluating various answers to the foregoing questions. The remainder of the semester will be devoted to substantive conceptual questions and empirical findings organized around four topics: movement emergence, movement participation, movement organization and dynamics, and movement outcomes.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

1. Required Reading:

Benford, Robert D., Timothy B. Gongaware, Danny L. Valadez. 2000. "Social Movements." Pp.

2717-2727 in Edgar F. Borgatta and Rhonda J. V. Montgomery (eds.), The Encyclopedia of

Sociology, 2^nd ed., Vol. 4. New York: Macmillan Reference USA. [distributed in class]

Buechler, Steven M., and F. Kurt Cylke, Jr. (eds.) 1997. Social Movements: Perspectives and

Issues. Mountain View, CA, London, & Toronto: Mayfield Publishing. [B&C]

Davis, Joseph E. (ed.). 2002. Stories of Change: Narrative and Social Movements. Albany, NY:

State University of New York Press. [JD]

della Porta, Donatella, and Mario Diani. 1999. Social Movements: An Introduction. Oxford, UK

& Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers. [P&D]

Mansbridge, Jane, and Aldon Morris (eds.). 2001. Oppositional Consciousness: The Subjective

Roots of Social Protest. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press. [M&M]

Lectures, class discussions, guest speakers, films, assignments, and readings are organized so as to complement and supplement each other. You are therefore expected to remain current with the reading schedule in order to maximize your benefits from and contributions to the course. PLEASE NOTE: Selections marked by an * and italicized are optional for undergraduate students. All other readings are required. Graduate students are required to read all of the selections.

2. Attendance and Participation: You are expected to attend class on a regular basis and to participate actively and thoughtfully in class discussions.

3. Assignments: Each of you will be required to adopt a social movement (SM) or social movement organization (SMO) for the semester. You will learn as much as you can about the SM or SMO you adopt by conducting library and/or internet searches, attending meetings and events (if possible), talking to movement participants and opponents (if possible), and following media coverage relevant to the SM or SMO. The objective of adopting a SM or SMO is to provide you with concrete illustrations regarding the theoretical and conceptual issues we will be addressing in the course, insights I hope you will share with the class on a regular basis. I will also distribute 3 assignments pertaining to your adopted SM or SMO.

4. Exams: Undergraduate and graduate students will be required to complete three take-home exams. Exams will be distributed on the dates listed below and due at the beginning of the following class. Graduate students may substitute a class lecture (30-45 minutes) for ONE of the exams. Students who wish to exercise this option, please make arrangements with me by the end of the second week of classes.

5. Term Paper: Undergraduates will be required to prepare a brief (6-10 double-spaced, typed pages) term paper on a specific analytic topic pertaining to the social movement you adopted. A purely descriptive paper will not be acceptable. Your paper must include at least 5 scholarly references, 3 or more of which must come from scholarly sources not assigned on this syllabus. Papers are due at the beginning of class on April 23. One letter grade will be deducted from the papers' grade for each class meeting it is late.

Graduate students are to prepare a journal length paper on a topic relevant to the course. The paper should be based on either original research or on an up-to-date review and critique of the literature on a specific movement process (e.g., recruitment, grievance interpretation, organizational transformation, etc.) or element (e.g., ideology, opportunity structures, etc.). If you choose the first option, the paper should address a particular issue, question, or hypothesis with data derived from research on a specific movement. You may not do a paper on a movement in general; the paper must be focused on some theoretical issue or movement process. A purely descriptive paper will not be acceptable. If you choose the second option, the paper should be comprehensive and critical in a constructive sense. By that I mean that the paper should not end in a highly critical note; instead, an attempt should be made to push forward in a creative and constructive manner by suggesting a new line of research or a number of interconnected propositions. Whichever option you choose, the paper should be crafted as if it were being submitted to the American Sociological Review for publication consideration. Thus it should be 15 to 25 typed pages in length (double-spaced, including the bibliography) and follow ASR format and style. If you would like for me to look at a draft, please turn it in to me no later than April 16. I will review the draft and return it to you along with my comments on or before April 23. Final drafts are due at the beginning of class on April 30.


GRADING

Category	Points	Scale
Attendance & Participation	100	716-800=A
Assignments	(50 each) 150	636-715=B
Exams	(100 each) 300	556-635=C
Term Paper	250	476-555=D
TOTAL	800	0-475=F

IMPORTANT POLICIES

1. Make-Up/Late Policy: Grades on term papers and take-home exams will be reduced by 10% per calendar day you submit them late.

2. Cheating: All SIUC policies regarding plagiarism and academic dishonesty will be upheld in this course. A grade of "0" will be recorded for all works in which you were found to have been involved in any acts of academic dishonesty. If you are not familiar with the definitions and consequences of cheating or with your rights, refer to your Student Conduct Code, see an academic advisor, or ask me.

3. Grade Appeals: Any student who believes that she or he has been graded unfairly may appeal that grade following standard university procedures. Certain procedural rights are guaranteed to all students charged with academic dishonesty who are subject to disciplinary action. These rights are outlined in theStudent Conduct Code.



COURSE OUTLINE AND ASSIGNMENTS

DATE	TOPIC	READING
Jan. 15	Overview of Social Movements
" 17	Collective Action Forms	Benford, Gongaware & Valadez (2000) [distributed] *B&C, pp. 1-3 P&D Ch. 1
	I. SOCIAL MOVEMENT THEORIES
" 22	Strain/Breakdown	Kornhauser (1959) [B&C:6] Smelser (1963) [B&C:8] *Geschwender (1968) [B&C:7]
" 24	Conflict	Marx & Engels (1848) [B&C:4] Zinn (1980) [B&C:2] *Collins (1988) [B&C:1]
" 29	Rational Choice	Readings to be announced
" 31	Resource Mobilization	McCarthy & Zald (1977) [B&C:11] McAdam (1982) [B&C:12]
Feb. 5	New Social Movements	Melucci (1985) [B&C:17] Johnston, Laraña & Gusfield (1994) [B&C:18] *Buechler (1995) [B&C:19]
" 7	Constructionist-Collective Behavior	Blumer (1969) [B&C:5] Turner & Killian (1987) [B&C:9]
" 12	Constructionist-Framing	Snow, Rochford, Worden & Benford (1986) [B&C:14] Gamson (1995) [B&C:15] *Eyerman & Jamison (1991) [B&C:16]
" 14	Comparing & Synthesizing Theories	McAdam (1982) [B&C:10] Buechler (1993) [B&C:13] TAKE-HOME EXAM 1 DISTRIBUTED
	II. MOVEMENT EMERGENCE
Feb. 19	Overview of Movement Emergence	No Readings EXAM 1 DUE
" 21	Political Opportunity Structures	P&D Chs. 2 & 8
" 26	Political Opportunities & Constraints	Flacks (1995) [B&C:3] Piven & Cloward (1977) [B&C:20]
" 28	Countermovements & Repression	Mottl (1980) [B&C:25] Marx (1979) [B&C:22]
Mar. 5	Culture	P&D Ch. 3 McAdam (1994) [B&C:29]
" 7	Oppositional Consciousness Formation	Mansbridge (2001) [M&M:1] Morris & Braine (2001) [M&M:2]
" 19	Oppositional Consciousness & Culture	Harris (2001) [M&M:3] Rodriguez (2001) [M&M:6]
	III. MOVEMENT PARTICIPATION
" 21	Identity Construction	P&D Ch. 4
" 26	Collective Identity & Collective Action	Gamson (1992) [B&C:30] Taylor & Whittier (1992) [B&C:31] *Marshall (2001) [M&M:
" 28	Social Networks	P&D Ch. 5 Klandermans & Oegema (1987) [B&C:21] TAKE-HOME EXAM 2 DISTRIBUTED
	IV. MOVEMENT ORGANIZATION & DYNAMICS
Apr. 2	Overview of Movement Organization	No Readings EXAM 2 DUE
" 4	Organizational Forms	P&D Ch. 6 Lipset (1962) [B&C:23]
" 9	Interorganizational Dynamics	*Morris (1984) [B&C:24] Waite (2001) [M&M:7] Stockdill (2001) [M&M:8]
Apr. 11	Strategies & Tactics	P&D Ch. 7
" 16	Cycles of Protest	Taylor (1989) [B&C:26] Tarrow (1994) [B&C:27] *Snow & Benford (1992) [B&C:28] GRADUATE STUDENTS ONLY: PAPER DRAFTS DUE [OPTIONAL]
" 18	Narrative & Social Movements	Davis (2002) [JD:1] *Polletta (2002) [JD:2] Benford (2002) [JD:3]
"	Collective Stories, Identity & Memory	23 Rice (2002) [JD:4] *Brown (2002) [JD:5] Yates & Hunter (2002) [JD:6] UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS ONLY: TERM PAPERS DUE
" 25	Narratives & Justice	Nolan (2002) [JD:7] *Tatum (2002) [JD:8] Rothenberg (2002) [JD:9]
	V. MOVEMENT OUTCOMES
" 30		P&D Ch. 9 Movements & Social Change *Fine (2002) [JD:10] *Mansbridge (2001) [M&M:9] GRADUATE STUDENTS ONLY: RESEARCH PAPERS DUE
May 2	Movement Futures	*Zald (1988) [B&C:32] Smith (1995) [B&C:33] Tarrow (1994) [B&C:34] TAKE-HOME EXAM 3 DISTRIBUTED COURSE EVALUATIONS
May 7		EXAM 3 DUE (BY NOON IN SOCIOLOGY DEPARTMENT OFFICE)