Strategies for Social Change

2012

Gregory M. Maney, Rachel V. Kutz-Flamenbaum, Deana A. Rohlinger, and Jeff Goodwin, Editors

Examines how strategies within social movements develop and work

Strategies for Social Change offers a concise definition of strategy and a framework for differentiating between strategies. Specific chapters address microlevel decision-making processes and creativity, coalition building in Northern Ireland, nonviolent strategies for challenging repressive regimes, identity politics, GLBT rights, the Christian right in Canada and the U.S., land struggles in Brazil and India, movement-media publicity, and corporate social movement organizations.

Strategies for Social Change is necessary reading for scholars attempting to understand social movement strategic action. The book is indeed a welcome addition to a resurgence in interest in strategic action among students of social movements.

Holly McCammon, Vanderbilt University, American Journal of Sociology

The theory and practice of social movements come together in strategy—whether, why, and how people can realize their visions of another world by acting together. Strategies for Social Change offers a concise definition of strategy and a framework for differentiating between strategies. Specific chapters address microlevel decision-making processes and creativity, coalition building in Northern Ireland, nonviolent strategies for challenging repressive regimes, identity politics, GLBT rights, the Christian right in Canada and the United States, land struggles in Brazil and India, movement-media publicity, and corporate social movement organizations.

Contributors: Jessica Ayo Alabi, Orange Coast College; Kenneth T. Andrews, U of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Anna-Liisa Aunio, U of Montreal; Linda Blozie; Tina Fetner, McMaster U; James M. Jasper, CUNY; Karen Jeffreys; David S. Meyer, U of California, Irvine; Sharon Erickson Nepstad, U of New Mexico; Francesca Polletta, U of California, Irvine; Belinda Robnett, U of California, Irvine; Charlotte Ryan, U of Massachusetts–Lowell; Carrie Sanders, Wilfrid Laurier U; Kurt Schock, Rutgers U; Jackie Smith, U of Pittsburgh; Suzanne Staggenborg, U of Pittsburgh; Stellan Vinthagen, U West, Sweden; Nancy Whittier, Smith College.

Gregory M. Maney is professor of sociology at Hofstra University.

Rachel V. Kutz-Flamenbaum is assistant professor of sociology at the University of Pittsburgh.

Deana A. Rohlinger is associate professor of sociology at Florida State University.

Jeff Goodwin is professor of sociology at New York University.

Strategies for Social Change is necessary reading for scholars attempting to understand social movement strategic action. The book is indeed a welcome addition to a resurgence in interest in strategic action among students of social movements.

Holly McCammon, Vanderbilt University, American Journal of Sociology

Contents

Preface

An Introduction to Strategy in Action
Gregory M. Maney, Kenneth T. Andrews, Rachel V. Kutz-Flamenbaum, Deana A. Rohlinger, and Jeff Goodwin

I. Conceptual Foundations and Agendas
1. Thinking about Strategy
David S. Meyer and Suzanne Staggenborg

2. Choice Points, Emotional Batteries, and Other Ways to Find Strategic Agency at the Microlevel
James M. Jasper

3. Three Mechanisms By Which Culture Shapes Movement Strategy: Repertoires, Institutional Norms, and Metonymy
Francesca Polletta

II. Activist Engagement and Movement Relevant Research
4. Raising Public Awareness of Domestic Violence: Strategic Communication and Movement Building
Charlotte Ryan, Karen Jeffreys, and Linda Blozie

5. Mobilizing the Generation Gap: Transnational Coalitions and Insider/Outsider Strategy in the Climate Action Network
Anna-Liisa Aunio

6. Local Strategies for Global Change: Working for Human Rights and Economic Empowerment in the Midwest
Jackie Smith

III. Formation and Development of Strategy
7. The Politics of Coming Out: Visibility and Identity in Activism against Child Sexual Abuse
Nancy Whittier

8. Agreeing for Different Reasons: Ideology, Strategic Differences, and Coalition Dynamics in the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Movement
Gregory M. Maney

9. Marketing for Justice: Corporate Social Movement Organizations
Belinda Robnett and Jessica Ayo Alabi

IV. Strategy and the Consequences of Movements
10. Land Struggles in the Global South: Strategic Innovations in Brazil and India
Kurt Schock

11. Similar Strategies, Different Outcomes: Institutional Histories of the Christian Right of Canada and of the United States
Tina Fetner and Carrie Sanders

12. Strategic Choices in Cross-National Movements: A Comparison of the Swedish and British Plowshares Movements
Sharon Erickson Nepstad and Stellan Vinthagen

Conclusion: Conceptualizing Strategy in an Interactive Processional Model
Rachel V. Kutz-Flamenbaum

Contributors
Index