Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Social movement tactics'

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Cincinnati, 2007.
Title from electronic thesis title page (viewed Aug. 13, 2007). Includes abstract. Keywords: Social Movement, tactics, organization, Electronic Civil Disobedience, Yes Men, SPIN. Includes bibliographical references.

Why do social movement organizations change? This study attempts to answer this question by observing forty diverse social movement organizations (from both random and convenience samples) active across a wide spectrum of social movements in Seattle, Washington between 1999 and 2005. It focuses on changing organizational strategies—measured as combinations of issues, tactics, and targets—during a dramatic period of expanding and contracting political opportunities (e.g., anti-WTO protests, election of G. W. Bush, September 11th attack, Afghanistan and Iraq wars). The analysis, based on interviews with representatives from the organizations, charts organizational adaptation and stability at both the field and organization levels. A series of maps of the social movement field, generated using correspondence analysis, depict the relative similarity and difference between these organizations and their issues, tactics, and targets during each year of the study. The maps reveal a surprisingly stable social movement field characterized by three distinct types of organizations (as indicated by their combinations of issues, tactics, and targets) that persist throughout the period. Significant growth in the size of the peace movement in the middle of the period has remarkably little effect on the overall shape of the field. This stability is further confirmed at the organizational level. Neither resource mobilization nor political opportunity theories anticipate such a high degree of organizational stability, and their explanations for adaptation find little support in these data. Consistent with the resource mobilization perspective, SMOs with broader goals are more likely change than their counterparts. However, contrary to this view, younger organizations with greater resources and centralized, bureaucratic structures are less likely to change. Expanding political opportunities do not appear to influence these SMOs, while contracting opportunities in the wake of Bush's election and the September 11th attack seem to encourage high levels of organizational stability. The study concludes with a discussion of organizational theories of structural inertia and institutionalization, both of which offer plausible explanations of organizational stability.

Turkey has undergone large-scale transformations over the past 30 years, changing it from a Kemalist Republic to a country ruled by a moderately Islamic party – the Justice and Development Party (AKP). I study how Islamic business associations (BAs) have gained political influence over dominant secular BAs in Turkey – a key process of these transformations. Existing literature treats voluntary BAs either as purely economic institutions, or focuses on political elites’ strategic policy and power interests in explaining BAs’ political influence. There is inadequate guidance on when BAs turn into political actors, and how they engage in mobilisation and broader intra-state power struggles. Especially the role of ideology and religion has been neglected, which is relevant for several transition countries’ business politics. This inadequacy can be addressed by developing a social movement framework. Following a grounded theory approach, I conducted a comparative analysis of secular and Islamic BAs’ networks structures (1993–2012), collective action frames, organisational structures and patterns of resource-exchange across changing institutional contexts. Findings are based on 51 semi-structured interviews in Gaziantep’s textile cluster in Turkey and additional archival material. I argue that Islamic BAs gained political influence because they applied typical social movement tactics that are adapted to the cultural and political environment. Conditions of politico-religious contention combined with gradual economic liberalisation have encouraged marginalised businesspeople to apply Islam in a non-contentious and market-based way. By integrating with civil society at the grassroots level, and gaining the support of political elites, Islamic BAs have complemented economic activities with resonant framing. These tactics grounded in Islam have increased Islamic BAs political influence by creating a new pious and legitimate business elite. These findings contribute to the literature by extending the types of institutional incentives, tactics and actors that businesspeople rely on to engage in contentious politics to include ideological factors.

The main purpose of this thesis is to analyze the political thought of Hinke Bergegren (1861-1936), Gustaf Henriksson-Holmberg (1864-1929) and Einar Håkansson (1883-1907), by focusing particularly on their articulation of anarchist ideas. The disseration follows these three Swedish left-wing thinkers closely, while specifically tracing ideological patterns in their published material, public discussions, speeches and other political activities. The study attempts to combine the perspective of intellectual biography with a contextualising approach on ideological analysis. Bergegren, Henriksson-Holmberg and Håkansson stand as illuminating examples of how anarchist ideas could take form at the advent of the twentieth century in Sweden. They were all connected to the working class movement, and participated actively in the public debate about anarchism and its various aspects. This larger political and cultural context is also presented, and put in relation to Bergegren's, Henriksson-Holmberg's and Håkanssons' actions and ideas. Thereby, the study examines certain lines of thought connected to the anarchist ideology, and at the same time find traits in the history of libertarian socialism in Sweden, as reflected in the ideas embraced by the three aforementioned historical actors. From the start Henrik "Hinke" Bergegren - the agitator, writer and journalist who is the principal character in the dissertations first major part - was highly controversial within the social democratic movement. From the early 1890's and up to his final exclusion from the Social Democratic Party in 1908, he was constantly being accused of leading and informal anarchist subdivision, which recommended acts of terror and strived for a social revolution. However, this study confronts and modifies that notion. It concludes that Hinke Bergegren's ideological position during the 1890's cannot be equaled to a clear anarchist conviction; rather, he criticized the party's strong focus on parliamentary tactics from a revolutionary socialist viewpoint. Einar Håkansson, on the other hand, based his critique of authorities, military power, parliamentary governance and private property upon anarchist principles. In several poems and short stories, Håkansson stated his anti-authoritarianism. He was also an early advocate for anarcho-syndicalism. Gustaf Henriksson-Holmberg, the anarchist theoretician, was always anxious to emphasize the importance of avoiding all forms of large-scale political and economical solutions. This position, along with a deep-rooted individualism and a willingness to integrate social theory and political propaganda, characterized Holmberg's political thought from the 1890's and onward. His antipathy against brutal revolutionary tendencies was as solid as his critique of ideological dogmatism. In conclusion, the anarchist lines of thought articulated by the three principal characters in the thesis intersects at several points. They all agreed that private property and capitalism must be abolished and replaced by voluntary forms of cooperation. Furthermore, they expressed a similar disbelief in parliamentary tactics, the military and party bureaucracy.

The majority of sociological research on social movement tactics and strategies has focused on how theories of resource mobilization and dynamic political opportunities affect the innovation of tactics and types of tactics used. Relatively few studies have explored the roles of institutional, cultural, and political contexts in determining why social movement leaders choose certain tactics. This research study examines lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) social movement organizations (SMO) that are pursuing institutional advocacy. Specifically, it is a comparative case study of how tactics of LGBT organizations in Minnesota and Utah are affected by contested and conservative political landscapes, respectively. The concept of political landscapes was developed and includes three core components: the institutional structure of the political system, the sociocultural context, and dynamic political opportunities. Data was collected from 16 semi-structured interviews of LGBT SMO leaders. Secondary data was also collected by examining public records, newspapers, magazines, and organizational websites. The results from this study suggest that dynamic political opportunities are embedded in the larger institutional and sociocultural contexts. In Minnesota, the combination of a more open and competitive political system and a more diverse Christian presence and ethnically diverse urban areas have resulted in the use of tactics that are much more open and direct. Specifically, LGBT SMOs in Minnesota use tactics such as only endorsing candidates publicly, focusing on building a broad bipartisan base of sponsors for LGBT legislation, working with other SMOs to create large coalitions, using a frame that is all-encompassing of movement goals, and building a large, grassroots movement. By contrast, the closed and conservative political system and a dominant religion in Utah have resulted in more private, compromising, and behind-the-scenes tactics. LGBT SMOs in Utah tactics include using both public and private political endorsements, good-cop bad-cop organizations, delegate trainings, and frame alignment with the conservative culture.

Activists are increasingly relying on online tactics and digital tools to address social issues. This shift towards reliance on the Internet has been shown to have salient implications for social movement formation processes; however, the effectiveness of such actions for achieving specific goals remains largely unaddressed. This study explores how the types of Internet activism and digital tools used by activism campaigns relate to success in meeting stated goals. To address these questions, the study builds on an existing framework that distinguishes between four distinct types of Internet activism: brochure-ware, which is oriented towards information distribution; e-mobilizations, which treats digital media merely as a tool for mobilizing individuals offline; online participation, which is characterized by wholly online actions such as e-petitions or virtual protests; and online organizing, where organization of a movement takes place exclusively via the internet with no face-to-face coordination by organizers. Ordinal regression models were conducted utilizing cross-sectional data from the Global Digital Activism Data Set (GDADS), a compilation of information on 426 activism campaigns from around the world that began between 2010 and 2012; additional data regarding the types of Internet activism used was also appended to the GDADS using source materials provided within the data set. The findings suggest that use of the Internet for mobilizing offline actions is negatively associated with campaign success, but that this does not hold true for protest actions organized without use of digital tools. E-petition use was also found to be negatively related to achievement of campaign goals.

School consolidation, which involves closing one or more schools and combining them into a single school, is a common phenomenon in rural Appalachian communities due to out-migration and lack of funding for public schools. When school consolidation occurs, the local school may be closed, or students from other communities may be bused to the school. Community residents, however, do not always agree with the decision to consolidate their local schools. When this disagreement occurs, residents may choose to participate in organized resistance activities to show their opposition, make their voices heard to local politicians and the media, and seek an alternative to the proposed consolidation.

This case study of school consolidation in one rural Appalachian county seeks to document and analyze the struggle in which community residents engaged in an effort to prevent local schools from being consolidated. Data was collected in the form of semi-structured interviews conducted with members and sympathizers of a resistance organization called TOPS. TOPS was formed in 2001 to oppose school consolidation, but its members were not successful in keeping their local schools open. Many schools in McDowell County have been consolidated or are scheduled to be consolidated in the near future. For example, Big Creek High School, which was at the center of many consolidation debates, will be closed in 2010. Its students will be bused to a new, consolidated high school.

I conducted interviews during fall 2006 and spring 2007 to determine community membersâ grievances concerning consolidation, to establish a narrative of their struggle against state government officials, and to provide a basis for analyzing the movementâ s failure to achieve its goals. I used these interviews, along with TOPSâ documents, local newspaper articles, and literature from other anti-consolidation efforts, to examine possible reasons why TOPS was not successful. Social movements literature, particularly the concepts of framing and repertoires of contention, formed the theoretical basis of this analysis.

Master of Science

Notre travail explore les groupes activistes en tant qu’organisations de mouvements sociaux. Pour cela, nous étudions comment les activistes expriment leur message en mobilisant des symboles (discours, position du corps, objets…) pour construire un ensemble de performances spécifiques appelé le répertoire tactique. Pour ce faire, ils s’inspirent de leurs prédécesseurs et de leurs cadres théoriques. Dans un deuxième temps, nous décrivons comment les activistes mobilisent les médias à l’aide d’une stratégie médiatique, reposant à la fois sur le répertoire tactique et sur une certaine intégration des activistes en son sein. Enfin, nous analysons les moyens par lesquels le groupe activiste mobilise ses membres (c’est-à-dire les recrute et les retient) ; cela passe en particulier par l’acquisition de compétences émancipatrices pour les activistes. En conclusion, nous montrons que le répertoire tactique constitue la colonne vertébrale d’un groupe activiste et participe à toutes les tâches que nous avons décrites (mobilisation de symboles, des médias et des activistes). Cette spécificité définit le groupe activiste en tant qu’organisation. Nous nous appuyons sur un travail ethnographique d’un an auprès du groupe activiste féministe La Barbe qui dénonce l’absence de femmes en haut des organisations. Notre travail s’accompagne d’une réflexion méthodologique sur l’observation d’un groupe féministe par un ethnographe homme
This work analyses activist groups as organizations of social movements. Firstly, I study how activists express their message by mobilizing symbols (discourses, demeanor, objects…) in order to build a set of performances called the “tactical repertoire”. To do so, they draw inspiration from their predecessors and their theoretical frames. Secondly, I describe how activists mobilize media. Their media strategy relies both on the tactical repertoire and the integration of activists into the group. Finally, I enquire how the activist group mobilize its members (how it recruits and retains them); the acquisition of emancipatory skills is a particularly strong motivation for activists. In the conclusion, I show that the tactical repertoire is the backbone of an activist group as it participates in all the tasks described (mobilization of symbols, of media and of activists). This specific characteristic defines the activist group as an organization. I rely on a one-year-long ethnography among the French feminist activist group La Barbe, which denounces the absence of women at the head of organizations. I also reflect on the methodological implications of observing a feminist activist group as a male ethnographer

Försvarsmakten genomgår, sedan snart tio år tillbaka, en transformering mot ett insatsförsvar med ökad försvarsförmåga. Behovet av luftburen taktisk transport har i denna transformering blivit alltmer betydelsefullt, främst vid internationella insatser. Författaren ställer sig dock frågan hur den taktiska luftburna transporten är tänkt att användas vid nationella insatser. Syftet med uppsatsen är således att utifrån Försvarsmaktens doktriner, Militärstrategisk doktrin och Doktrin för luftoperationer, undersöka om den resurs som det taktiska transportflyget utgör i det framtida användbara försvaret vid nationella insatser är att anse som kritisk. För att svara på syftet analyseras hur det användbara försvaret är tänkt att nyttjas vid nationella insatser, vilka målsättningar som finns för det taktiska transportflyget samt hur denna förmåga ser ut i dagsläget. Författaren använder sig sedan av de teorier som hämtats från doktrinerna för att analysera hur taktisk luftburen transport kan kopplas samman med den nya insatsorganisationen. Det genomförs även en jämförelse mellan de målsättningar som finns för den taktiska luftburna transporten med situationen i dagsläget i syfte att analysera hur framtiden kommer att se ut. Slutsatsen är att det taktiska transportflyget är av vikt men att det ej utgör en kritisk resurs i det användbara försvaret vid nationella insatser. Författaren gör även bedömningen att tillgängligheten på de flygplan som används för luftburen taktisk transport kommer att vara betydligt lägre än vad som planerats.
The Swedish Armed Forces is, since approximately ten years back, experiencing a transformation towards an improved defence capability. The importance of tactical air transport has within this transformation become of greater importance, especially concerning international operations. The author is, however, curios about how tactical air transport is to be implemented within domestic operations. Hence the purpose of the essay is to analyze, with the help of the two doctrines: Militärstrategisk doktrin and Doktrin för luftoperationer, if the resource that the tactical air transport constitutes to the new Swedish Armed Forces is to be seen as a crucial one within domestic operations? To answer the purpose the author analyzes how the new Swedish Armed Forces is intended to operate when it comes to domestic operations, what goals are set up for the tactical air transport and what the situation is like at the moment. The author then uses the theories described in the military doctrines to analyze how tactical air transport can be linked to the new Swedish Armed Forces .There is also a comparison made between the current state of the tactical air transport and the goals set up within the new organisation with the purpose of analyzing what the future might look like. The conclusion is reached that tactical air transport is of great importance to the new Swedish Armed Forces but that it is not to be seen as a crucial resource. The author also predicts that the availability of the aircraft fleet used for tactical air transport will be lower then planned.

There has been a resurgence of community gardening activity in Australia over the past decade. This coincides with increasing concern about food security, urban sustainability, social isolation and the preservation of community space. Community gardening has been adopted by divergent actors, from health agencies looking to increase fruit and vegetable consumption to radical social movements seeking symbols of non-capitalist social and spatial relations. This thesis contributes to a systematic research account of the Australian community gardening movement by considering community gardening as a site of collective social action. Drawing on a tradition of activist research, the analysis focuses on ethnographic case studies of three key organisations within the Australian community gardening movement. These case studies portray community gardening activity at three scales: a garden, an organisation supporting and promoting community gardening at a city-wide level, and the national community gardening organisation. Drawing on social movement theory, the thesis investigates the ways community gardeners in these organisations approach environmental and social justice issues and considers the relationships between community gardening and wider movements. In particular, the thesis considers the political logic of community gardeners’ collective practices, revealing the specific methods community gardeners use to enact social change. It then considers whether community gardening can be seen as a form of political praxis. The thesis shows that community gardening is used strategically and intentionally as a performance to make collective claims. In some contexts and to the extent to which it is so used, it argues that community gardening can be understood as a social movement practice. Finally, the thesis contends that community gardeners’ strategies are part of a repertoire of collective action, which offers both a contribution to existing understandings of collective action and a critique of current conceptualisations of activism. The thesis foregrounds community garden organisers’ analyses of the change they wish to see, the tactics they choose, and the role ‘constructive’ and prefigurative repertoires play in movements for change. In doing so it makes a unique contribution to the existing literature on both community gardening and environmental social movements.
Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of History and Politics, 2011

碩士
高雄醫學大學
性別研究所
102
Taiwanese society had experienced a thriving age of social movements during the 1970s to the 1990s.Most of the social movements during that period were under influences of politics of identity such as labor movements that focused on working-class issues, women’s movements that focused on gender issues, aboriginal land movement that focused on identity of the aboriginals, and so on. As for the academic discourses around labor movements, there are studies exploring individual strikes as well as life-narrative of activists; however, most of these studies describe strikes that are based on collective actions. Possibilities of the way in which labors can be organized are rarely explored. As for the studies on women’s movements, most of them represent a middle-class, academic, and advocacy-oriented social movement strategy. Possibilities of different ways to participate in movements are seldom discussed. This study begins with the life story of Mei-Jung Lin, a woman who has been working with the underprivileged for decades. The researcher conducted several in-depth interviews to complete an oral history of her work with fishermen and female laborers. The oral history shows difficulties she encountered while working with the underprivileged, and demonstrates Lin’s usage of consciousness-raising as her social movement strategy. It is revealed that consciousness-raising plays an important part in labor movement, and the oppressions coming from gender and class do not only appear in everyday life but also emerges in the fields of social movements. Consciousness-raising can be utilized as a basis for developing labor movements and women’s movements. Among the existing literature on labor movements in Taiwan, most of them focus on and explore the strategies of resistance under the framework of collective action. This study explicates the importance of consciousness-raising because social movement is a long-term process as well as a developing process. Only through transforming each individual’s way of thinking will it be possible to transform the society. It is without doubt that many conditions have to be met before a real transform can be made; however, it is also important to recognize the contributions of consciousness-raising.

Drawing on newspaper, movement correspondence, and interview data, I examine the tactical selection and (in)visibility of a lesbian and gay student group, Gay Student Services (GSS), in a hostile university campus in Texas from the mid-1970s through the 1980s. GSS was formed to create a safe space for sexual minorities at Texas A & M University (TAMU) and asked university officials to recognize the group officially after physical threats of violence became real. After long delays, when TAMU administrators declined GSS's request, GSS filed a lawsuit against TAMU with the goal of achieving formal recognition. In the first chapter, I offer a brief history of GSS and introduce my thesis structure. In the second chapter, I show how early access to legal aid bolstered GSS members' understanding of their rights and encouraged their use of legal tactics. A sense of legal entitlement also encouraged GSS to pursue legal tactics in the face of administrative antagonism. The hostile campus environment also motivated GSS to utilize legal tactics instead of engaging in more traditional forms of contention, such as protest, to pursue their goal of gaining official status on campus.

The professionalization of political parties has significantly altered the means by which parties interact with voters and supporters. The current study is an attempt to examine what these changes in political communication mean for the ability of parties to organize supporters and mobilize them both in a campaign setting and in the longer-term struggle. Habermasian and Gramscian perspectives on the relational aspects of political communication highlight the challenges presented by the growing unidirectionality of communication and the concomitant atrophying of intermediary institutions. Beyond this, the work of Bottici and McLuhan is used to expose the effects of the 'arational' aspects of these changes in both form and content. To test the plausibility of the theoretical insights obtained, the case of the New Democratic Party of Canada is considered. The study concludes by considering the potential of new technological developments for resolving or mitigating concerns identified throughout the thesis.
Graduate

This qualitative study uses narrative inquiry (Connelly & Clandinin, 1988, 1990, 2001) and self-study to investigate ways to further understand and facilitate the integration of holistic philosophies of education with media literacy pedagogies. As founder and director of the Youth Media Literacy Project and a self-titled Imagitator (one who agitates imagination), I have spent over 10 years teaching media literacy in various high schools, universities, and community centres across North America. This study will focus on my own personal practical knowledge (Connelly & Clandinin, 1982) as a culture jammer, educator and cancer survivor to illustrate my original vision of a ‘holistic media literacy pedagogy’. This research reflects on the emergence and impact of holistic media literacy in my personal and professional life and also draws from relevant interdisciplinary literature to challenge and synthesize current insights and theories of media literacy, holistic education and culture jamming.