Newsletter of the Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements,

American Sociological Association

 

Section Officers

2003-2004

                                               

Chair

David S. Meyer (04)

University of California, Irvine

 

Chair-elect

Francesca Polletta (04)

Columbia University

 

Past Chair

Hank Johnston

San Diego State University

 

Secretary-Treasurer

Dan Myers (04)

University of Notre Dame

 

Council

Rob Benford (06)

Jack Goldstone (05)

Jeff Goodwin (06)

Holly McCammon (05)

Kelly Moore (04)

Rhys H. Williams (04)

 

Committees

Nominations

Mary Bernstein (04)

Jennifer Earl (06)

Steve Valocchi (05)

 

Publications

Elizabeth Armstrong (06)

Shirley Jackson (05)

Nella Van Dyke (04)

 

Workshops

Kenneth Andrews (06)

Jeff Goodwin (04)

Dingxin Zhao (05)

 

Webmaster

Alan Schussman (05)

 

Newsletter Editor

Kathleen E. Hull (05)

E-mail: hull@umn.edu

 

Shi’i Religious Culture and Social Movement Strategies:

Framing Collective Action in Iraq

 

Stephen C. Poulson, Sociology and Anthropology Department,

Washington and Lee University

 

      One of my favorite headlines that appeared shortly after the American invasion of Iraq was in the Washington Post (April 23, 2003). The headline stated: “U.S. Planners Surprised By Strength of Iraqi Shiites.” These “planners” were largely responding to the Arba'een processionals in Karbala that marked the martyrdom of the Imam Hussein. Last April, hundreds of thousands of Shi’i Muslims participated in this event. For those more familiar with Iraqi society, participation in these processionals was not as surprising.  Being “surprised” at the organizational strength of the Shi’i community in Iraq—the traditional center of Shi’i religious scholarship—is roughly akin to being surprised when a freight train suddenly appears on a set of railroad tracks. In fact, Shi’i religious culture is particularly conducive to the organization of popularly supported protest movements.

      The processional period that marks the martyrdom of Imam Hussein during the month of Muharram, particularly the day of Ashura (the day Hussein was martyred at Karbala), has long offered opportunities for Shi’is to collectively protest against state and international policy. I expect the Muharram processionals next year (February 22-March 2, 2004) to be much more politicized. In particular,

 

(continued on p. 2)

 

Collective Action in Iraq

(continued from p. 1)

 

Shi’i leaders who have been excluded from the Iraqi “interim” authority, or are generally opposed to the presence of American troops in Iraq, will use these ceremonies as an opportunity to protest against the American occupation of the country. If these protests are resonant, future processional periods will likely be used to increase support for a Shi’i resistance movement directed against the American presence in Iraq.

      I have submitted this piece to the Critical Mass Bulletin to give readers some basic information so that they can observe the upcoming Shi’i processional period in Iraq and understand the content of these rituals. Also, the event acts as a nice exemplar regarding the interplay of culture and social movement “framing” activity.

 

Anchoring Social Movement Narratives in Shi’i Muslim Culture

People draw on historical events that have resonance when evaluating a “new” social problem (see Tarrow 1992). In this respect, the historical period when Islam was first revealed has considerable resonance for Muslims, and during periods of modern conflict it is natural that these historical narratives are employed to evaluate current social problems. It is beyond the scope of this brief article to offer a detailed history of Islam, but I will present one important historical event that has been used as an organizing narrative for past Shi’i movement groups. 

The narrative account of Hussein’s martyrdom at Karbala (in southern Iraq) is a general life lesson for all pious Shi’i Muslims. Hussein, the closest living descendent of the prophet Mohammad, died while trying to claim the position of Caliph, the temporal and spiritual leader of the Muslim community. Hussein’s martyrdom (680 AD) occurred on the tenth month (Muharram) of the Muslim calendar and is re-created by Shi’is during the Muharram processionals each year. The day of Ashura, the tenth day of Muharram, is the day that Hussein was martyred by the followers of Yazid ibn Mu’awiya, the Sunni Caliph. 

According to the Shi’i tradition, the position of Caliph was to have reverted to the “family of the prophet” of whom Hussein was the closest living descendent. Instead, the Sunni Caliph Mu’awiya created a dynastic succession of the Ummayah clan following the death of Hussein’s father. Yazid, son of Mu’awiya, later claimed the position of Caliph.  Hussein refused to recognize Yazid and attempted to rendezvous with supporters in modern day Iraq. At Karbala, on the first day of Muharram, Hussein and his companions were surrounded by Yazid’s army and forced to camp in the desert while being denied food and water.  On the day of Ashura, Yazid’s army killed all of the men in Hussein’s group.

The stories, sermons and plays (ta’ziyeh) that detail the ten days that Hussein and his followers spent in the desert surrounded by Yazid’s army climax with the account of the battle that took place on Ashura. This narrative has often been recounted as “popular” traditional entertainment within the Shi’i community . For example, in Iran,  popular story-tellers (rawda-khwans) have given dramatic renderings of the Karbala events that were judged against one another.  These stories incorporated mystical and allegorical elements into the narrative that many orthodox Shi’i scholars sometimes found offensive.  For instance, one common account is that the decapitated head of Hussein, when brought to Yazid, continued to recite the Koran (Fischer 1980). Indeed, these remarkably detailed accounts are filled with superhuman efforts, near successes, last moment conversions, battlefield weddings and tragic double crosses that are designed to create the most emotional experience possible for those listening to the narrative (Chelkowski 1979).

 

The Martyrdom of Hussein in Modern Context

Fischer (1980), an American anthropologist who studied seminaries (madrasas) in the holy city of Qom, believes the account of Hussein’s martyrdom, combined with the symbols and institutions that support this account, constituted a Karbala paradigm that was used to mobilize Iranians during the 1978 revolution.  Chelkowski and Dabashi (1999) also regard the symbolic content of this narrative to be of primary importance in “staging” the Iranian revolution.  Chelkowski and Dabashi--in their study of Iranian revolutionary posters, art and slogans--often make reference to Goffman’s concept of “strategic dramaturgy.”  Neither would identify themselves as a social movement scholar, but both adopted the same general perspective that is used in social movement research that investigates movement “frames” (see Snow et al. 1986) . Overall, understanding the  content of these rituals will be important if one wants to follow how some Iraqi Shi’i movements respond to the American occupation of Iraq.

Indeed, the “Karbala paradigm” in Shi’i religious culture offers a ready-made analogy for organizing social movement activity and enables a number framing functions (see Hunt, Benford, and Snow 1994). For example, religious movement leaders in Iran often portrayed the irreligious Shah of Iran as the evil Yazid. Comparing Mohammad Reza Shah to Yazid also allowed for supporters of the revolution to enjoy a measure of redemption in their ongoing revolutionary struggle against the Shah and the West.  Furthermore, because specific religious rituals are dedicated to re-enacting Hussein’s martyrdom, and because the narrative account of the martyrdom is well known, these traditional narratives are often re-fashioned into modern movement frames by religious leaders.

 

Traditional Forms of Symbolic Protest in Shii Muslim History

Swidler (1986) has conceived of past protest practices as a cultural “tool kit” that is repeatedly used by movements.  Past movement strategies, whose symbolic content is already known to a society, can help facilitate new movements that  anchor their movement goals to these symbols from the past (see Tarrow 1998).  In Shi’i Muslim culture the Muharram ceremonies have often been used as an occasion for social protest.

The Muharram processions are lamentation rituals concerning the martyrdom of the Imam Hussein that recreate the ten days that Hussein confronted Yazid’s army at Karbala. The most dramatic processional event is the men who self-flagellate, usually with chains struck upon their back, during the 9^th and 10^th days of Muharram. Sometimes, men make small cuts on their foreheads to draw blood, which represents the blood spilled at Karbala and symbolically places the participants among those martyred with Hussein. Large crowds gather to watch the processionals and esteemed religious leaders give sermons throughout the processional period.

 

 

During the ten days of the Muharram ceremonies each day recreates the specific events that Hussein and his followers experienced while surrounded by Yazid’s army. The ceremonies place people within the Karbala narrative, where the blood spilled by Hussein and his companions on the tenth day is symbolically linked to the blood drawn by the men in the processionals.  The Muharram processionals, while still dramatic, have become modified in modern times and there is considerably less bloodletting. Despite modern adaptations, the ten-day processional period is still an emotionally charged event in which the religious community experiences the death of Hussein in personal terms  (Chelkowsi 1979; Chelkowski and Dabashi 1999).

In Iraq, during the Bathist period of control, the processional tradition was outlawed because it was regarded as a possible venue for organizing Shi’i resistance to the regime. Indeed, the processional period was often used by Shi’i groups in Iran throughout the twentieth century to protest state policy. For example, while still in exile, Ayatollah Khomeini (1978) stated the following just previous to the 1978 Muharram ceremonies: 

 

With the approach of Muharram, we are about to begin the month of epic heroism and self-sacrifice—the month in which blood triumphed over the sword, the month in which truth condemned falsehood for all eternity and branded the mark of disgrace upon the forehead of all oppressors and satanic governments; the month that has taught successive generations throughout history the path of victory over the bayonet; the month that proves the superpowers may be defeated by the word of truth; the month in which the leader of the Muslims taught us how to struggle against all the tyrants of history, showed us how the clenched fists of those who seek freedom, desire independence, and proclaim truth may triumph over tanks, machine guns, and the armies of Satan, how the word of truth may obliterate falsehood. (242)

 

The 1978 Muharram ceremonies in Iran were a vehicle for what may have been the largest popular demonstrations against a government in history. Millions of people, many of whom would not ordinarily participate in the Muharram processionals, took the opportunity to enter the streets and protest against the Shah. The Pahlavi Shah  voluntarily left Iran less than a month after the Muharram protests (see Fischer 1980; Moin 1999).  Obviously, the “superpowers,” “guns” and “tanks” that Khomeini spoke of did not exist during the time of the Imam Hussein, but Khomeini, and others, seamlessly transferred the movement struggle to depose the Shah, and the struggle for independence from the West, into a struggle for righteousness.

For those who study social movements, the processional period offers a unique opportunity to observe an interaction between a religious culture and the movement frames that will be adopted by those opposed to the ongoing American occupation. Indeed, the popular narratives of Hussein are going to be adapted by Shi’i movement factions in Iraq to frame the meaning of the American occupation of the country. Of course, current conditions in Iraq are considerably different than those in Iran in 1978, so the specific way that this narrative is adapted will change. Moreover, the occupying American forces, because they ended the considerable oppression that the devout Iraqi Shi’is had endured for decades, do have some goodwill within the Shi’i community. So, while widespread collective protests against the American occupation will be particularly intense during the Muharram processionals, the degree of intensity, and the resonance that these protests have among Shi’i groups will also be affected by ongoing American policy in Iraq and the actions of the occupying soldiers.

 

References

Chelkowski, P. (ed) 1979. Ta’ziyeh: Ritual and Drama in Iran. New York: New York University Press. 

Chelkowski, P. and H. Dabashi. 1999. Staging a Revolution: The Art of Persuasion in the Islamic Republic of Iran. New York: New York University Press.

Fischer, M. 1980. Iran: From Religious Dispute to Revolution. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Goffman, E. 1974. Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. Boston: Northeastern University Press.

Hunt, S., R. Benford and D. Snow. 1994. “Identity Fields: Framing Processes and the Social Construction of Movement Identities.”  Pp. 185-208 in New Social Movements: From Ideology to Identity.  E. Larana, H. Johnston and J. Gusfield, eds. Philadelphia: Temple Press.

Kessler, G. and D. Priest. April 23, 2003.  “U.S. Planners Surprised By Strength of Iraqi Shiites” Washington Post.

Khomeini, R. [Ayatollah]. [1978] 1981. “Muharram: The Triumph of Blood Over the Sword.”  Islam and Revolution: Writings and Declarations of Imam Khomeini. Translated by H. Algar. Berkeley. California: Mizan Press.  

Snow, David A; E Burke Rochford Jr.; Steven K Worden; and Robert D. Benford. 1986. “Frame Alignment Processes, Micromobilization, and Movement Participation.” American Sociological Review. 51:464-481

Tarrow, Sidney. 1998. Power in Movements: Social Movements and Contentious Politics. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Tarrow, Sidney 1992. “Mentalities, Political Cultures and Collective Action Frames: Constructing Meaning Through Action.” Pp. 174- 202 in Frontiers in Social Movement Theory, edited by Aldon Morris and Carol McClurg. New Haven CT: Yale University Press.

Section Awards Presented at the 2003 ASA Annual Meeting

 

The section presented three awards at its business meeting at the 2003 ASA Annual Meeting in Atlanta, GA.  Here are the winners, along with the awards committees’ descriptions of the merit of these works:

 

Distinguished Book Award: Francesca Polletta, Freedom Is an Endless Meeting

 

Drawing on more than one hundred interviews, Polletta explores the history and dynamics of participatory democracy in a range of American social movements, including the civil rights movement, the New Left, the women's movement, and the movement against corporate globalization. The book shows that while the social movements that adopted participatory democracy eventually declined, such experimentation was not futile because many recent social movements have come to practice elements of participatory democracy.  Polletta's book can be read from different angles: as a story of how new social movements in the process of challenging old cultures try to create new political cultures closer to their ideals; as a book about the logic of organizational innovations in social movements; as a challenge to Michels’ iron law of oligarchy; and as an empirical analysis of both the potential and problems of participatory democracy as a power-sharing and decision-making principle.  As Richard Flacks has written, Polletta's book “challenges the common assumption that morality and strategy are incomparable, that those who aim at winning must compromise principle while those who insist on morality are destined to be ineffective. . . . Rather than dwell on trying to explain the decline of ’60s movements, Polletta shows how participatory democracy has become the guiding framework for many of today's activists.”

 

      Honorable Mention: Kathleen Blee, Inside Organized Racism

 

Best Published Paper: Bert Useem and Jack Goldstone, "Forging Social Order and Its Breakdown:  Riot and Reform in U.S. Prisons," American Sociological Review 67:499-525

 

This article substantially advances the state of the art in collective behavior and social movements research by extending the explanatory range of state-centered theories of revolution to broader classes of revolts against authoritarian institutions. It is precisely in this way that case driven and qualitative research agendas can contribute to general sociological knowledge and evaluate sociological theory. The paper's comparison of the New York and New Mexico case studies not only yields important and interesting results, the case studies also present important substantive findings about some of the consequences of the design and administration of correctional facilities.  Thus, this research also has clear policy relevance, making it an even more notable achievement in CBSM research.

 

Best Student Paper:  Julie Stewart (NYU), “When Local Troubles Become Transnational Issues: A Study of an Indigenous Rights Movement in Guatemala”

 

Julie Stewart examines the process by which a local movement expands its field of action and goes transnational, producing a theoretically-informed, detailed case study of the development of an indigenous group, comprised of survivors of a military massacre, which organized to demand recognition of the event and specific redress.  Theoretically, she calls for a more variegated analysis of the state than Keck and Sikkink’s “boomerang” model suggests; specifically, organizers learned they had grievances that were created beyond the boundaries of the nation-state they initially challenged.  Such recognition allows challenging groups to continue even when local conditions change.  It’s a good read, and it encourages us to look at the complexity of target selection for transnationally oriented movements.

 

      Honorable Mention: Kraig Beyerlein (UNC), “Explaining Variation in U.S. Religion-Based Protest Activism: Examining Religious Traditions, Politicized Religious Congregations, Strong-Tie Recruitment, Organizing Skill, and Social Psychological Variables.” 

 

Membership of the awards committees: Book – Jeff Goodwin, Kelly Moore, Rhys Williams, Dingxin Zhao; Published Paper – Joane Nagel, Holly McCammon, Steven Pfaff, Guobin Yang; Student Paper – David Meyer, Francesca Polletta, Josh Gamson, Deana Rohlinger.

ASA 2004 in San Francisco

 

The 99^th Annual Meeting of the ASA will be August 14-17, 2004, in San Francisco.  Papers are due January 15 and must be submitted via ASA’s online submission service.  (Visit www.asanet.org for details.)  Our section is sponsoring four sessions:

 

Ø        Popular Movements in the Global South, Paul D. Almeida, Texas A & M University

 

Ø        The Social Control of Movements, Jennifer Earl, UC Santa Barbara

 

Ø        Social Movements and the Law, Mary Bernstein, University of Connecticut

 

Ø        Refereed Roundtables, Gregory M. Maney, Hofstra University

 

The following Regular Sessions may also be of interest to section members:

 

Ø        Collective Behavior, Thomas Hood, University of Tennessee

 

Ø        Labor and Labor Movements, E. M. Beck, University of Georgia

 

Ø        Social Movements, Michael Young, University of Texas at Austin

 

Ø        Transnational Social Movements, Val Moghadam, Illinois State University

 

 

 

Deadline for Spring 2004

Critical Mass Bulletin: May 1

 

Send submissions to hull@umn.edu.

 

Section Elections: Call for Nominations

 

The CBSM Nominations Committee is looking for candidates to fill vacancies in the section’s governing council, various committees, and key executive positions. The open positions are: chair-elect, secretary-treasurer, two vacancies on council, and one vacancy each on publications, nominations, workshop committees.

 

Members of the 2003-2004 nominations committee are Hank Johnston, Hank.Johnston@sdsu.edu, Sarah Soule soule@u.arizona.edu, Steve Valocchi stephen.valocchi@trincoll.edu, and Jennifer Earl jearl@soc.ucsb.edu. Please contact any one of us to make a nomination or to self-nominate. Please request the nominee to supply a short biography of four-five sentences.

 

New Publications

 

Marx, Gary T.  2003.  “A Tack in the Shoe: Neutralizing and Resisting the New Surveillance,” Journal of Social Issues 59 (1). Also available at  http://www.garymarx.net.

Van Dyke, Nella. 2003. "Crossing Movement Boundaries: Factors that Facilitate Coalition Protest by American College Students, 1930-1990,"Social Problems 50(2): 226-250.

Croteau, David and Lyndsi Hicks. 2003. "Coalition Framing and the Challenge of a Consonant Frame Pyramid: The Case of a Collaborative Response to Homelessness," Social Problems 50(2): 251-272.

Mirola, William A. 2003. "Asking for Bread, Receiving a Stone: The Rise and Fall of Religious Ideologies in Chicago's Eight-Hour Movement,"Social Problems 50(2): 273-293.

Reese, Ellen and Garnett Newcombe. 2003. "Income Rights, Mothers' Rights, or Workers' Rights? Collective Action Frames, Organizational Ideologies, and the American Welfare Rights Movement," Social Problems 50(2): 294-318.

 

Hunt, Scott A.. and Robert D. Benford. Forthcoming 2004. “Collective Identity, Solidarity, and Commitment.” In D.A. Snow, S. A. Soule, and H. Kriesi (eds.), The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements.  Oxford: Blackwell.

 

Gongaware, Timothy B. and Robert D. Benford, 2003. “Qualitative Research on Social Movements: Exploring the Role of Qualitative Designs in Examining Contentious Political Action.” Research in Political Sociology 12: 245-281.

 

Benford, Robert D. and Scott A. Hunt. 2003. “Interactional Dynamics in Public Problems Marketplaces: Movements and the Counterframing and Reframing of Public Problems.” Pp. 153-186 in J. A. Holstein and G. Miller (eds.), Challenges and Choices: Constructionist Perspectives on Social Problems.  NY: Aldine de Gruyter.

 

McCright, Aaron M., and Riley E. Dunlap.  2003.  “Defeating Kyoto:  The Conservative Movement's Impact on U.S. Climate Change Policy.”  Social Problems 50: 348-373.

 

McCammon, Holly J.  2003.  “‘Out of the Parlors and Into the Streets’:  The Changing Tactical Repertoire of the U.S. Women's Suffrage Movements.”  Social Forces 81: 787-818.

 

Tindall, David.  2003.  “Review of Terre Satterfield, Anatomy of a Conflict: Identity, Knowledge, and Emotion in Old-Growth Forests.” Canadian Journal of Sociology Online, September-October 2003.

Tindall, D.B.  2002.  “Social Networks, Identification, and Participation in an Environmental Movement: Low-medium Cost Activism Within The British Columbia Wilderness Preservation Movement.”  Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology, 39: 413-452.

 

Tindall, D.B. and Barry Wellman 2001.  “Canada As Social Structure: Social Networks and Canadian Sociology.”  Canadian Journal of Sociology, 26: 265-308.

 

Tindall, D.B.  2001.  “Review of How Social Movements Matter.  Edited by Marco Giugni, Doug McAdam, and Charles Tilly.”  Canadian Journal of Sociology, 26: 678-682.

 

Goodwin, Jeff, and James M. Jasper (ed.s).  2003.  Rethinking Social Movements: Structure, Meaning, and Emotion.  Rowman & Littlefield.

 

Cornfield, Daniel B., and Holly J. McCammon (ed.s).  2003.  Labor Revitalization: Global Perspectives and New Initiatives.  Vol. 11, Research in the Sociology of Work. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

 

Osa, Maryjane. 2003.  Solidarity and Contention: Networks of Polish Opposition. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Vol. 18, Social Movements, Protest, and Contention series.

 

Osa, Maryjane, and Cristina Corduneanu-Huci. 2003. "Running Uphill: Political Opportunity in Non-democracies." Comparative Sociology 2(4): 1-25.

 

Strand, Kerry J., Nicholas Cutforth, Randy Stoecker, Sam Marullo, and Patrick Donohue.  Community-Based Research and Higher Education: Principles and Practices.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

 

Position Announcements

 

University of Tennessee, Head of Sociology Department

 

The University of Tennessee Department of Sociology invites applications for the position of Head.  Ph.D. in Sociology required; the successful candidate  should qualify to be tenured at the rank of Full Professor in the department.  Evidence of a distinguished record of scholarship and teaching as well as administrative experience should be provided at the time of application.  Experience with curricular matters, notable activity in professional associations, and experience with or interest in generating external funding are desirable.  Strong leadership skills and ability to work effectively with colleagues, staff, and students are especially important characteristics; these skills should extend to relations with College, University, and other non-departmental units.  The successful candidate will also have an understanding of and demonstrated commitment to equal employment opportunities and affirmative action.  Areas of specialization are open.  The Department is in an exciting moment of transition, and we anticipate filling several tenure-track positions in the near future.  The Department's new focus in Social Justice and Community Change unites faculty research and undergraduate and graduate curricula.  By integrating studies of social, economic, and distributive justice, department members have created a unique niche to conduct research and train students in the impacts of globalization on community change, the criminal justice system, and ecosystem management strategies.  Applicants should submit a letter of application including current research interests and administrative philosophy, a curriculum vitae, samples of recent publications, evidence of teaching excellence, and contact information for three references.  Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.  Address materials to Dr. Mary E. Papke, Chair of the Sociology Search Committee, 901 McClung Tower, Department of Sociology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-0490.  Review of applications will begin November 1, 2003, and will continue until the position is filled.  UTK is an EEO/AA/Title IX/Section 504/ADA/ADEA employer.

 

National Research Service Award, Mental Health and Adjustment in the Life Course

 

The University of Minnesota is pleased to announce a postdoctoral position, a National Research Service Award, sponsored by the NIMH, on the psychosocial determinants of mental health and adjustment, with emphasis on childhood, adolescence, and the transition to adulthood.  Full-time, 12-month research training is provided.  The appointment is for 2 years maximum, subject to review at the end of the first year.  This interdisciplinary program emphasizes the changing social contexts of development; life course trajectories of mental health and behavioral adaptation; longitudinal assessment and analysis; at-risk populations; and social policy.  A series of core seminars and a research apprenticeship are key program elements.  This interdisciplinary program includes core faculty members from the Department of Sociology; the Institute of Child Development; and the School of Public Health’s doctoral program in Health Services Research, Policy, and Administration.  U.S. citizens or residents are eligible.  The award provides an annual stipend in accordance with NRSA guidelines, tuition, fees and medical insurance.  Postdoctoral candidates, who have received a Ph.D. in a social science discipline or an equivalent terminal degree, such as an M.D., public health, or nursing degree by June 2004, should provide a letter describing current research interests, a complete vita, university transcript, three letters of recommendation, and samples of written work.  For full consideration, send postdoctoral application materials to Professor Jeylan Mortimer at the Life Course Center, Department of Sociology, 1014 Social Sciences Building, 267-19^th Avenue South, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN  55455, for admittance in June 2004 or thereafter.  Review of applications will begin November 1, 2003.  Applications will be accepted until the position is filled.  The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer.

 

Calls for Papers

 

SPECIAL ISSUE of SOCIOLOGICAL FOCUS

“Social Movements: Approaches and Trends in a New Century”

 

Sociological Focus welcomes original manuscripts for a peer-reviewed, special issue to be published in August 2004 examining qualitative and quantitative approaches to social movements.  What are the forms and characteristics of social movements in a post-9/11 globalized world? How are social movements and collective behavior adapting to today's changing society, including an increasingly privatized world in which more traditional governmental-social services are being contracted out to the competitive, for-profit sector?  Manuscripts on health and legal movements, transnational movements, and the strategies and tactics of social control agents are encouraged, as are those on theory and methods of research.

 

Send four hard copies and a disk copy (in Word or Word Perfect) of the manuscript in ASA style to Gay C. Kitson, Editor, Sociological Focus, Department of Sociology, The University of Akron, Akron, Ohio 44325-1905. E-mail: sofocus@uakron.edu. Include the $15 processing fee and a note indicating the article is for the social movements special issue. Provide your e-mail address or a self-addressed, stamped postcard if you wish acknowledgement of receipt of your manuscript at the Sociological Focus office. Manuscripts will be forwarded by the journal office to the guest editors of the issue, Patricia Gagné (University of Louisville) and Matthew Renfro-Sargent (University of Kentucky/University of Wisconsin).  The deadline for manuscript submission is December 15, 2003.

 

 

Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change, Volume 26

 

Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change, an annual volume published by Elsevier Science/JAI Press, encourages submissions for Volume 26. This volume will be non-thematic; submissions appropriate to any of the three broad foci reflected in the series title will be considered. To ensure consideration for publication in Volume 26, submissions must arrive by January 30, 2004.

 

Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change (RSMCC) is a fully peer-reviewed series of original research that has been published annually for over 25 years; we have published the work of many of the leading scholars in social movements and social change. Although RSMCC enjoys a wide library subscription base, Volume 26 will be the first volume to be published both in book form and also on-line, as will all subsequent volumes of the series. This will ensure wider distribution and easier access to your scholarship while maintaining the book series at the same time.

 

Send queries and submissions to the RSMCC editor, Patrick Coy, Center for Applied Conflict Management, Kent State University, PO Box 5190, Kent, OH 44242. Full submission guidelines are available on the RSMCC website, where you may also access abstracts of papers in recent volumes of the series http://www.personal.kent.edu/~pcoy/.

 

Be on the lookout in early 2004 for Volume 25 of the series, “Authority in Contention: Collective Challenges Beyond the State,” guest edited by Daniel Myers and Daniel Cress. This special 25^th anniversary volume of the RSMCC series is focused on selected papers from CBSM’s special conference on “Authority in Contention,” held in 2002 at the University of Notre Dame.

 

Last Chance to Receive Volume 8!

 

Volume8 Number 1    Published in February

·          Pamela Oliver and Daniel J. Meyers, “The Coevolution of Social Movements”

·          Susan Olzak, Maya Beasley, and Johan L. Olivier, “The Impact of State Reforms on Anti-Aparthied Protest

·          Kevin J. O’Brien, “Boundary-Spanning Contention in China

·          Joel Stillerman, “Space, Strategy, and Alliances: 1960 Chilean Metalworkers’ and Coalminers’ Strikes”

·          Bob Edwards and Michael Foley, “SMOs Beyond the Beltway: Diversity in Social Movement Industries”

·          Book Symposium on McAcdam, Tarrow, and Tilly’s Dynamics of Contention.

 

Volume 8, Number 2  Published in June. A special focus issue on Place, Space, and Contentious Politics, Byron Miller and Deborah Martin, guest editors.

·          Deborah Martin and Byron Miller, “Space and Contentious Politics”

·          Joe Bandy and Jennifer Bickham Mendez, “Women’s Organizing Space in Mexican and Nicaraguan Maquilas”

·          Neil Carter, “Political Identity, Territory, and Institutional Change in Belgium”

·          Wendy Wolford, “Families, Fields, and Land Contention in Rural Brazil”

·          John Guidry, “The Spatial Politics of Citizenship and Urban Movements in Brazil”

·          Sallie Marston, “Mobilizing Geography: Locating Space in Social Movement Theory”

·          Charles Tilly, “Contention over Space and Place”

 

Volume 8, Number 3  Published in October

·             Paul Almeida and Mark Lichbach, “To the Internet, From the Internet:  Comparing Anti-Globalization Media Coverage”

·             Kathleen Fallon, “Women’s Democratic Political Mobilization in Ghana”

·             Leslie King and Ginna Husting, “Opportunity Environments of Antiabortion Rescue Tactics in U.S and France”

·             Melinda Kane, “Social Movement Policy Success in Decriminalizing State Sodomy Laws, 1969-1980”

·             Mangala Subramaniam, Manjusha Gupte, and Debarashmi Mitra, “Local to Global: Transnational Networks and Indian Women’s Grassroots Organizing”

·             Dan Myers edits Mobilizations Book Review Section

 

You can safely subscribe by e-mail to the editor, Hank.Johnston@sdsu.edu, using a credit card (Visa, MasterCard or Amex). Please supply card number, expiration date and mailing address. Or you may fax a credit card order using the form below to 858 673 8402. To pay by check in US dollars, mail the form below to Mobilization, Department of Sociology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA  92182-4423.

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