CPO 6077: Social Movements in Comparative Perspective (Graduate Seminar) Spring 2019 Professor Conor O'Dwyer I. Meeting Times & Office Hours: Meeting Time: Thursday, Periods 8-10, Matherly 014) Office Hours: Wed 2:30-3:30, Friday 2-3, and by appointment, Anderson 332 (PLEASE EMAIL ME THROUGH CANVAS TO SET UP APPTS AND ANY OTHER CLASS QUESTIONS!) II. Course Description: This class is intended for graduate students in political science and the related social sciences. Its subject is the relation between social contention and politics. The course aims to: (1) provide a survey of the literature on social and protest movements, (2) introduce students to methods for studying these movements, and (3) furnish tools for interpreting protest across different social and political contexts. Specifically, we will address the following questions: Under what conditions do social movements form? How and when do they exploit opportunities to mobilize? What internal resources do they draw on in order to overcome obstacles to mobilization? What are the implications of how a social movement frames its cause? How does internationalization affect social movement development? Finally, what insights does social movement theory offer in understanding the rise of populism in the contemporary US and elsewhere? III. Class Requirements and Assignments •Final paper -- Approximately 7,000 words on a topic of the student's choosing in consultation with the instructor. Students will provide a 2-3 page prospectus by February 14th. Depending on the student's stage in the doctoral program, the paper may be structured either (1) as a review of some portion of the social movement literature (recommended for students who have not yet completed their field exams); (2) as a dissertation prospectus; or (3) as a research paper (recommended for ABD students). Further expectations for the paper and the prospectus will be presented in class (40% of grade, submit one hard copy and one electronic copy to turnitin.com by April 18th), •In-class presentation of your final paper in the last three weeks of the semester -- approximately 20 minutes plus discussion (20% of grade), •The goal here is to gain experience in how to condense and prepare written research for a live audience, such as you might find at a professional conference or in a job talk. This will also be an opportunity to gather feedback on your research from the rest of the class. •Leading discussion -- Each student will be expected to present one week's readings over the course of the semester. This will consist of summarizing and critiquing the readings' research questions, arguments, empirical evidence, and methodology. We will schedule the list of presentations in the first class. This presentation will serve as a jumping-off point for the class discussion. A list of the presentation schedule can be found on Canvas. (20% of grade) •Attendance and participation in the class discussion. (20% of grade) -- Attendance and participation in class discussion is a very important component of this course. Because this is a seminar, I assume full and active engagement in the discussion and completion of the assigned readings before class. IV. Books for Purchase: There are two required books: • Doug McAdam, John McCarthy, Mayer Zald [McMcZ] (eds.), Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements: Political Opportunities, Mobilizing Structures, and Cultural Framings (Cambridge UP, 1996). • Sidney Tarrow, The New Transnational Activism (Cambridge UP, 2005). The rest of the readings will be available on-line through the university library's journal article database and on Canvas. I expect you to have completed the relevant assigned readings prior to class and to be ready to discuss them. V. Schedule of Topics, Readings, and Assignments Week 1 (January 10): Introduction and Course Requirements Readings: • Suzanne Staggenborg. Social Movements. Oxford UP, 2011), Chapter 2. (Canvas) Week 2 (January 17): Classical Theories of Collective Action / A test case: Ukraine’s Maidan Protests Readings: • William Kornhauser. The Politics of Mass Society (Free Press of Glencoe, 1959), pp. 159-174. (Canvas) • Eric Hoffer. The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (Harper and Row, 1951), pp. 3-44. (Canvas) • David Snow et al., “Disrupting the ‘Quotidian’: Reconceptualizing the Relationship Between Breakdown and the Emergence of Collective Action,” Mobilization 3(1998): 1-22. (Canvas) • Sheri Berman. (1997) “Civil Society and the Collapse of the Weimar Republic,” World Politics 49(3): 401-429. (Canvas) • Charles Kurzman. (2002) "Bin Laden and Other Thoroughly Modern Muslims," Contexts 1(2):13-20. (Canvas) Week 3 (January 24): The Political Process Model: Origins, Aspirations, Shortcomings Readings: • Doug McAdam, John McCarthy, and Mayer Zald, “Introduction” in McMcZ, pp. 1-22. • Sidney Tarrow. (1993) “Cycles of Collective Action: Between Moments of Madness and the Repertoire of Contention,” Social Science History 17(2): 281-307. (Canvas) • Jeff Goodwin and James M. Jasper. “Caught in a Winding, Snarling Vine: The Structural Bias of Political Process Theory,” in Jeff Goodwin and James M. Jasper, eds. Rethinking Social Movements: Structure, Meaning, and Emotion (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004), pp. 3-30. (Canvas) • David S. Meyer. “Tending the Vineyard: Cultivating Political Process Research,” in Jeff Goodwin and James M. Jasper, eds. Rethinking Social Movements: Structure, Meaning, and Emotion (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004), pp. 47-59. (Canvas) Week 4 (January 31): Political Opportunity Structure I Readings: • Doug McAdam, “Conceptual Origins, Current Problems, Future Directions” in McMcZ, pp. 23-40. • Sidney Tarrow, “States and Opportunities: The Political Structuring of Social Movements,” in McMcZ, pp. 41-61. • Donatella della Porta, “Social Movements and the State: Thoughts on the Policing of Protest,” in McMcZ, pp. 62-92. • Jennifer Earl, Sarah A. Soule, and John D. McCarthy. (2003) “Protest Under Fire? Explaining the Policing of Protest,” American Sociological Review 6: 581-606. Week 5 (February 7): Political Opportunity Structure II Readings: • Anthony Oberschall, “Opportunities and Framing in the Eastern European Revolts of 1989,” in McMcZ pp. 93-121. • Ruud Koopmans and Susan Olzak. (2004) “Discursive Opportunities and the Evolution of Right-Wing Violence in Germany,” American Journal of Sociology 110: 193-230. (Canvas) • Ruud Koopmans. “Political. Opportunity. Structure. Some Splitting to Balance the Lumping” in Jeff Goodwin and James M. Jasper, eds. Rethinking Social Movements: Structure, Meaning, and Emotion (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004), pp. 61-73. • Charles Kurzman. (1996) "Structural and Perceived Opportunity: The Iranian Revolution of 1979," American Sociological Review 61(Feb.): 153-170. • Conor O’Dwyer. (2018) “The Benefits of Backlash: EU Accession and the Organization of LGBT Activism in Postcommunist Poland and the Czech Republic.” East European Politics and Societies 32(4): 892-923. Week 6 (February 14): Resource Mobilization / Postcommunist activism Prospectus for research paper due in class. Readings: • John McCarthy, “Constraints and Opportunities in Adopting, Adapting, and Inventing,” in McMcZ, pp. 141-151. • Hanspeter Kriesi, “The Organizational Structure of New Social Movements in a Political Context,” in McMcZ, pp. 152-185. • Charles Tilly. (1977) “Getting It Together in Burgundy, 1675-1975” Theory and Society 4: 479-504. (Canvas) • Marc Morjé Howard. (2002) “The Weakness of Postcommunist Society,” Journal of Democracy 13(1): 157-69. (Canvas) • Valerie Sperling. (1999) “Unemployment Has a Woman’s Face…’ Economic Opportunities and Obstacles to Women’s Movement Organizing” in Organizing Women in Contemporary Russia: Engendering Transition (Cambridge UP): pp. 146-78. (Canvas) • Special Issue of the Journal of Democracy on the Maidan Protests in Ukraine. (Canvas) • Editors’ introduction, pp. 17-18 • Lucan Way, “Civil Society and Democratization,” pp. 35-42. • Olga Onuch, “Who Were the Protesters?” pp. 44-51. Week 7 (February 21): Framing and Culturalist Approaches I Readings: • Mayer Zald, “Culture, Ideology, and Strategic Framing,” in McMcZ, pp. 261-274). • Robert D. Benford and David A. Snow. 2000. "FRAMING PROCESSES AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: An Overview and Assessment," Annu. Rev. Sociol. 26:611–39. (Canvas) • Francesca Polletta, “Culture Is Not Just in Your Head,” in Jeff Goodwin and James M. Jasper, eds. Rethinking Social Movements: Structure, Meaning, and Emotion (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004), pp. 97-110. (Canvas) • Mario Diani. 1996. “Linking Mobilization Frames and Political Opportunities: Insights from Regional Populism in Italy,” American Sociological Review 61: 1053-69. (Canvas) • Bert Klandersmans and Sjoerd Goslinga. “Media Discourse: Movement Publicity, and the Generation of Collective Action Frames: Theoretical and Emprical Exercises in Meaning Construction” in McMcZ, pp. 313-337. Week 8 (February 28): Framing and Culturalist Approaches II: LGBT Activism as a Case Study Readings: • Elizabeth Armstrong, “From Struggle to Settlement: The Crysallization of a Field of Lesbian/Gay Organizations in San Francisco, 1969-1973,” in Gerald Davis, Doug McAdam, W. R. Scott, and M. Zald eds., Social Movements and Organization Theory (Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 161-187. (Canvas) • Deborah B. Gould, “Passionate Political Processes: Bringing Emotions Back into the Study of Social Movements,” in Jeff Goodwin and James M. Jasper, eds. Rethinking Social Movements: Structure, Meaning, and Emotion (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004), pp. 155-175. (Canvas) • Agnieszka Graff. (2007) “The Land of Real Men and Real Women: Gender and EU Accession in Three Polish Weeklies,” Journal of International Institute 15(1). (Canvas) • Valerie Sperling.Sex, Politics, & Putin (Oxford University Press, 2014), Chs. 3 & 6. (Canvas) SPRING BREAK (March 7): Week 9 (March 14): Transnational Activism Readings: • Sidney Tarrow, The New Transnational Activism (Cambridge UP, 2005). •Devashree Gupta. (2008) “Nationalism Across Borders: Transnational Nationalist Advocacy in the European Union,” Comparative European Politics 6: 61-80. (Canvas) •Phillip Ayoub. (2013) "Cooperative transnationalism in contemporary Europe: Europeanization and political opportunities for LGBT mobilization in the European Union," European Political Science Review 5(2): 279-310. Week 10 (March 21): Making Sense of Populism Readings: •Yascha Mounk. 2018. The People versus Democracy. Harvard UP. Selected chapters TBD. (Available as an eBook on the UF library website). •Cas Mudde and Cristobal Rovira Kaltwasser. 2013. "Populism." In Oxford Handbook of Political Ideologies. (Oxford UP), pp. 493-510. •Ronald Inglehart and Pippa Norris. 2016. “Trump, Brexit, and the Rise of Populism: Economic Have-Nots and Cultural Backlash.” HKS Faculty Research Working Papers. (Canvas) Week 11 (March 28): Consultation/Work-Day for Final Presentations/Papers Week 12 (April 4): Research Presentations I Week 13 (April 11): Research Presentations II Week 14 (April 18):Conclusion: Thoughts on Social Movements' Impact Final Papers due in class. Submit one hard copy and one electronic copy. Readings: • Marshall Ganz. “Why David Sometimes Wins: Strategic Capacity in Social Movements,” in Jeff Goodwin and James M. Jasper, eds. Rethinking Social Movements: Structure, Meaning, and Emotion (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004), pp. 177-198. (Canvas) • Nancy Whittier, “The Consequences of Social Movements for Each Other” in David Snow, Sarah Soule, and Hanspeter Kriesi eds. The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements (Blackwell Publishing, 2004), pp. 531-551. • William Gamson. "Defining Movement 'Success'" In Jeff Goodwin and James M. Jasper, eds. The Social Movements Reader: Cases and Concepts (Wiley-Blackwell: 2009), pp. 413-416. (Canvas) • David S. Meyer. "How Social Movements Matter" In Jeff Goodwin and James M. Jasper, eds. The Social Movements Reader: Cases and Concepts (Wiley-Blackwell: 2009), pp. 417-422. (Canvas) • Darren Sherkat and T. Jean Blocker. "The Personal Consequences of Protest" In Jeff Goodwin and James M. Jasper, eds. The Social Movements Reader: Cases and Concepts (Wiley-Blackwell: 2009), pp. 423-434. (Canvas) Final Caveats Students with Disabilitieswho require individualized testing and other accommodations should identify themselves to the instructors and express their needs. It is incumbent on students to arrange any necessary accomodations with the Disability Resource Center. Academic Honor Code: Students are expected to adhere to the UF Student Honor Code. The academic honor system of the University of Florida is based on the premise that each student has the responsibility (1) to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity in the student’s own work, (2) to refuse to tolerate violations of academic integrity in the University community and (3) to foster a high sense of integrity and social responsibility on the part of the University community. Students violating the honor code will receive zero points for the assignment or exam in question, and may receive an ‘F’ for the class.