Addressing intersectionality: social movements and the politics of inclusivity

Workshop organizers: Elizabeth Evans, Goldsmiths, University of London, Ilana Eloit, London School of Economicsn and Eléonore Lépinard, University of Lausanne

Eleonore.Lepinard@unil.ch , Elizabeth.evans@gold.ac.uk , i.m.eloit@lse.ac.uk

All papers for our workshop must be submitted via MyECPR:

https://ecpr.eu/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fEvents%2fEventDetails.aspx%3fEventID%3d112

We will not be able to approve any papers that are submitted directly to us, as they will need to be in the system.  Feel free to contact us if you have any queries.

For submission guidelines and further instructions, please visit the ECPR website:

https://ecpr.eu/Events/EventDetails.aspx?EventID=112

The deadline for paper proposals is Wednesday 6th December.

Workshop outline:

Social movements play a critical role in local, national and international politics, mobilising a range of diverse groups and interests. Exploring who is included and who is excluded within these movements is a critical project. It is a task that requires an intersectional lens to examine how multiple and overlapping points of oppression shape power dynamics within social movements. Such an approach, enables scholars to identify the challenges that a lack of heterogeneity poses to the legitimacy, accountability and representational functions of social movement politics.

With historical and theoretical roots in Black feminism and women of color activism, intersectionality is a concept forged to address concerns relating to inclusivity and representation in social movement (Davis 1981, hooks 1981, Moraga and Anzaldúa 1981, Lorde 1984, Crenshaw 1989).  More than four decades later, acknowledging diversity, inequalities invisibilities, as well as desires to “organize on one’s own” (Roth 2004) amongst political activists has become increasingly important to gender and politics, LGBTQI+ politics, and race and politics scholars; many of whom argue that identifying and analyzing power dynamics between and amongst different identity groups is critical to exploring issues of access and inclusion within civil society movements (e.g. Crenshaw 1991, Strolovitch 2008, Springer 2005).

However, this call for an intersectional perspective on social movement’s discourses, practices and politics of alliances and conflicts is far from being systematically adopted by social movements scholars. Whilst intersectionality has constituted a paradigm shift in gender studies (Hancock, 2007), and has become increasingly important for scholars of race and ethnicity as well as LGBTQI politics (Kearl, 2015), it is not clear whether those active within other types of social movement, or those studying them, also take account of difference and the interactive effects of identity markers and structural inequalities. While research exploring intersectionality and social movements will necessarily appeal to scholars of women’s, civil rights, labor unions, migrant rights and LGBTQI+ movements; issues of inclusion, accessibility and accountability are critical for all of those working on social movement studies.

The purpose of this workshop is to develop a new research network that is dedicated to exploring the conceptual, empirical and methodological challenges and opportunities that applying an intersectional framework offers to scholars of social movement studies who are looking to apply it to new areas. Hence, this research network will bring together those working on empirical and theoretical studies that examine a range of different social movements, in order to develop new ways of thinking about, and applying, intersectionality. Read More

Hints of the Coming of the Women’s Marches

By Jo Reger, Oakland University

As someone who studies the contemporary U.S. feminist movement, I should not have been surprised by the global outpouring of protests on January 21, 2017. After all, you could feel the rumblings coming during the Clinton-Trump campaign. The outright misogyny of Donald Trump’s casual evaluation of women, in contrast to the empowered women rhetoric of Hillary Clinton. Emotions were running high, insults were being flung, and once agreeable neighbors began to argue with each other’s choice of yard signs.

But stepping back from the heat of those moments, there were seeds planted for the global spread of women’s marches long before Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton threw their hats in the electoral ring.  Drawing on the old adage “hindsight is twenty-twenty,” I offer a few examples that offered hints of the women’s marches to come:

Read More

Considering Contention in Trumptimes

By David S. Meyer, University of California, Irvine

For those of us who study protest movements, to paraphrase Dickens, the Trump presidency represents both the best of times and the worst of times. For scholars of political contention, Trump’s election immediately presents an upsurge of activism across many social movements that offer us massive amounts of empirical material and no shortage of analytical challenges. Like the paleontologist visiting Jurassic Park, those of us who write about movements can watch our preferred theories of contention being shredded—or not—in real time. Public attention to protest has also surged, and journalists, activists, and neighbors are more likely to express interest in the stuff that occupies our imagination most of the time. Regular people are paying attention!

The sense of urgency and possibility is exhilarating, but there is a downside: I have to live here. Donald Trump represents an urgent and unusual threat to democratic institutions in general, and in particular, a direct threat to the pursuit of science and the institutions which support it.

Read More

100 Days of #Resistance and Still Counting: Innovating How We Study Protest

By Dana R. Fisher, Professor of Sociology, University of Maryland

Since the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the US, protests and demonstrations have become relatively commonplace around the United States:  hundreds of thousands marched in pussy hats on the day after the inauguration; thousands stood in airports to show support for an America that is open to immigrants; tens of thousands of people marched (some sporting brain hats) to support science; hundreds of thousands circled the White House to show concern for climate change and the ways the new Administration is quickly undoing all political progress the previous administration made; and the town hall meetings of members of Congress have been flooded with attendees who want their elected officials to represent their interests.  In other words, the election of Donald Trump has been a veritable shot in the arm to democracy in America.  People are no longer bowling alone, they are marching and yelling together.

Since the inauguration, I have fielded research teams to survey participants at the large-scale protest events taking place in Washington, DC.  So far, we have collected data at the Women’s March, the March for Science, and the People’s Climate March that coincided with Trump’s 100th day in office.  Like my previous work, which surveyed a random sample of participants at large-scale protest events around various issues over the past 17 years, the research team at these events has administered a short anonymous survey to learn who is participating, what motivates them to participate, how civically engaged they are, how connected they are to the respective march’s organizational coalitions, and what are their demographics.  Unlike my previous work, where we administered a two-sided one-page paper survey with clipboards and ballpoint pens, however, I recently decided to innovate the data collection process.

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Message from the Chair: Protest, Elections, Media, and Inequality

By Kenneth (Andy) Andrews, CBSM Section Chair, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

We have arrived at a moment where protest and efforts to understand protest are everywhere. I am certain you are familiar with the broad contours of recent protest. The Crowd Counting Consortium documented 653 protests as part of the Women’s March on January 22nd and over four million participants. In subsequent weeks, there have been hundreds of protest events across an incredible array of issues and locales. Both established groups like the ACLU and Planned Parenthood and new ones like Indivisible have jumped into the fray. Trump provides a singular and unifying target for activism related to immigration, healthcare, gender, LGBT rights, abortion rights, racial justice, and on and on. Perhaps the best recent parallel is the way Obama provided a focal point for right wing activists and conservatives over the prior eight years.

Thinking about this moment, I recalled a conversation I had with Anthony (Tony) Oberschall several years ago. Tony described the politically and intellectually charged environment when he first started working on social movements in the late 1960s and early 1970s where seemingly every day was marked by events on college campuses, throughout the U.S., and across the globe that spoke to the emerging theoretical debates and perspectives being developed. Importantly, these debates were not contained by or within the boundaries of our subfield. We seem to be in the midst of a similar moment.

Read More

Call for Award Nominations 2017

Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Mayer N. Zald Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Student Paper Award

Anyone without a PhD in 2016 is considered a student, and any paper (published or unpublished) written in 2016 by a student or students (i.e., no PhD coauthors) is eligible.  A previously submitted paper may be resubmitted only if significantly revised.  Authors may submit their own work, or nominations may be made by section members. No lengthy nominating letters please, and please send all questions to the committee chair.  $500 will be awarded.  Send a copy of the paper electronically to each of the committee members by March 1, 2017.

 

Mayer Zald Outstanding Graduate Student Paper Award Committee:  

Jennifer Earl (Chair), jenniferearl@email.arizona.edu

Ziad Munson, munson@lehigh.edu

Lee Ann Banaszak, lab14@psu.edu

Marcos Perez, meperez@colby.edu

Han Zhang, hz2@Princeton.EDU

 

Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Article Award

Articles and chapters from edited books with publication dates of 2016 are eligible. Authors may submit their own work, or nominations may be made by section members.  No lengthy nominating letters please, and please send all questions to the committee chair.  Send a copy of the article electronically to each member of the prize committee by March 1, 2017:

 

Best Published Article Award Committee:

Belinda Robnett (Chair), brobnett@uci.edu

John Krinsky, jkrinsky.ccny@gmail.com

Edward Walker, walker@soc.ucla.edu

Bogdan Vasi, ion-vasi@uiowa.edu

 

Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Charles Tilly Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Book Award

Section members, authors, or publishers may nominate books with publication dates of 2016. Authors may submit their own work, or nominations may be made by section members or publishers.  No lengthy nominating letters please, and please send all questions to the committee chair.  Send or have publishers send a copy of the book to each member of the prize committee by March 1, 2017:

 

Charles Tilly Award for Best Book Committee: 

Kenneth (Andy) Andrews, (Chair), kta1@email.unc.edu, (Department of Sociology, CB 3210, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599)

Neal Caren, neal.caren@unc.edu; (Department of Sociology, CB 3210, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599)

Elizabeth Borland, borland@tcnj.edu, (Social Sciences Building 317, The College of New Jersey, 2000 Pennington Rd., Ewing, NJ 08628)

Daniel Schlozman, daniel.schlozman@jhu.edu, (Johns Hopkins University, Mergenthaler Hall 278, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218)

 

Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Dissertation Award

Any doctoral dissertation completed (i.e. successfully submitted, defended, and approved) in calendar year 2016 is eligible. Only nominations from the student’s dissertation chair or co-chair will be accepted. Nomination letters should not exceed two typed pages in length. The nomination letter should be accompanied by the dissertation in electronic form. Please direct all questions to the committee chair. $1,000 will be awarded. Send a copy of the nomination letter and dissertation to each of the committee members by March 1, 2017:

 

Outstanding Dissertation Award:

Lyndi Hewitt (Chair), lhewitt@unca.edu

Joshua Bloom, joshuabloom@pitt.edu

Daniel Escher, danielescher@gmail.com

Application Deadline for Young Scholars Conference, January 10!

Event hosted by the Center for the Study of Social Movements, University of Notre Dame March 31, 2017.

In conjunction with the presentation of the John D. McCarthy Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Scholarship in Social Movements, The Center for the Study of Social Movements at Notre Dame will be hosting the eighth annual “Young Scholars” Conference the day before the McCarthy Award events. The recipient of the McCarthy Award, David Meyer, will be in attendance and other senior scholars visiting Notre Dame for the award presentation will serve as discussants for the conference.

We would like to invite 12 advanced graduate students and early-career faculty to present a work solidly in-progress at the conference, enjoy an opportunity to discuss their work with some of the leading scholars in the field, and meet others in the new cohort of social movement scholars. Conference attendees will also be invited to the McCarthy Award Lecture and the award banquet on April 1, 2017. The Center will pay for meals, up to three nights lodging, and contribute up to $500 toward travel expenses for each of the conference attendees.

The Center will select invitees from all nominations received by January 10, 2017. Nominations will be accepted for ABD graduate students and those who have held their Ph.D.s less than two years. Nominations must be written by the nominee’s faculty dissertation advisor (or a suitable substitute intimately familiar with the nominee’s research, if the advisor is unavailable). Nominations should include:

A letter of nomination.
2. The CV of the nominee.
3. A one-page abstract of the work to be presented.

Nominations should be sent via email to Rory McVeigh, Director of the Center for the Study of Social Movements, rmcveigh@nd.edu.

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