Collective Behavior and Social Movements Refereed Roundtables

E. Colin Ruggero, Community College of Philadelphia; ecolinr@gmail.com

Current Scholarship on Activism, Contention, Social Movements

This session seeks scholarship on a broad range of scholarly questions regarding resistance, activism, contentious politics and social movements. Of particular interest are studies that cut across social movement cases to examine broad themes across social movement organizations and sectors.

Catherine Corrigall-Brown, University of British Columbia; corrigall.brown@ubc.ca

Indigenous-Led Social Movements and the Role of Alliances

In the 21st century, Indigenous peoples have been at the forefront of movements not only to defend Indigenous lands and waters and uphold treaties, but also to combat climate change, racism, and heteropatriarchy and to build more just and sustainable societies. From Idle No More to Standing Rock, some non-Indigenous people and organizations have sought to stand in solidarity with Indigenous-led movements. This session invites theoretical and empirical papers on the origins, development, and impacts of Indigenous-led social movements in North America and beyond. Under what conditions do such movements emerge and how do they unfold? What are their strategies and goals, and what have they accomplished? How do they deal with racist, colonialist counter-movements? When, how, and why are alliances forged with non-Indigenous groups? What roles can such alliances play, what challenges arise in working together, and what may be learned from these experiences?

Jeffrey Denis, McMaster University jsdenis28@gmail.com

Leverage and Disruption: What Does the Evidence Say?

This session aims to bring together empirical evidence that addresses questions around movement leverage and their ability to maximize concessions through disruption. Which protest movements, actors, and targets possess the leverage to amplify disruption, under which structural conditions, and how? What about movements that don’t possess the same leverage? What does disruption look like (or can it be recognized) in settings other than labor strikes and boycotts? What are the consequences of disruption? Are there different types of leverage? We invite scholars working on a wide range of movements from student movements, peasant rebellions, and working class organizations, to poor people’s movements, climate change, and anti-racist struggles to submit papers that can contribute to a discussion on the analytical and strategic value of disruption to social movements.

Gabriela Gonzalez, University of California, Irvine gabrig4@uci.edu
Juhi Tyagi, University of Erfurt tyagijuhi@gmail.com
Joshua Murray, Vanderbilt University josh.murray@vanderbilt.edu

Negative Drivers of Collective Action in the 21st Century

Just as movement scholars have developed precise indicators of political opportunities (elite conflict, institutional access, declining repression, etc), we need more precise classifications of negative conditions driving collective action in the 21st century. This panels seeks papers on various forms of threat and the conditions likely to generate mobilization. The women’s marches, international women’s day actions, economic austerity, immigrant rights, police abuse, government repression, renewed authoritarianism and racism, and ecological crises are all associated with producing some of the largest mobilizations in the past decade and are largely stimulated by negative circumstances. The panel will highlight research in progress to better define and understand various threats and the conditions under which they lead to efficacious mobilizations.

Ellen Reese, University of California, Riverside ellenr@ucr.edu
Paul Almeida, University of California, Merced palmeida@ucmerced.edu