E55



Does the Power of the People Matter (and should it)? Understanding Social Movements in the Age of Trump

Professor: Jared Abbott

E-mail address: jaredabbott@g.harvard.edu

Phone number: (703) 919-6379

Office: 1737 Cambridge Street, Room 401

Office Hours: TBD

From The Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter and Me Too, movements of ordinary citizens to effect change – across the political spectrum – have seen a renaissance in the United States over the past 10 years. Not since the 1960s have we witnessed anything comparable, and this is all bracketing parallel bursts of popular mobilization around the world, from the Arab Spring to the Spanish Indignados. How are we to understand this unmistakable trend? What explains the rise of these movements? How do they overcome the vast array of barriers to emergence and success they face? How, when and why do they succeed? How do the conditions of their success vary across time and space?

In addition to the nuts and bolts of if, when how and why social movements emerge and succeed, we will also delve into the thornier normative political questions these movements raise: are social movements the best means of effecting political and social change? Are all social movements positive influences on politics and society? Are none? How can we differentiate between the two?

Together we will tackle these questions, both through a deep dive into the latest theoretical frameworks coming out of political science, sociology, and related disciplines, as well as through a diverse and (hopefully) fun set of learning activities. These include going into the field (i.e. greater Boston) to observe and analyze a social movement of your choice using analytical tools from our course, putting yourselves in the shoes of social movement organizers through mock organizer meetings where you have to devise your own social movement strategy for success, and watching and reflecting upon classic films and documentaries depicting pivotal moments in social movement history, among many others.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Understand, analyze, and compare various social movements from the past 60+ years, and use lessons from these movements to raise questions about contemporary politics and society.

• Understand and apply a range of theoretical approaches to the study of social movements to assess the strengths and challenges of movements they encounter in their daily lives.

• Efficiently read, synthesize and critique political science and sociology literature.

• Feel confident they have the necessary tools to enroll in introductory university-level courses in political science and sociology.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS & POLICIES

1. Class attendance and participation: Class attendance is required for this course. If you must miss or arrive late to a class for any reason, please let me know in advance. I expect that everyone will come to class prepared and will participate actively in class discussion. I also expect that this participation will be based on an informed familiarity and thoughtful engagement with the assigned reading. This is absolutely critical to your success in the course.

2. Reading. Most of the readings are drawn from academic articles and books. The average number of pages students will be expected to read per night is around 50 pages. This is roughly what students can expect for an introductory-level university political science or sociology course. Students should plan to spend around an hour each on average length readings.

There are three key purposes behind the readings: 1) introducing students to the core theoretical debates around and recent historical experiences of social movements, 2) introducing students to challenging university-level academic literature, and, of course 3) providing content for in-class discussion.

All readings listed on the syllabus are required readings (to be read by the day on which they are listed on the syllabus). All readings will be made available as PDFs on the course Canvas Website prior to the start of the class. There is no need to purchase any books for the course.

It is critical that students take extensive notes on each reading. Notes should capture the piece’s core arguments and takeaways, as well as the student’s lingering questions and areas where they’d like clarification. Given the density and complexity of most of the readings, not taking notes is basically equivalent to not reading the piece. I will post a guide to notetaking on the course Canvas site before the first day of class.

3. Office hours: I am available during regular twice a week office hours (exact location TBA) as well as by appointment. I also am regularly accessible by e-mail and by phone. I will make every effort to respond as promptly as possible to all e-mails. Students who reach out to me outside of class to discuss course materials always benefit, so you are strongly encouraged to do so as regularly as possible!

4. Academic Integrity & Accessibility: Please familiarize yourself with the Harvard Pre-college program’s student responsibilities and academic integrity policy. Note that Harvard provides several resources for supporting student writing that is consistent with the university’s academic integrity policy. I will be discussing plagiarism and good citation practices in class. Students requiring extra accommodations should have these arranged by contacting accessibility services.

• Student responsibilities and academic integrity policy:

• Resources for academic integrity:

• Accessibility services:

•

1. Fieldwork: At some point during the second week of the course, after students have acquired the theoretical toolkit they need to analyze social movement dynamics and processes, they will be required to choose a social movement organization (I will provide a short list of possible options, though students are free to choose other organizations), and conduct a phone interview with least one leader or activist from the organization about the organization’s work (I will provide a questionnaire template on Canvas by the beginning of the course). Please send me a list of organizations you plan to contact by the beginning of class, Wednesday, June 27th. A detailed explanation of the assignment with a list of possible organizations will be posted on Canvas before our first class. We will discuss the assignment in detail during class and we will have a mock in-class interview that will serve as a model for your interviews.

Students will use this experience as the basis for a short, 10-minute (max) in-class presentation of their findings on July 5th. Specifically, using notes from your visit to a social movement organization, and drawing upon theories discussed in the course, you will use the presentation to explain the strengths and weaknesses of the organization, and offer suggestions for how the organization can improve the effectiveness of its work. There is no specific due date for conducting the interview, but it must be completed early enough for you to be able to prepare your presentation. Likely this means conducting the interview by Monday or Tuesday (July 1 or 2). Remember there is no class on the 4th.

5. Reading Memos: Students have two 2-3 page (double-spaced) reading memos due at the beginning of class. The purpose of these assignments is to give students the opportunity to critically engage with the course materials and to learn to build and support an argument using course texts. It will further help them to write at a college level in political science and sociology. I will be providing writing instruction throughout the course on both style and content. The writing instruction will emphasize (1) having a clear argument, (2) unpacking the ‘mechanisms’ that make the argument work, and (3) providing evidence consistent with the argument. I will post more detailed instructions and a writing guide for the memos on the course Canvas site before the start of classes. We will also go over the assignment in detail in class.

Students will write memos on one out of the three possible topics. The first of two memos will be due at the beginning of class on Wednesday, July 3rd. Memos should be submitted either via email or through the Canvas website.

The topics are:

• MEMO OPTION #1: Reflecting on the various theoretical frameworks we discussed in class to explain the emergence and success/failure of social movements, explain which you find most convincing and why.

• MEMO OPTION #2: Considering the various empirical and theoretical studies we’ve read in the course detailing the political, social and economic effects of social movements, do you think social movements are an effective tool for change, why or why not? If not, which alternatives do you think might be more successful?

• MEMO OPTION #3: Pick one of the movies we’ve watched in the course and explain the success or failure of the movement depicted in the movie using one or more of the theoretical frameworks discussed in class.

6. Mock Organizer Meeting: In this exercise I will give you a detailed description of a fictitious social movement, as well as a mock scenario of a challenge that the organization might face in the course of its work. You will take on the persona of activists from this organization and work in small groups to devise (drawing on theoretical insights from the course) strategic plans for helping it overcome the challenge. We will then reconvene and debrief each group’s plan together.

7. Final Assessment: The final assessment will be a short, 40-minute written exercise covering material from the entire course. It will consist of 4 short quotes from one of the readings, from which you will pick two. You will identify which reading it is from, and, more importantly, which theoretical framework it reflects. You will briefly explain the strengths and weaknesses of that framework, in your opinion, and offer one concrete example of a movement that illustrates the utility of the framework.

The objective of the final assessment is not to give you a grade, but rather to ensure you have a structured means of constructively synthesizing all the course materials. Having to review materials covered earlier in the course in light of all subsequent readings and class discussions is an excellent means of ensuring you both retain critical knowledge, and as well as create a mental map of the course material that allows you to understand key course concepts in relation to each other. This will be an essential skill for navigating the extensive and complex academic literatures you encounter in university level political science and sociology courses.

8. Movie Screenings: Movie Schedule: Understanding the context and dynamics of social movements often involves immersing yourself in the texture and rhythms of the movements themselves. Film is an important medium for capturing this more gut-level understanding of social movements. To that end, I will be showing three documentary films over the duration of the course. We will have time to discuss the films afterwards for those who want to stay. Attendance is required for at least 1 (of your choice), but of course attendance for all is highly encouraged! If you are unable to attend any of the three movies you will have the option of checking out the movie Harvard’s Lamont Library course reserves and watching it on your own time. We will decide on specific movie times on the first day of course to maximize student availability.

• Movies to be Screened

1) Harlan County, USA (1976; American workers movement)

2) Eyes on the Prize, “Part 4: No Easy Walk” (1987; American civil rights movement)

3) She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry (2014; American feminist movement)

9. Proofreading, etc.: All assignments should be thoroughly spellchecked and proofread before they are submitted to me. Please allow time to do this before assignments are due. In your reading memos, you will be expected properly cite any quotations or ideas you reference from other authors (most likely those from the course readings). This means including in-text citations as well as a complete works cited. I do not have a preference which citation system you use (APA, Chicago, MLA, etc.) as long as you are consistent in your citation practices. I will post a short guide to citations on the course Canvas site before the first day of class.

10. Class structure: Daily classes will be divided into two sessions, each of about 80-85 minutes (with a 10-15 break in between, no one can concentrate effectively for three hours nonstop!). Generally speaking, the first half of each session will be an interactive lecture where I ask you to help me reconstruct the primary arguments from the previous night’s readings. I will also incorporate additional materials, including video clips, pictures, graphs, concrete examples, etc., to help clarify key concepts and ideas. The second half (sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on the readings) of each session will consist of guided open discussions that allow students to offer their thoughts and reactions to the readings.

June 24th : Introduction to Social Movements

Session 1: Course introduction: logistics, syllabus, discussion of reading memos and fieldwork assignments, overview. What are social movements (and what are they not), and why should we care about them?

Reading: Course syllabus

Session 2: Introduction to classic theories of social movements

Readings: Donatella Della Porta and Mario Diani, Social Movements: An Introduction (Blackwell, 1999), pp. 1-12 (The study of movements).

Doug McAdam, Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency, 1930-1970 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999), pp. 5-19.

June 25th : Barriers to Mobilization

Session 1: Barriers to Mobilization—An Incentive Model—I

Reading: Olson, Jr., Mancur. 1965. The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the

Theory of Groups. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Introduction and Chapter 1, Sections A-D (pp. 1-21, 33- 36)

Session 2: Barriers to Mobilization—A Class Conflict Model—I

Reading: Offe, Claus, and Helmut Wiesenthal. 1980. “Two Logics of Collective Action:

Theoretical Notes on Social Class and Organizational Form.” Political Power and Social

Theory 1(1):71-93.

June 26th – June 28th : When and Why do Social Movements Emerge, and why do they Succeed or Fail?

June 26th, session 1: Grievance Theory

Reading: James Chowning Davies. 1962. “Toward A Theory of Revolution,” American Sociological Review 27 (1): 5-19.

Reading: Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto (1847) (selections).

June 26th Session 2 & June 27th, Session 1: Resource Mobilization

Fieldwork subject proposal due beginning of class, June 27th

Reading: Minkoff, Debra C. 1993. “The Organization of Survival: Women’s and Racial-Ethnic Voluntarist and Activist Organizations, 1955–1985. Social Forces 71: 887-908.

Reading: John McCarthy and Mayer Zald, 1977. “Resource Mobilization and Social Movements: A Partial Theory,” American Journal of Sociology 82 (6): 1212–1241

June 27th, Session 2: Political Opportunity Structures

Reading: Tarrow, Sidney. 1996. “States and Opportunities: The Political Structuring of Social Movements.” Ch. 2 in Comparative Perspectives on Social Movements, edited by Doug McAdam, John D. McCarthy, and Mayer N. Zald. New York: Cambridge University Press: 41-61.

Reading: Kitschelt, Herbert P. 1986. “Political Opportunity Structures and Political Protest: Anti-Nuclear Movements in Four Democracies.” British Journal of Political Science 16: 57-85

June 28th, Session 1: Disruption and Cooptation

Reading: Frances Fox Piven and Richard Cloward. 1977. Poor People's Movements: Why They Succeed, How They Fail. Vintage. Ch 1., “The Structuring of Protest”: 1-41.

June 28th, Session 2: Framing

Reading: Robert D. Benford and David A. Snow. 2000. “Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and Assessment.” Annual Review of Sociology 100: 611-639.

July 1st: What are the Effects of Social Movements

Session 1: Overview

Reading: Marco Giugni. 1998. “Was it Worth the Effort? The Outcomes and Consequences of Social Movements.” Annual Review of Sociology 98: 371-393.

Session 2: Political Effects

Reading: Amenta, Edwin, Neal Caren, Elizabeth Chiarello and Yang Su. 2010. “The Political Consequences of Social Movements. Annual Review of Sociology 36: 287-307.

July 2nd: Are Social Movements a Positive Force for Social and Political Change?

Session 1: When do Social Movements go Wrong?

Reading: Berman, Sheri. 1997. “Civil Society and the Collapse of the Weimar Republic.” World Politics 49 (3): 401-429.

Session 2 :How can we distinguish between good and bad social movements?

Reading: Young, Iris Marion. Justice and the Politics of Difference. 1990. Princeton: Princeton University Press: 158-168.

Reading: Fraser, Nancy and Axel Honneth. Redistribution or Recognition? A Political-Philosophical Exchange. 2003. New York: Verso: 37-45.

July 3rd: Mock Organizer Meeting and Final Assessment

Memo due by midnight of July 3rd

July 5th: Final Presentations

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