Tag: social movement theory
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The individual rational actor paradigm (is dumb)
Boring warning: Just like yesterday’s post, this one is also boring. You have been warned. In the individual rational actor paradigm, the unit of analysis tends to be the generic, atomized, essentially selfish individual. When applied to social movements, the paradigm clumsily attempts to illuminate the “mystery” of collective action by examining the peculiar types […]
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Not all groups have strategies.
Ah social movement theory… I get to read quite a lot of it this year. I’m enjoying it, but of course I will probably end up writing more about the things that I am critical of. For example, the often loose usage of the word strategy. Scholars often make an implicit assumption that social movements […]
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school applications and the GRE
Where did I go? Why no new posts since late September? I’ve been swamped with studying for the GRE and applying to PhD sociology programs. I took the GRE last week. And now I’m in the homestretch on my applications. The homestretch will last another four weeks or so. Wish me luck — and anticipate […]
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Catching up on social movement theory
In 2004 my friend and colleague Madeline Gardner and I embarked on an in-depth collaborative study of social movement theory. We had collaborated on a number of grassroots organizing efforts in the five years before (e.g. the Minnehaha / Highway 55 campaign and then A16 and the global justice movement) and we were both looking […]
Jonathan Matthew Smucker 