Informing Activists: Who participates in movements and why?

Participation is a big topic, so we’ve asked two of the top scholars studying participation in social movements to translate their work into advice for activists.

Bert Klandermans

An Overview of Participation

Ziad Munson

Getting People to Participate

Recommended Readings:

Classic

Klandermans, Bert, and Dirk Oegema. 1987. “Potentials, networks, motivations, and barriers: Steps towards participation in social movements.” American sociological review, 52(4):519-531.

Review

Klandermans, Bert.2004. “The demand and supply of participation: Social-psychological correlates of participation in social movements.” Pp. 360-379 in The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements, edited by D. A. Snow, S. A. Soule and H. Kriesi. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing.

Contemporary

Shultziner, Doron. 2013. The Social-Psychological Origins of the Montgomery Bus Boycott: Social Interaction and Humiliation in the Emergence of Social Movements. Mobilization: An International Quarterly: 18(2):117-142.

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We would like to thank the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for their support of the Youth Activism Project through the Youth and Participatory Politics Research Network.

Informing Activists: What can be done about activist burnout?

Sharon Nepstad

What can be done about activist burnout?

Recommended Readings:

Classic

Nepstad, Sharon Erickson. 2004. “Persistent resistance: Commitment and community in the Plowshares movement.” Social Problems 51(1):43-60.

Review

Bunnage, Leslie A. 2014. “Social movement engagement over the long haul: Understanding activist retention.” Sociology Compass 8(4):433-445.

Contemporary

Corrigall-Brown, Catherine. 2011. Patterns of protest: Trajectories of participation in social movements. Stanford University Press, 2011.

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We would like to thank the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for their support of the Youth Activism Project through the Youth and Participatory Politics Research Network.