Reflections on Theory: Criticisms and Proposals Author(s): Aldon Morris Source: Contemporary Sociology, Vol. 29, No. 3 (May, 2000), pp. 445-454 Published by: American Sociological Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2653931 . Accessed: 20/06/2011 12:23

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http://www.jstor.org - Charting Futures for Sociology: Social Organization Reflections on Social Movement Theory: Criticisms and Proposalse ALDON MoRRIs

The arrivalof a newcentury and a newmillen- (Morris1999: 531). In this view,emotions and niumare attention-grabbing symbolic markers. irrationalideologies were central because move- Theyprovide a convenientopportunity for me mentsoccurred in highlycharged contexts char- to reflectcritically on the currentstatus of social acterized by mass enthusiasm, collective movementtheory. Because of spacelimitations, excitement,rumor, social contagion, and mass it is impossibleto providea comprehensive hysteria.Thus, social movementsand move- reviewand critiqueof this burgeoningfield. I mentparticipants were viewed as nonrational, focushere on whatI contendare serious blind giventhe unpredictabilityand heavy emotional spotswithin current social movement theory. I contentof movements.Collective behavior the- arguethat thesetheories continue to slightthe oryassumed a directlink between emotions and role that humanagency plays in socialmove- nonrationality(for an exception,see Turner and ments.The slightoccurs because assumptions in Killian1957). currenttheory lead its proponentsto glossover Humanagency operated indirectly in collec- fundamentalsources of agencythat social move- tive behaviortheories because participants were ment groupscan bring to the mobilization viewedas reactingto externalforces beyond process,cultural framing, tactical problems, theircontrol. Indeed, agency-producing mecha- movementleadership, protest histories,and nisms socialorganization, strategizing, reason- transformativeevents. I addressthe human ing,analyses, and rationality were argued to be agencyand these movementphenomena, and absentin movements,especially in theirforma- offercorrectives. tive stages.When agency entered the picture,it By the mid-twentiethcentury, collective wasas a weakreactive force that played a minor behaviorand relatedtheories constituted the rolein the causationof movements. dominantparadigm that guided researchof Human agency is importantin current socialmovements. These theoriesargued that resourcemobilization and political process mod- social movementswere a form of collective els. The civil rightsmovement and the move- behaviorthat emergedwhen significantsocial mentsit helpedspawn were the majorcatalysts andcultural breakdowns occurred. As a formof thatshattered the intellectualviability of collec- collectivebehavior, social movements were con- tive behaviortheory. When principal formula- sideredspontaneous, unorganized, and unstruc- tors of the current approachessought to turedphenomena that were discontinuous with understandthose movements, they found it nec- institutional and organizationalbehavior essaryto rejectthe collectivebehavior model and its imageryof the emotionalcrowd. In so doing, resource mobilizationand political * I especiallythank Christian Davenport for insight- processtheorists (e.g., McCarthy and Zald 1977; ful discussionsthat helpedshape the ideasdevel- Gamson 1975; Tilly 1978; McAdam1982; opedin this essay.Thanks to DougMcAdam for providingme with recentunpublished and forth- Oberschall1973) have generated a richpletho- comingwork on socialmovement theory. I also raof socialmovement concepts that will contin- thankthe editorsof ContemporarySociology for ue to yield theoreticalinsights. Moreover, theiruseful comments. Finally, I thankKim Morris valuablework (e.g., Aminzade et al. forthcom- forhelping prepare the manuscriptand for pushing ing;McAdam, Tarrow, and Tilly forthcoming; me to clarifymy ideas. Morris and Mueller 1992; Johnston and

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Klandermans1995; Jasper 1997; Goodwin and areunlikely to generateand sustain movements Jasper1999; Hart 1996; Emirbayer and Goodwin because of their weak social position. 1994)designed to correctbiases inherent in cur- Movementsare likely to emergeonly when rent approachescontinues to appear.Here I favorablechanges occur in the externalpolitical buildon thiswork and suggest new formulations system.These opportunities emerge when divi- thatI believewill lead to morerobust analysis of sionsdevelop among political elites, when new movements.These formulationsare rootedin externalallies emerge, when states weaken, and myassessment that current theories continue to whennew space in thepolitical system opens. In misspecifythe centralrole that humanagency short,for groups to engagesuccessfully in collec- playsin socialmovements. tiveaction, they must first be thebeneficiaries of I focuson thepolitical process model because new externalpolitical opportunities that they it has absorbedthe key insightsof resource mustexploit. mobilizationtheory and because it has become In accountingfor movementorigins, this the dominantsynthetic model of socialmove- view stressesthe politicalweaknesses of chal- ments.Formulators of the politicalprocess mod- lenging groupswhile assigningconsiderable el (e.g.,McAdam 1982; Tarrow 1994; McAdam causalweight to elite externalactors. The focus et al. 1996;Aminzade et al. forthcoming;Tilly on changingpolitical opportunities suggests that 1978)have reached a consensuson itsbasic the- movementsuccess or failuremay rest largely in oreticalcomponents: the conceptsof mobilizing the handsof powerfulexternal actors. Thus the structures,political opportunity structure, and relationshipbetween challengers and the politi- culturalframing. Taken together, say these the- cal systemsis placedat the centerof analysis orists,these concepts account for movement ori- because that political system determines gins, the powergenerated by movements,the whethermovements are able to developin the energizingcultural content of movements,and firstplace. While there is insighthere, I will movementoutcomes. arguethat this formulation locates far too much Mobilizingstructures are "thosecollective socialmovement agency in the handsof exter- vehicles,informal as well as formal,through nalactors, and it truncatesanalysis of movement

. . whichpeople mobilize and engage in collective Orlglns. action"(McAdam et al. 1996:3). Thisconcept Political process theorists are realizing rejectsthe propositionthat movementsemerge increasinglythat culturaldynamics are central fromfluid, spontaneous, unstructured contexts to the originsand development of socialmove- that thrustmarginal individuals into collective ments.Thus, the thirdcomponent of the model action. Drawingon empiricalresearch by addressesframing processes. Proponents argue numerousscholars (e.g., Oberschall 1973; that"mediating between opportunity, organiza- McAdam 1982; Morris 1981, 1984; Snow, tion, and actionare the sharedmeanings and Zurcher,and Ekland-Olson1980), political definitionsthat people bring to theirsituation. processtheorists demonstrate that movement At a minimum,people need to feelboth aggriev- mobilizationoccurs through informal networks, ed aboutsome aspectof their lives and opti- preexistinginstitutional structures, and formal mistic,that, acting collectively, they can redress organizations.Actors so situatedcan recruit par- the problem"(McAdam et al. 1996:5). The ticipants,assemble necessary resources, and recognitionthat cultureplays a centralrole in coordinatecollective action. The centralityof generatingand sustaining movements was slow mobilizingstructures is crucialbecause it is to developand remains the model'sleast devel- throughthem that rational actors figure promi- opedconcept. Much of the recenttheorizing on nentlyin the originsof movements. cultureand movements was actually formulated Politicalopportunity structure refers to the either by critics (Fantasia1988; Snow et al. "consistentbut not necessarilyformal or per- 1986;Goodwin and Jasper1999; Morrisand manent-dimensionsof the politicalenviron- Mueller 1992; Jasper 1997; Johnston and ment that providesincentives for people to Klandermans1995) or in responseto challenges undertakecollective action by affectingtheir raisedby critics.I agreethat culture ideas, expectationfor successor failure.Theorists of belief systems,rituals, oratory, emotions and politicalopportunity structure emphasize the grievanceinterpretations are indeed central to mobilizationof resourcesexternal to the group" socialmovements. I will argue,however, that (Tarrow1994: 85). Thus,potential challengers currenttreatments continue to underemphasize Symposia 447

the culturalagency that fuels social movements. ing,leadership configurations, tactical solutions, As a result,scholars underestimate the abilityof protesthistories, and transformative events play challenginggroups to generateand sustain in producingand sustainingcollective action. movementsdespite recalcitrant political struc- These factorsfind no place in the nexus of turesand heavy repression. causalexplanations posited by the model.When The conceptsof mobilizingstructures, politi- thesefactors are discussed, they are conceptual- cal opportunities,and framingprocesses have izedas movementdynamics rather than as inde- generatedinsights into social movements. pendenttriggers of collectiveaction. Using the Nevertheless,as the critics (Ferree 1992; civil rightsmovement as the referent,I will Goodwinand Jasper1999; Jasper 1998) have demonstratehow eachof thesefactors was cru- argued,the politicalprocess model is overly cial to the originsand developmentof that structuraland contains rationalisticbiases. movement. Additionally,I argue that the model'spreoccu- pationwith powerful external elites has left key Agency-LadenInstitutions and Frame determinantsof collectiveaction in theoretical Lifting darkness.My task is to rescuethem fromthe Agency-ladeninstitutions are those institu- darkcorners of thismodel and reveal their cen- tions,often long-standing, developed by poten- tial challenging tralityto the originsand development of social groupsthat housecultural and movements. organizationalresources that can be mobilizedto launchcollective The political process action.Such institutionsare model has unduly configurationsof cultural restrictedour understanding beliefsand practices of the mobilization that permeateand shape their social networks. processand the capacity of challenginggroups to Theircultural materials are generateand constitutivein that sustaincollective action. Its limita- theyproduce and solidify the trust,contacts, sol- tions stem fromthe assumptionthat external idarity,rituals, meaning systems, and options of politicalopportunities must first become avail- membersembedded in their social networks. ablebefore challenging groups can generate col- Endemicto someagency-laden institutions is a lectiveaction. This assumptionstill guidesthe transcendentand coherentbelief systemthat analysisof movementorigins, even though shapesits actors' moral and political views about empiricalexamples (e.g., Kurzman 1996; Rasler the kindsof relationshipsthat oughtto exist 1996) suggestthat enormouscollective action betweenindividuals and social groups.These can burstforth preciselywhen the political politicallyrelevant beliefs inspire analyses and authoritiesclose ranks and when heavy repres- actionsgeared toward the realizationof group sionis unleashed. interests(Hart 1996). The strongrelationship theorized to exist The African-Americanchurch has been an betweencollective action and political opportu- agency-ladeninstitution for centuries.Its tran- nitiesshould be relaxedbecause the production scendentbelief system stresses that all people are of collectiveaction is alsoan independentfunc- equalbefore God because God is the parentof tion of the capacityof challengegroups. A reci- humanity (Paris 1985). For centuries the procalrelationship exists between a challenging African-Americanchurch has condemned racial group'scapacity to mobilizeand the presenceof inequalitybecause it is inconsistentwith ulti- politicalopportunities. Thus, in someinstances, matereligious values. These beliefs are ingrained collectiveaction can generate political opportu- in the culturalfabric of the churchand given nitieswhere none existedpreviously; in other repeatedexpression through religious sermons, instancespolitical opportunities can clear the writings,music, testimonies, prayers, rituals, and way for collective action. The temporal emotionalinteractions. For these reasons,the sequenceis to be determinedon empirical African-Americanchurch has been in the van- groundsrather than on a przorztheorizing. I focus guardof the historicAfrican-American struggle on how mobilizationcapacities generate collec- by providingit with a disproportionateamount tive actionbecause that is wherethe political of its leaders,meeting space for protest organiza- processmodel has proveninadequate and mis- tions,financial resources, and moral legitimiza- leading. tion (Morris1993a; Harding 1983; Billingsley The political process model has largely 1999;Harris 1999; Pattillo-McCoy 1998). ignoredthe central role that a challenging Montgomery,Alabama, in 1955was a dan- group'sagency-laden institutions and frame lift- gerousplace for AfricanAmericans. The Cold 448 Symposia

War was entrenchedbefore the Montgomery systemwas the appropriatecultural material movementand it certainlycreated the possibili- fromwhich to framethe movement.He decided ty that black protest could capitalize on to emphasizethe Christiandoctrine of love:"our America'svulnerability because of its use of actionsmust be guidedby the deepestprinciples egalitarianrhetoric to gain the upperhand in of ourChristian faith. Love must be ourregulat- thatconflict. Nevertheless, it wasnot ColdWar ing ideal"(1958: 62). But the framecontained rhetoricthat would mobilizeMontgomery's morethan ideas of love.He toldthe futurepro- African-Americancommunity; the 1954 Browr ducersof collectiveaction that "wecome here vs. BoardSupreme Court decision also constitut- tonight to be savedfrom that patiencethat ed a new politicalopportunity. Yet the riseof makesus patientwith anythingless than free- the Southernmassive resistance movement was dom-andjustice" (1958: 62). Thusemerged the a powerfuland direct deterrent to blackcollec- "freedomand justice" frame of the civil rights tive action. waslynched just three movement.King then articulatedthe motiva- monthsbefore the boycott.The Browrldecision tional mainspringof action embeddedin the itselfgenerated a massiveassault on African- frame:"So in orderto be true to one's con- Americanresistance by outlawingthe National scienceand true to God,a righteousman has no Associationfor the Advancementof Colored alternativebut to refuseto cooperatewith an Peoplethroughout Alabama (Morris 1984). In evil system"(1958: 51). Kingconcluded, "we are this period,new white supremacygroups were protestingfor the birthof justicein the commu- organizedwhile existing ones gained added nity."This moralframe had mobilizingpower strength.This was an unlikelyera and location becauseit wasdeeply rooted in theculture of the for the moderncivil rightsmovement to take agency-ladenAfrican-American church and root. Where did Montgomery'sAfrican- had instantresonance for most of the people Americancommunity find the agencyand orga- embeddedin that church.This frameassured nizationto producesuch historiccollective the participantsthat God was on theirside, for action,despite mobilized opposition backed by He condoned African-Americancollective localstate power? actionthat sought justice. The mobilizingcapacity of Montgomery's Collectivebehavior theorists were right to African-Americanchurches was the key. arguethat movementsoften occur in the con- Shortlyafter Rosa Parks's arrest, Martin Luther text of mass enthusiasmand highly charged King,Jr., informsus, all of the ministersin emotions.The massmeetings of the boycott Montgomery"endorsed the boycottplan with teemedwith emotionsand mass enthusiasm. enthusiasm,and promised to go to theircongre- The singing,testifying, preaching, and praying gationson Sundaymorning and drive home at the massmeetings mobilized the emotions theirapproval" (King 1958: 47). Concerningthe suchthat "the enthusiasm of thesethousands of hrst organizingmeeting, King declared "I was people,swept everything along like an onrush- filledwith joy when I enteredthe churchand ing tidalwave" (King 1958: 61). However,con- foundso manyof themthere; for then I knew traryto the logicof collectivebehavior theory, that somethingunusual was aboutto happen" emotionsin the civil rightsmovement were (King1958: 46). Somethingunusual happened linkedclosely to the rationalpursuits of the becausethe church providedthe emerging movement.The religiousculture of the church movementwith its vast communicationnet- producedcohesion and enabledparticipants to works,its organizedcongregations, and its cul- act underthe spell of singing,preaching, and turaland financial resources. praying.In speakingof emotionsone of King's The churchwas more than a structuralenti- lieutenantsremarked, "If I waituntil my intel- ty; it containedthe culturalframework through lect gets to the place it can digest, hell I which the movement would be framed. wouldn'tdo nothing many times" (Walker Movementtheorists (e.g., Tarrow1994; Snow 1978).The agency-ladenchurch used its culture and Bensford1992) are mistakenwhen they andits institutionalstructure to producecollec- arguethat the civil rightsmovement's central tive action. framewas one of "rights"that grew out of earli- Myanalysis of theframing process of thecivil er court challenges.Being a productof the rightsmovement differs from frame alignment African-Americanchurch, King instinctively theory (Snow et al. 1986). In the latter understoodthat the church's transcendent belief approach,the maincultural task is for move- Symposia 449 mentleaders to developand articulate a collec- tive.They decided to chooseand frame the tac- tiveaction frame and align it withthe beliefsys- tic in a mannerconsistent with the moralframe tem of those whomthey wish to mobilize.In being lifted from the agency-ladenchurch. contrast,my analysis reveals that the crucialcul- Ratherthan define the movementas a boycott, turaltask for leaders was frame lifting. Frame lift- Kingchose to definethe tacticas an actof mas- ing is a processby which leadersshape the sive noncooperationwith evil. He wrotethat collectiveaction to match an institutionally "wewere simply saying to the whitecommunity embeddedframe. In framelifting, collective 'we can no longerlend our cooperationto an actionis graftedonto the culturaland emotion- evil system'" (1958:51). al schemataof actorsembedded in relevant To link the boycotttactic directlyto the socialnetworks. In Montgomerya potent frame mass-basedchurch, King situated it in a context alreadyembedded in a massbasedagency-laden of love and evil familiar themes in the institutionwas lifted up andlinked to the pro- African-Americanreligious community. For ductionof collectiveaction. centuriesthe churchhad preached that all peo- The theoreticalpoint is that such agency- ple shouldbe loved becausethey were God's ladeninstitutions can playan independentrole in the productionof collectiveaction despite a children.King added the themeof evil by argu- largelyclosed political system. Therefore, the ing that noncooperationwas a tactic whose crucialrole that agency-ladeninstitutions play "attackis directedagainst forces of evil rather in the mobilizationprocess needs to be integrat- than againstpersons who happento be doing ed into a causalexplanation of social move- the evil" (1958: 102). By imbuingthe tactic ments. with love and identifyingthe JimCrow social orderas an evil force,the leaderssuccessfully TacticalSolutions rootedthe protestin the moralframe of the Tacticalsolutions play an importantrole in African-Americanchurch. The result was a the developmentof collectiveaction (McAdam marriagein whichculture, tactic, and organiza- 1983; Morris 1993b). Yet in the political tional capacitywere linkedso that collective process,model tactical matters are treated as a actioncould be produced. dynamicrather than a causal factor. The Nonviolentnoncooperation made it difficult Montgomerymovement is instructivefor under- forthe whitecommunity to use the machinery standinghow a tacticalbreakthrough can help of violenceto defeatthe movement.The tactic initiatesocial movements. Before the boycott, alsoprovided the emergingmovement with an Montgomery'sAfrican-American leaders had ideologicalhigh groundbathed in love and meton numerousoccasions with the whitelead- Christianprinciples while simultaneouslycast- ership,pleading with themto end bussegrega- ing segregationas an evil forcethat shouldbe tion. The white leadersignored them because destroyed.Because of the mobilizingcapacity of African-Americanleaders lacked the powerto the noncooperationtactic, as well as itsstrategic applynegative sanctions when their requests usefulness,King concluded, "I came to feel that werenot granted.Collective action that could this wasthe onlymorally and practically sound functionas the negativesanction was needed to achievegroup goals. Widespread and sustainable methodopen to oppressedpeople in theirstrug- collective action is not likely to develop if gle forfreedom" (1958: 97). potentialmovement leaders fail to meetthe tac- Thedevelopment of a tacticalsolution is one tical challenge.Such leadersmust select and of the centralfactors in movementcausation. thenexecute appropriate tactics that will gener- Suchtactical solutions are not inevitableand do ate sufficientdisorder and be attractiveto their not occurby happenstance.It is this challenge constituency.If theyfail to meetthis challenge, that leadersmust meet if collectiveaction is to collectiveaction will not develop. occur.In Montgomerythe leaderschose a tactic Formass-based movements to emerge,lead- that was creativelywoven into a moralframe ersmust develop tactics that are congruent both and the organizationalcapacity of an agency- with the culturalframework of the challenging ladeninstitution. In short,there is an interac- communityand their main organizational vehi- tion betweenthe type of tactic and type of cles.On theeve of the Montgomerybus boycott, pre-existingorganizations and culturalframes, Kingand other leaders knew that masspartici- whichcan be rapidlyadopted and spreadby a pationwas required for the protestto be effec- protestgroup (Morris 1981). That interaction 450 Symposia

sets the perimetersin which tacticalsolutions wholewho lifted that moral frame and linked it arehammered out. to collectiveaction. The clergycould do this importantcultural work because of their reli- Social Movement Leadership giousauthority and charisma. Charismatic lead- Movementleadership is an importantcom- ership,as Weberargued, is importantbecause plex phenomenonthat affectsthe originsand such leadersare able to articulatepowerful, outcomesof movements.By neglectingleader- mobilizingvisions and attract followers because ship,political process models fail to shedlight of theirpersonal magnetism. Charisma in this on another importantsource of movement instancewas situated within the leadershiprole agency. of theAfrican-American clergy. The presence of Social movementtheory shouldfocus on institutionalizedcharisma enhanced the agency whatmovement leaders do andwhy what they capacityof the African-Americanchurch espe- do matters.The Montgomerycase illustrates ciallyin itsability to mobilizepeople. The mobi- that the ideaof a singleleader is sociologically lization of a movementis enhancedwhen unsound.Rather, in Montgomerya configura- charismaticleadership is situatedwithin agency- tion of leadersconstituted the leadershipthat ladeninstitutions. Such leaders can playcrucial mobilized and guided that movement. rolesin developinga movement'scultural frame Leadershipconfigurations should be placedat and mobilizingparticipants because of their the centerof analysis.The first task of such charismaand institutional resources. analysisis to identifythe pre-existingleadership It hasbeen firmly established in the literature of a challenginggroup and investigate its impor- that social movementorganizations (SMOs) tanceto a movement'sorigins and development. playcritical roles by mobilizing and coordinating A widearray of African-Americanorganizations collectiveaction and by definingthe goalsand and institutionsexisted in Montgomerybefore the busprotest. Perched at the topof themwere tacticsof movements(McCarthy and Zald 1977; thepolitical leaders of thevoluntary associations Gamson1975; Morris 1984; Zald and Ash 1966; andthe clergyof the numerouschurches. These Morrisand Herring1987). What is usually pre-existingleaders could mobilize a movement ignoredis that leadersof SMOsmust choose because they headed organizedfollowings. froma numberof options.The choicesthey Focusingon leadershipconfigurations reveals makeaffect the mobilizingcapacity and out- that multipleleaders operate at the nodes of comes of movements.If Kinghad chosen to indigenousnetworks. In thesecritical locations, adoptan aggressivemilitant tactic that included Montgomery'sAfrican-American leaders pro- the useof violence,the massesand their church- motedmobilization by givingthe new move- es would not have supportedit. Moreover, ment access to their vast communication chancesare great that the statewould have vio- networks,embedded cultural frames, material lently crushedsuch protest in its infancy. resources,and organized followings. Movement Tactical choices that leadersmake matter. agencyis containedin leadershipconfigurations Additionally,leaders must make choices about wherepre-existing leaders have the capacityto the nature of interorganizationalrelations mobilizesocial networks because of theirnodal betweenSMOs, about whom to buildexternal positions.At the organizingmeeting of the boy- allies with, and abouthow to deal with the cott,King reported that "Virtually every organi- opposition(Haines 1988; Zald and McCarthy zationof theNegro community was represented" 1980;Morris 1984). Socialmovement leaders (1958:46). The sameheld true for the African- are also responsiblefor readingand exploiting Americanclergy. These leaders mobilized their the externalpolitical structure. Media coverage constituenciesto participatein the movement. of socialmovements is cruciallyimportant in Thuspre-existing leaders of a challenginggroup modernsocieties (Molotch 1979; Gamson and are crucialto the initialmobilizing stage of a Modigliani1989; Gamson and Wolfseld1993; massmovement. Gitlin1980). How to generateand manage that Pre-existingleaders of agency-ladeninstitu- coverageis a challengethat movementleaders tionsare particularly important to the mobiliza- mustaddress. Social movement theory needs to tion and tacticaldevelopments of movements. explorethese important leadership activities and AlthoughKing articulated the marriage between the contingenciesthat shape them. the church'smoral frame and the tacticof non- The interactionbetween gender and move- violentnoncooperation, it was the clergyas a ment leadershipis anotherimportant issue. In Symposia 451 patriarchalsocieties, men tend to controlformal overemphasizesexternal agency while failing to leadershippositions in movements(Robnett exploreagency-generating factors within chal- 1997;Taylor 1999; Ferree and Hess 1985; Payne lenginggroups. 1994). One importantquestion is whether At the turnof the twentiethcentury, African womenwould build the samekinds of SMOsand Americansengaged in widespreadboycotts of makethe samekinds of decisionsas men,given SouthernJim Crow streetcars.In 1910 the their different gender experiences (see NAACPwas founded and began initiating court Staggenborg1991; Taylor 1999). Belinda battlesagainst racial segregation. In the 1920s Robnett'swork on thecivil rights movement has MarcusGarvey developed a mass-basednational revealedthe fundamentalways in which the movementamong African ,thus organizationand activitiesof that movement revealinghow the African-Americanmasses were gendered.This genderingshaped move- couldbe organized.Marches and picketswere ment leadershipby landingmen at the top of used againstnorthern merchants by African SMOswhile forcing women to exerciseleader- Americansin the 1930sand 1940s.During the ship outside of formalleadership positions. Gandhimovement, African-American leaders Robnett(1997) arguesthat African-Americantraveled to Indiato absorbthe lessonsafforded womendeveloped what she labeledas "bridge by that movement.They were especially atten- leadership,"which is "anintermediate layer of tive to the rolethat nonviolent tactics played in leadership,whose tasks include bridging poten- Gandhi'smovement. Most important,in the tial constituentsand adherents,as well and early 1940s A. PhilipRandolph, drawing on potentialformal leaders, to the movement"(p. lessonsof the Garveymovement, organized a 191).There is someevidence that women may national nonviolent March on Washington havebecome more skilled in executingthe crit- Movementthat forcedPresident Roosevelt to icallyimportant emotional work of socialmove- issuean executiveorder barring discrimination mentsbecause they had feweropportunities to in the defenseindustry. During the sameperiod becomeSMO leaders and to be situatedat the BayardRustin and other leaders participated in nodesof socialnetworks (Taylor 1999, 1995; a "freedomride" in the borderstates of the Robnett1997). In this mannersocial move- South. In 1953 Baton Rouge's African- mentsreproduce gender inequality within move- Americancommunity organized a bus boycott of ments and the largersociety (Taylor1999). thatcity's segregated buses. Becausethe assumedlinks betweenemotions TheMontgomery protest movement emerged and irrationalityin movementsare no longer in the contextof theseprior struggles. African- to tenable,the importanceof emotionalwork Americanleaders familiar with Gandhi'stech- clear.It is movementsis becomingincreasingly niquesof nonviolenceadvised the leadershipin analyzethe impor- timefor movement theory to of the BatonRouge workand formulatemodels that Montgomery.The leader tanceof such providedcritical information to King capturethe differencethat genderplays in boycott movementleadership, mobilization, and the abouthow to organizethe protest.The NAACP generationof inequality. agreedto coverthe legalaspects of the struggle. I have arguedthat socialmovement theory The music,moral frames, and preaching of the needsto bringin leadership.It deservesa central African-Americanchurch, which contained placein movementtheorizing because it inter- protestthemes developed by slaves,provided jectshuman agency into collectiveaction and culturalenergy for the busprotest. affectsthe mobilizationand outcomes of move- Pre-existingprotest traditionsrooted in ments.Thus a majortask of movementtheory is agency-ladeninstitutions, prior SMOs, and the to unpackthe "blackbox" of movementleader- experiencesof leadersaffect the riseand trajec- shipso thatwe candevelop more robust models toryof new socialmovements. Such traditions of how collectiveaction emergesand is sus- containmaterial and cultural resources that can tained. be injected in new movements(Rupp and Taylor1987). Often mobilization must develop Protest Traditions rapidlyto be successful.Thus, time itself is a cru- The politicalprocess model devotes a great cial resourcefor movements (Oliver and deal of attentionto how changingexternal Marwell1992). The availabilityof knowledge politicalstructures create new opportunitiesfor andresources provided by protesttraditions can movementsto emerge.The model,in myview, drasticallyreduce the time it takesto mobilize. 452 Symposia

Forthese reasons, protest traditions decrease the Montgomeryfunctioned as the transformative mobilization,organizational, and culturalcosts event that launchedthe moderncivil rights associatedwith the riseof newcollective action. movement.Future research on transformative A theoreticalformulation is neededto explain eventsis likelyto be fruitfulbecause it can illu- how pre-existingprotest traditions figure in minate anotherimportant source of agency movementemergence and outcomes. capableof fuelingprotracted collective action. Transformative Events Conclusions We turnto the transformativeevent and the Resourcemobilization and politicalprocess role it playsin producinglarge volumes of col- theorieshave added greatly to ourunderstanding lective action. Political process theorists of socialmovements and collective action. We (McAdamand Sewell,forthcoming) who for- understandfar moreclearly now how internal mulatedthe "transformativeevent" concept are socialorganization facilitates mobilization and comingto realizethat some collectiveaction how externalpolitical opportunitiesprovide campaignsor eventsare moreimportant than openingsfor challenging groups to initiatecol- othersbecause they can produce radical turning lectiveaction. We havealso come to realizethat pointsin collectiveaction and affectthe out- framingprocesses are germane to the generation comeof socialmovements. Political process the- of collectiveaction. Social movement research orists have overlookedthese transformative duringthe newcentury can yield additional the- eventsbecause they have tended to relyon time- oreticallnsights by furtherdeveloping these seriesdata that treat all eventsas largely equiva- threefoci of the politicalprocess model. lent. McAdamand Sewell(1999) lamentthis Yetin thisessay I haveargued that the polit- outcome,especially as it pertainsto the civil ical process model has slighted important rights movement. They identify the sourcesof socialmovement agency because of its Montgomerybus boycott, the 1960ssit-ins, and the assassinationof Kingas suchtransformative tendency to assignundue causal weight to exter- events. nal factorsand its propensityto glossover the However,I arguethe Montgomerybus boy- deep culturaland emotionalprocesses that cott, the 1960s sit-ins, and the Birmingham inspireand producecollective action. Future Confrontationof 1963 wereturning points in social movementtheory can begin to correct the civil rightsmovement (Morris 1981, 1984, theselimitations by incorporatinganalyses that 1993b).In termsof Montgomery,this move- explicatethe causalrole that agency-laden insti- ment representeda turningpoint becauseit tutions,frame lifting, tactical solutions, leader- introducedand perfected an effectivetactic, cat- ship configurations, pre-existing protest apulteda charismaticleader into the forefront of traditions,and transformativeevents play in the movement,revealed the mobilizingcapacity social movementsand collectiveaction. The of the African-Americancommunity, sustained challengefor social movementtheory is to a movementfor a considerableperiod of time, deviserobust theoretical formulations of collec- andproduced a victory. tive action that correspondsclosely to social The Montgomerymovement was a transfor- realities.The goal of this effortwas to place mativeevent becauseit providedan oppressed humanagency at the centerof movementanaly- African-Americancommunity with a highlyvis- sis for it operatesat the centerof collective ibleand dynamic model of howto buildsuccess- action. ful localmovements across the South.Through movementspeople discover a collectiveagency References they wereunaware of previously,or perceived Aminzade, Ron, Jack Goldstone, Doug McAdam, onlydimly. Initially the boycottwas planned as ElizabethPerry, William Sewell, Sidney Tarrow, a one-dayprotest but was extended indefinitely and CharlesTilly. Forthcoming.Silence and Voice in the Study of ContentiousPolitics. Cambridge: whenthe leadersdiscovered its neartotal com- CambridgeUniversity Press. munitysupport. However, the largerdiscovery Billingsley,Andrew. 1999. MightyLike a River:The pertainedto humanagency. The Montgomery BlackChurch and Social Reform. New York:Oxford movementrevealed to a national African- UniversityPress. Americancommunity that a disciplinedand Emirbayer, Mustafa and Jeff Goodwin. 1994. organizedmass movementcould eventually "Network Analysis, Culture, and Agency." overthrowthe Jim Crowregime. As a result, AmericanJoumal of Sociology99: 1411-54. Symposia 453

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Hot Movements, Cold Cognition: Thinking about Social Movements in Gendered Framese MYRAMARX FERREE - DAVIDA. MERRILL University of Connecticut Framingtheories begin from the assumptionthat politicalthought at multiplelevels of analysis,as languagematters politically. Analyses of gender well as biasingthe processof framingresearch havesuggested that languageoften carries mas- questionsabout social movements.We argue culinistassumptions and normativejudgments thatuncovering the genderdimension in politi- thatpass as neutralconcepts. In this paper,we cal discoursewould not only to bringwomen connectthese two perspectives. In particular, we morefully into the picturebut also correct par- tial and politicallybiased understandingsof suggestthat gender-conventionalconceptions "politicalman." The questionswe raisehere obscureimportant elements of understanding aboutthe futureof framingthus arise from our feministconcerns about the disciplineof sociol- 8 The authorsespecially want to thank Marita ogyas a whole. McComiskyfor her emphasis over the years on the passionateside of protest,as well as WilliamA. Ourspecific objective in this essayis to use Gamson,Davita Silfen Glasberg, Carol McClurg criticalideas about gender to addressthe litera- Mueller,and the editorsof ContemporarySociology tureon framingin socialmovements. By inves- fortheir helpful comments on earlierdrafts. tigating the often-unexaminedassumptions