Collective Action and Rationality in the Anti-Terror Age
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“Building A Wall of Resistance:” Collective Action and Rationality in the Anti-Terror Age Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Reynolds-Stenson, Heidi Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction, presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 30/09/2021 14:10:57 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/630175 “BUILDING A WALL OF RESISTANCE:” COLLECTIVE ACTION AND RATIONALITY IN THE ANTI-TERROR AGE by Heidi Reynolds-Stenson _____________________________________ Copyright © Heidi Reynolds-Stenson 2018 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the SCHOOL OF SOCIOLOGY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2018 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that an accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: Heidi Reynolds-Stenson 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my mentor Jennifer Earl, who has been a steadfast source of knowledge, wisdom, encouragement and friendship over the past several years. I would furthermore like to thank my committee members Robin Stryker and Jane Zavisca for their invaluable guidance and support, as well as the many others who have provided feedback on this project at various stages, including but not limited to Luis Fernandez, Joseph West, Will Moore, Christian Davenport, David Cunningham, Pamela Oliver, Dana Moss, David Meyer, Rachel Einwohner, Mark Beissinger, Claire Brock, Hailey Reeves, and Evan Brown. I would also like to thank Kevin Sharp, Ryan Tombleson, Anne Reynolds, Adina Artzi, Olaide Adeniran, Samantha Coronado, Anthony Eulano, Jennica Schoppenhorst, and Jamie Tugenberg for their assistance with transcription, coding, and copyediting. I will also be forever grateful my friends and family for their encouragement and patience through the long and at-times difficult journey through graduate school and the completion of this project. Finally, I would like to thank the activists who shared their stories, passions, and lives with me. Without their generosity and inspiration, this project truly would not have been possible. 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT 9 CHAPTER 1: TOWARD AN INTEGRATED THEORY OF COLLECTIVE ACTION 10 THE “RATIONAL TURN” IN THE STUDY OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 11 CRITICISM OF A RATIONAL CHOICE APPROACH TO SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 14 THE REDUCTIONISM OF RATIONAL ACTOR THEORY 15 INABILITY TO EXPLAIN VALUE FORMATION 18 TAUTOLOGICAL ATTEMPTS AT INCORPORATING CULTURAL AND EMOTIONAL FACTORS 20 TAKING STOCK OF WHAT WAS LOST IN THE RATIONAL TURN 23 THE “CULTURAL TURN” IN THE STUDY OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 26 AN INCOMPLETE REVOLUTION? 32 A SUBFIELD DIVIDED 33 “THIN” CULTURE 36 COLLECTIVE ACTION, COLLECTIVE RATIONALITY 39 SHAPING SITUATIONS: REDUCING AND SHARING THE COSTS OF PROTEST 39 SHAPING ORIENTATIONS: DEFINING THE “ENDS” OF PROTEST 40 SHAPING DISPOSITIONS: CULTIVATING AN ACTIVIST IDENTITY 42 CONCLUSION 44 CHAPTER 2: REPRESSION, MOBILIZATION, AND THE CULTURAL CONSTRUCTION OF RATIONALITY 48 MIXED EFFECTS OF REPRESSION 49 MEDIATING RATIONALITY, MEDIATING REPRESSION 54 SHAPING SITUATIONS OF PROTEST AND REPRESSION 56 SHAPING ORIENTATIONS TOWARDS PROTEST AND REPRESSION 58 SHAPING DISPOSITIONS TOWARDS PROTEST AND REPRESSION 61 CONCLUSION 62 CHAPTER 3: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE POLICING OF DISSENT IN THE UNITED STATES, 1956-2016 64 1956-1971: THE COINTELPRO ERA 64 1972-1999: AN UNEASY PEACE 70 1999-2016: ANARCHISTS, TERRORISTS, AND OTHER BOOGEYMEN 75 THE “BATTLE IN SEATTLE” AND THE END OF NEGOTIATED MANAGEMENT 76 COUNTER-TERRORISM AND THE RISE OF THE SURVEILLANCE STATE 81 RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN COVERT REPRESSION 89 CONCLUSION 91 CHAPTER 4: STUDYING REPRESSION AND RESISTANCE IN THE ANTI-TERROR AGE 93 RESEARCH SETTING 94 IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS 97 ANALYSIS OF IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW DATA 103 ALL INTERVIEWS WERE TRANSCRIBED VERBATIM, WITH THE HELP OF RESEARCH ASSISTANTS. THE INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS WERE THEN QUALITATIVELY CODED USING THE QUALITATIVE CODING SOFTWARE ATLAS.TI. I DEVELOPED A CODING SCHEME ITERATIVELY OVER SEVERAL ROUNDS OF CODING, PRODUCING NEARLY 150 CODES FOCUSED ON MEASURING THE REPRESSIVE 6 EXPERIENCES OF RESPONDENTS, THEIR PARTICIPATION IN ACTIVISM OVER TIME, AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE COLLECTIVE PRACTICES AND MEANINGS THAT INFLUENCED HOW THEY UNDERSTOOD, THOUGHT ABOUT, AND RATIONALIZED THEIR PARTICIPATION IN ACTIVISM AND EXPERIENCES OF REPRESSION. 103 MEASURING REPRESSION 104 MEASURING PARTICIPATION 107 MEASURING ACTIVIST CULTURE 109 QUALITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS 110 PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION 112 CONCLUSION 113 CHAPTER 5: REPRESSION IN THE EYE OF THE BEHOLDER 115 RADICALIZATION AND PERSISTENCE 117 DETERRENCE AND DISENGAGEMENT 124 REPRESSION TYPE 132 EXPERIENCING DIFFERENCE TYPES OF REPRESSION 133 CONSIDERING DIFFERENT TYPES OF REPRESSION 137 REPRESSION SEVERITY 142 CONCLUSION 148 CHAPTER 6: SHAPING REPRESSIVE SITUATIONS THROUGH PREVENTION, PREPARATION, AND SUPPORT 149 THE COSTS OF REPRESSION 151 DIRECT FINANCIAL COSTS 151 CAREER AND EDUCATIONAL COSTS 153 SOCIAL COSTS 161 MITIGATING COSTS, SHAPING SITUATIONS 162 PREVENTING THE COSTS OF REPRESSION 163 PREPARING FOR THE COSTS OF REPRESSION 175 SUPPORT AND THE SHARING OF COSTS OF REPRESSION 180 LEGAL SUPPORT 183 MEDICAL SUPPORT 185 OTHER MATERIAL SUPPORT 190 EMOTIONAL SUPPORT AND SOLIDARITY 191 INSTITUTIONALIZED EMOTIONAL SUPPORT 191 INFORMAL EMOTIONAL SUPPORT 195 THE IMPORTANCE OF SUPPORT FOR INDIVIDIUALS 198 THE IMPORTANCE OF SUPPORT FOR THE GROUP 201 STRENGTHENING TIES OF SOLIDARITY 201 MOVEMENT BUILDING 203 CONCLUSION 206 CHAPTER 7: “THE ATTEMPT IS MEANINGFUL:” REDEFINING PROTEST’S ENDS 208 “ULTIMATELY, WE’RE ALL LOSING:” THE PESSIMISM OF PROTEST 209 EFFICACY AND PROTEST PARTICIPATION 213 BEYOND EFFICACY 216 EXPANDING THE DEFINITION OF SUCCESS 218 WHEN MEANS BECOME ENDS: RESISTANCE AS A VICTORY 227 7 WHEN COSTS BECOME REWARDING: REPRESSION AS A SIGN OF SUCCESS 241 RESISTING THE LANGAUGE OF EFFICACY 244 CONCLUSION 246 CHAPTER 8: ACTIVIST IDENTITY SALIENCE AND REPRESSION RESILIENCE 248 IDENTITY AND SOCIAL MOVEMENT PARTICIPATION 250 ACTIVIST IDENTITY SALIENCE 252 “AN ACTIVIST EVEN WHEN I’M NOT:” ACTIVISM AS INSERPARABLE FROM SELF 255 “MY RENT ON THIS EARTH:” COMPULSION, GUILT, AND OBLIGATION 256 “I DON’T KNOW WHAT ELSE THERE IS TO DO:” TAKING ACTIVISM FOR GRANTED 260 ACTIVIST IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT 263 ACTIVIST ORIGIN STORIES 263 ACTIVIST WAR STORIES 268 PARENTING AS A CHALLENGE TO ACTIVIST IDENTITY SALIENCE 274 CONCLUSION 277 CHAPTER 9: THE FUTURE OF REPRESSION AND REPRESSION RESEARCH 280 RESISTANCE AND REPRESSION IN THE TRUMP ERA 280 SHAPING SITUATIONS, ORIENTATIONS, AND DISPOSITIONS 284 SECOND-ORDER REPRESSION EFFECTS 288 BRINGING ACTIVISTS INTO RESEARCH ON REPRESSION EFFECTS 293 FROM RECRUITMENT TO PERSISTENCE 294 AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO COLLECTIVE ACTION 296 APPENDIX A: INTERVIEW GUIDE 298 REFERENCES 307 8 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Interview Subject Demographics 103 Table 2: Types of Repressive Experiences Among Respondents 135 Table 3: Types of Repressive Experiences, By Persistence/Disengagement 137 Table 4: Severity of Repressive Experiences, By Persistence/Disengagement 144 9 ABSTRACT When people come together in protest, and especially when this protest threatens public order or the status quo, states often attempt to deter and suppress protest and restore order. A perennial question among social movement scholars is whether such repression is effective at chilling protest or instead backfires, spurring greater mobilization. Empirical studies attempting to adjudicate between these two possibilities have failed to create consensus, finding a wide array of empirical consequences for repression. I propose a new way of understanding the effects of repression that draws on and synthesizes insights from both rational choice and cultural traditions in social movement theory. I develop this explanation through analysis of in-depth interviews and observations with activists in Arizona who have experienced state repression, as well as qualitative content analysis of activist literature. These data demonstrate that how individual activists perceive and respond to state repression has little to do with the type or severity of repression they experience. Rather, protest groups fundamentally shape how individuals experience and consider the risks and rewards of participation in collective action, including those related to repression and, as a result, individuals react very differently to objectively similar experiences of repression. Specifically, I document three ways in which group practices and meanings alter how individuals think about and act in response to state repression. First, groups shape how