DOCSLIB.ORG

Teun a Van Dijk

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Teun a Van Dijk Ideology A Multidisciplinary Approach Teun A. van Dijk 1 S AGE Publications London • Thousand Oaks • New Delhi Teun A. van Dijk 1998 First published 1998 Ah rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the Publishers. SAGE Publications Ltd 6 Bonhill Street London EC2A 4PU SAGE Publications Inc 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320 SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd 32, M-Block Market Greater Kailash — I New Delhi 110 048 British Library Cataloguing in Publkation data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 0 7619 5654 9 ISBN 0 7619 5655 7 (pbk) Library of Congress catalog record available Typeset by Photoprint, Torquay Printed in Great Britain by The Cromwell Press, Trowbridge, Wiltshire Contents Preface vii 1 Introduction Part I: Cognition 2 Ideas and beliefs 15 3 Social beliefs 28 4 Structures and strategies 53 5 Structures of ideologies 65 6 Values 74 7 Mental models 78 8 Consistency 90 9 Consciousness 96 10 Common sense 102 11 Knowledge and truth 108 12 Identity 118 13 Social cognition 126 Part II: Society 14 Ideology and society 135 15 Groups 140 16 Group relations 161 17 Elites 172 18 Dominant ideologies? 179 19 Institutions 186 Part Discourse 20 The relevance of discourse 191 21 Discourse structures 200 22 Context 211 23 Reproduction 228 24 From cognition to discourse 235 25 Persuasion 243 26 Legitimation 255 27 Ideological discourse structures 263 vi Contents 28 The ideology and discourse of modern racism 277 29 Conclusions 313 Notes 321 References 341 Index 366 Preface Most scholars have a number of dream projects in mind: topics they have always wanted to investigate and write about, but for various reasons never did. I have many such unrealized acadernic dreams. For many years, an innovative study on the relations between ideology and discourse has been one of them. Ideology has been dealt with in literally thousands of books and articles, but (as many other authors also conclude) its defmition is as elusive and confused as ever. So, to write a book that would specifically deal with the complex relations between ideology and discourse is more than a challenge: it is pure hubris, especially since such a book should of course begin with a proper theory of ideology. How could I possibly contribute anything new and interesting given such an enormous literature? Not surprisingly, therefore, it soon turned out that the theoretical compo- nent of such a study would itself be a major undertaking. One single book would barely be enough to explore the many issues, concepts and disciplines involved in the analysis of ideology, let alone the relations between discourse and ideology. Nevertheless, I accepted the challenge, and this book is the first instalment of this major enterprise. It discusses some of the fundamental concepts of such a new, multidisciplinary theory of ideology, and sketches the overall outline of the ways ideology is expressed and reproduced by discourse. The overall theoretical framework for my approach to ideology may be sum- marized by the triangle formed by the concepts Cognition, Society and Discourse. That is, first, the status, internal organization and mental func- tions of ideologies need to be studied in tercos of social cognition. Second, the conditions and functions of ideologies are obviously not only cognitive but also social, political, cultural and historical. And third, ideologies are formed, changed and reproduced largely through socially situated discourse and communication. Instead of simply adding results from psychology, the social sciences and discourse studies, however, these three central concepts have to be reformu- lated and integrated into one theoretical framework. Discourse should be explicitly related to the structures and strategies of the personal and social mind, as well as to those of social situations, social interactions and societal structures. In the sarne way, also cognition should be linked with both discourse and society, thus serving as the necessary interface by which social structure can be explicitly related to discourse structure. viii Preface The vast majority of studies of ideology (whether Marxist or non-Marxist) are rooted in the social sciences and pay extensive attention to ideologies in relation to class, dominant groups, social movements, power, the political economy or, more recently, to gender and culture. They have paid less attention to the cognitive and the discursive dimensions of ideologies, however. Indeed, classical work hardly analyses the details of the 'ideas', 'beliefs' or 'consciousness' assumed to constitute an ideology. Even most contemporary approaches ignore the advances in current cognitive science, and, vice versa, most cognitive science is barely interested in questions of the mental structures and functions of ideologies. This is why I pay more attention to this cognitive dimension of the theory, while emphasizing that ideologies may well be located in the mirad but that this does not mean that they are therefore less social. Though usually of later vintage, extant work on discourse and ideology does of course emphasize the important role of text and talk in the (re)production of ideologies. To my knowledge, however, among the many studies of ideology, some of which also deal with language or discourse, there is not a single one that details how exactly ideology shapes text and talk, and conversely, how it is formed, acquired or changed by discourse and communication. As part of the more social and political component of the theory, and establishing an explicit link with my previous big project, this book will occasionally use racism and racist ideologies as an illustration of the theoretical argument. This does not mean, however, that I offer a fully fledged account of racist ideologies, which would need to be accounted for in a separate monograph. However, whereas throughout the book my comments on ideology, racism and discourse will be rather general, Chapter 28 offers a concrete case study of a recent text about race relations in the USA, namely, Dinesh D'Souzá s book The End of Racism. A muldisciplinary theory of ideology can be accomplished only by reducing its complexity. I am not a psychologist, a sociologist or a political scientist. This means that my overall perspective and organizing con- ceptualizations will often be those of discourse and discourse analysis. There are worse biases, given the fundamental role of discourse in the formation and expression of ideology as social cognition and in the reproduction of ideologies in society. At the same time, it is obvious that this book cannot do, redo or undo the relevant substantial work that has already been done in the social sciences. As suggested, this book is the first result of a bigger project. It sketches the overall framework of the theory. In later studies I hope to detall each of its main components, namely, those of social cognition, social interaction and societal structures, as well as the structures of discourse involved in the expression and reproduction of ideology. These studies will also feature concrete empirical studies of the relations between discourse, cognition and society, as well as more detailed reviews of the relevant literature. Preface ix I may disappoint sorne of the readers whose notion of discourse is exclusively associated with the more literary, philosophical or postmodern notions of 'discourse' or 'text' After more than thirty years, the study of discourse has become a multidisciplinary field, featuring sometimes highly explicit and detailed theories of structures and functions of text and talk. Unfortunately, many fashionable approaches that currently refer to 'text' or 'discourse' ignore these advances, and for that reason offer an unsuitable basis for a theory of ideology. Even in a theoretical book like this, I highly value accessibility for scholars and students from different disciplines. This mean that esoteric jargon will be avoided, and theoretical terms only introduced and explained where necessary. Many of the notions dealt with in this book have been discussed in sóinetimes rather technical earlier studies. In order to be able to construct an integrated theoretical framework, many details had to be ignored in favour of the overall outline of the theory. I hope to be able to pay attention to these details in the following studies in this series. There is another way in which this book differs from much other work on ideology: it barely looks back. Many studies, as is customary in philosophy and sociology (and much less in, e.g., psychology and linguistics), are commentaries (on commentaries) on the classics, from the French philo- sophes and Marx/Engels to Lukács, Gramsci, Althusser, Foucault and Habermas. (For detail, see the excellent introductions and historical over- views by Larrain, Eagleton and Billig, among others.) In this book I want to go beyond such a history and philosophy of ideology, and integrate new ideas of contemporary discourse studies, lin- guistics, cognitive science, political science and new developments in the other social sciences. In other words, in order not to get entangled in endless debates with the classics, I have left such debates to the many other authors who engage in them. Instead, I present a systematic, analytical study, in which the old debates and current other studies of ideology play a role only in the background, in the footnotes and in the references. This of course does not mean that I think most earlier work on ideology is irrelevant. On the contrary, there are many studie s whose theories, concepts and empirical results are also suitable for my own project. However, in the first, theoretical book of this project, I prefer to focus on the oyeran framework and present that as clearly and analytically as possible, without extensive comments on, discussions with, or references to the vast amount of earlier work.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Modeling Memes: a Memetic View of Affordance Learning
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations Spring 2011 Modeling Memes: A Memetic View of Affordance Learning Benjamin D. Nye University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Commons, Cognition and Perception Commons, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Commons, Other Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons, Social Psychology Commons, and the Statistical Models Commons Recommended Citation Nye, Benjamin D., "Modeling Memes: A Memetic View of Affordance Learning" (2011). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 336. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/336 With all thanks to my esteemed committee, Dr. Silverman, Dr. Smith, Dr. Carley, and Dr. Bordogna. Also, great thanks to the University of Pennsylvania for all the opportunities to perform research at such a revered institution. This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/336 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Modeling Memes: A Memetic View of Affordance Learning Abstract This research employed systems social science inquiry to build a synthesis model that would be useful for modeling meme evolution. First, a formal definition of memes was proposed that balanced both ontological adequacy and empirical observability. Based on this definition, a systems model for meme evolution was synthesized from Shannon Information Theory and elements of Bandura's Social Cognitive Learning Theory. Research in perception, social psychology, learning, and communication were incorporated to explain the cognitive and environmental processes guiding meme evolution. By extending the PMFServ cognitive architecture, socio-cognitive agents were created who could simulate social learning of Gibson affordances.
    [Show full text]
  • Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding
    SEPTEMBER 2009 Conflict is an inherent and legitimate part of social and political life, but in many places conflict turns violent, inflicting grave costs in terms of lost lives, degraded governance, and destroyed livelihoods. The costs and consequences of conflict, crisis, and state failure have become unacceptably high. Violent conflict dramatically disrupts traditional development and it can spill over FROM THE DIRECTOR borders and reduce growth and prosperity across entire regions. Religion is often viewed as a motive for conflict and has emerged as a key compo- nent in many current and past conflicts. However, religion does not always drive violence; it is also an integral factor in the peacebuilding and reconciliation process. Development assistance and programming does not always consider this link- age, nor does it fully address the complexity of the relationship between religion and conflict. As a main mobilizing force in many societies, proper engagement of religion and its leaders is crucial. This Toolkit is intended to help USAID staff and their implementing partners un- derstand the opportunities and challenges inherent to development programming in conflicts where religion is a key component. Like other guides in this series, this Toolkit discusses key issues that need to be considered when development as- sistance is provided in religious contexts and identifies lessons that been emerged from USAID’s experience implementing such programs. However compared to other types of programming, USAID experience engaging religion and religious actors to prevent conflict or build peace is modest. Thus, recognizing that there is still significantly more to be learned on this critical topic, this toolkit contains summaries of four actual USAID programs that have successfully engaged religious actors.
    [Show full text]
  • Religion, Nationalism and Demography: False Consciousness, Real Consequences1
    Religion, Nationalism and Demography: False Consciousness, Real Consequences1 Jon Anson Department of Social Work Ben Gurion University of the Negev 84105 Beer Sheva, Israel 1Previous versions of this paper have been presented at the Sociology of Religion Study Group of the British Sociological Association seminar on Demography and Religion, Lancaster, 14 April, 2005; BSPS Annual Meeting, Southampton, 2006, and the ASEN conference on Religion and Demography, LSE, 2006. My thanks to Ofra Anson, to David Voas, and to the participants at all these meetings, as well as many others, unknown and unnamed, for their comments and suggestions. Naturally, responsibility for all shortcomings lies with myself alone. Religion, Nationalism and Demography: False Consciousness, Real Consequences Abstract We may treat religion as an immanent belief system which directly guides human action, or as a social phenomenon in which the actual content of the belief is contingent. The first course leads into a series of contradictions: neither the beliefs nor their consequences are consistent, nor eternal over time. As social phenomena, however, religions differ from nationalisms only in the referent of their expressed belief: an otherworldly sacred being or a this-worldly sacred community, and the two are often conflated. If in the past men killed and died for their gods, today they do so for their country. Demographic events, childbirth and death, may similarly be treated as individual events or as social phenomena subject to group, and not just individual, control. In this paper we consider the relations between these two sets of social phenomena, religion and nationalism on one hand, demographic processes on the other, and the contradictions inherent in ignoring the social element in the explanation of their interrelationship.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 1. Introduction to a Republic, If You Can Keep It Last Updated: 8-14-2015 Copyright 2008-15
    Chapter 1. Introduction to A Republic, If You Can Keep It Last Updated: 8-14-2015 Copyright 2008-15 OUTLINE I. Purposes of This E-Text II. Some Basic Terms and Ideas A. Republics and Democracies–The Question of Who Should Govern B. Politics and Power–Personal and Public C. Government D. Ideology and Party–Differences and Similarities E. Federalism–What Level of Government Should Have Power III. Plan of the Text–Chapter Organization IV. Policy A. Policy and the text B. Health Care Policy V. Final Introductory Comments TEXT I. Purposes of This E-Text Every text has a “hook” to entice students to read it, to create interest, and to improve understanding. This text is no different, except perhaps that it has several hooks. First is the “pocketbook” hook. You’re not going to read a text if you can’t afford to buy it. Affordability is an ever greater problem for college students. This e-book is very affordable—it’s free! If you just read it online, it costs you nothing. If you print it, the cost is printing, but who does that anymore with smartphones! People often say that “you get what you pay for.” This time I hope you get a lot more than what you paid! You do not need $ for this text! (public domain) Second, the text is conversational in style. I tried to avoid complicated wording and terms. I use as little political science jargon as possible. Sentences will usually be short and to the point. Paragraphs will be short. So I will use the first person, saying “I” a lot, and I will address “you” a lot as well.
    [Show full text]
  • Enabling Supportive Communications in Decentralized Multi-Agent Teams
    Enabling Supportive Communications in Decentralized Multi-Agent Teams by Keren Gu B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2014 Submitted to the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY June 2015 c Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2015. All rights reserved. Author.............................................................. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science May 22, 2015 Certified by. Julie A. Shah Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics Thesis Supervisor Accepted by . Albert R. Meyer Chair, Masters of Engineering Thesis Committee Enabling Supportive Communications in Decentralized Multi-Agent Teams by Keren Gu Submitted to the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science on May 22, 2015, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Abstract Supportive communication is an effective collaboration behavior identified in human teams in which team members share information proactively to improve overall team performance. Prior work formulated this objective as the Single-Agent in a Team Decision Problem (SAT-DP) where agents decide whether or not to communicate an unexpected observation during execution time. We extend the SAT-DP definition to include sequential observations, highlighting the need for belief updates of attributed mental models of agents. These updates must be performed effectively and efficiently to minimize model divergence and maximize the utility of future communications. In this paper, we present a decision-theoretic solution to the sequential SAT-DP. In our solution, we propose the use of Bayesian plan recognition as one of the methods for reducing divergence in mental models.
    [Show full text]
  • Masses, Crowds, Communities, Movements: Collective Action in the Internet Age
    Social Movement Studies Journal of Social, Cultural and Political Protest ISSN: 1474-2837 (Print) 1474-2829 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/csms20 Masses, Crowds, Communities, Movements: Collective Action in the Internet Age Ulrich Dolata & Jan-Felix Schrape To cite this article: Ulrich Dolata & Jan-Felix Schrape (2016) Masses, Crowds, Communities, Movements: Collective Action in the Internet Age, Social Movement Studies, 15:1, 1-18, DOI: 10.1080/14742837.2015.1055722 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2015.1055722 Published online: 09 Jul 2015. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 999 View related articles View Crossmark data Citing articles: 2 View citing articles Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=csms20 Download by: [University of Liverpool] Date: 12 October 2016, At: 07:37 Social Movement Studies, 2016 Vol. 15, No. 1, 1–18, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2015.1055722 Masses, Crowds, Communities, Movements: Collective Action in the Internet Age ULRICH DOLATA & JAN-FELIX SCHRAPE Department for Organizational Sociology and Innovation Studies, Institute for Social Sciences, University of Stuttgart, Seidenstr. 36, D-70174 Stuttgart, Germany ABSTRACT This article investigates two questions: One, how might the very differently structured social collectives on the Internet – masses, crowds, communities and movements – be classified and distinguished? And two, what influence do the technological infrastructures in which they operate have on their formation, structure, and activities? For this, we differentiate between two main types of social collectives: non-organized collectives, which exhibit loosely coupled collective behavior, and collective actors with a separate identity and strategic capability.
    [Show full text]
  • Intra-Group Interaction and the Development of Norms Which Promote Inter-Group Hostility
    European Journal of Social Psychology Eur. J. Soc. Psychol. 39, 130–144 (2009) Published online 1 October 2007 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/ejsp.464 Intra-group interaction and the development of norms which promote inter-group hostility LAURA G. E. SMITH1* AND TOM POSTMES1,2 1School of Psychology, Washington Singer Laboratories, University of Exeter, UK 2University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands Abstract Research suggests there is more inter-group discrimination when rewards rather than punishments are distributed between groups (the positive-negative asymmetry effect). This study investigated whether intra-group interaction and the obstruction of in-group advancement moderate this finding. Participants were twice asked to divide monetary resources—individually (pre-consensus) and in interactive groups (consensus). Results confirmed that there was more discrimination when rewards were allocated. Although this replicates the PNAE overall, there were two moderators. First, there was no asymmetry when the out-group obstructed in-group advancement: obstruction was sufficient to legitimise punishment. Second, after group interaction the PNAE reversed so that there was more discrimination when punishments were administered. The severity of discrimination was contingent upon group norms that endorsed inter-group hostility. It is argued that norms changed as a function of group interaction, and so did patterns of discrimination. The results suggest that the intra- and inter-group context combined to cause in-group favouritism to slide towards inter-group hostility. Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Social psychological research has demonstrated a robust tendency for humans to favour the in-group over out-group(s) (Allport, 1954; Tajfel, Billig, Bundy, & Flament, 1971).
    [Show full text]
  • A Theory of Social Movements from Jean-Paul Sartre
    becalm 8ES0!!B ED 177 653 CS 502 675 AUTHOR Warnick, Barbara TITLE Rhetoric in Group Action: A Theory of Social Movements from Jean-Paul Sartre. PUB DATE Nov 79 NOTE 23p.: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the speech Communication Association (65th, San Antonio, TX, November. 10-13, 1979) EDR3 TRICE MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Discourse Analysis; *Group Structure; Interaction Process Analysis: *Organizations (Groups); *Rhetoric; Rhetorical Criticism: *Social Action IDENTIFIERS *Sartre (Jean Paul) ABSTRACT The implications of a social movement theory advanced by ,Jean-Paul Sartre in his "Critique of Dialectical reason" is examined in this paper. The paper notes that unlike sociologists and rhetoricians who have stressed the psychology of movement adherents,- the reasons for movement 'formation; or the movement's interaction with power agents, Sartre bases his analysis on the forms of. organization within the group. The paper then reviews the five forms of groups discussed by Sartre---the series the fused group, the pledged group, the organization, and the institution—and describes the functions of rhetoric particular to each form. (Author/FL) RHETORIC IN GROUP ACTION: A THEORY OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS FROM JEAN-PAUL SARTRE Barbara Warnick Assistant Professor of Speech Tulane University RHETORIC IN GROUP ACTION: A THEORY OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS FROM JEAN-PAUL SARTRE Abstract This study examines' the implications of a social movement theory advanced by Jean-Paul Sartre in his Critique of Dialectical Reason. Unlike sociologists and rhetoricians who have stressed the psychology of movement adherents, the reasons for movement- formation, or the movement's interaction with power agents, Sartre bases his analysis on the forms of organization within• the group.
    [Show full text]
  • Cognition and Emotion in Extreme Political Action: Individual Differences and Dynamic Interactions
    Cognition and Emotion in Extreme Political Action: Individual Differences and Dynamic Interactions Leor Zmigrod1,2,3 & Amit Goldenberg4 Affiliations: 1Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK 2Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK 3Churchill College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK 4Harvard Business School, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA Contact: Dr Leor Zmigrod, [email protected], +44 7522193934. Paper accepted and in press at Current Directions in Psychological Science. Can be tempo- rarily cited as: Zmigrod, L., & Goldenberg, A. (2020). Cognition and Emotion in Extreme Political Action: Individual Differences and Dynamic Interactions. Current Directions in Psychological Sci- ence. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/w3hj6 1 Abstract Who is most likely to join and engage in extreme political action? While traditional theories have focused on situational factors or group identity attributes, an emerging science illustrates that tendencies for extreme political action may also be rooted in individuals’ idiosyncratic cognitive and affective dispositions. This paper synthesizes cutting-edge evidence demonstrating that an individual’s cognitive and affective architecture shape their willingness to support ideological violence. From a cognitive perspective, traits such as cognitive rigidity, slower perceptual strategies, and poorer executive functions are linked to heightened endorsement for ideological violence. From an emotional standpoint, characteristics associated with emotional reactivity and impaired emotional regulation, such as sensation-seeking and impulsivity, can facilitate readiness for extreme political action. The review hones in on the roles of cognitive rigidity and sensation-seeking as traits heightening proclivities for extreme pro-group behavior, and recommends that future research should aim to assess cognition-emotion interactions to reveal different sub-profiles of political actors.
    [Show full text]
  • Linking Group Theory to Social Science Game Theory: Interaction Grammars, Group Subcultures and Games for Comparative Analysis
    social sciences $€ £ ¥ Article Linking Group Theory to Social Science Game Theory: Interaction Grammars, Group Subcultures and Games for Comparative Analysis Tom R. Burns 1,2,*, Ewa Roszkowska 3, Ugo Corte 1 and Nora Machado Des Johansson 2 1 Department of Sociology, University of Uppsala, Uppsala 75126, Sweden; [email protected] 2 Lisbon University Institute (ISCTE), Lisbon 1649-026, Portugal; [email protected] 3 Faculty of Managements and Economics, University of Bialystok, Bialystok 15-062, Poland; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +46-18-471-5178 Received: 10 April 2017; Accepted: 29 August 2017; Published: 7 September 2017 Abstract: This article draws on earlier work in social system theorizing and analysis—in particular, the theory of social rule systems. On the basis of this foundational work, its aim is to systematically link theories of social groups and organizations, on the one hand, and social science game and interaction theory, on the other hand. Rule system theory has contributed to significant features of group theory and social science game theory. It is a cultural-institutional approach to conceptualizing group systems and games. We explore how groups and their particular games can be effectively described, analyzed, and compared—and their similarities and differences identified on a systematic basis. For illustrative purposes, we present a selection of several ideal types of groups: a military unit, a terrorist group, a recreational or social group, a research group, and a business entity, each of whom has a distinct rule configuration making for particular “rules of the game” and game patterns of interaction and outcome.
    [Show full text]
  • Status Hierarchies and the Organization of Collective Action
    STX30310.1177/07352751124 45791257912Sociological TheorySimpson et al. 2012 Sociological Theory 30(3) 149 –166 Status Hierarchies and the © American Sociological Association 2012 DOI: 10.1177/0735275112457912 Organization of Collective http://stx.sagepub.com Action Brent Simpson1, Robb Willer2, and Cecilia L. Ridgeway3 Abstract Most work on collective action assumes that group members are undifferentiated by status, or standing, in the group. Yet such undifferentiated groups are rare, if they exist at all. Here we extend an existing sociological research program to address how extant status hierarchies help organize collective actions by coordinating how much and when group members should contribute to group efforts. We outline three theoretically derived predictions of how status hierarchies organize patterns of behavior to produce larger public goods. We review existing evidence relevant to two of the three hypotheses and present results from a preliminary experimental test of the third. Findings are consistent with the model. The tendency of these dynamics to lead status-differentiated groups to produce larger public goods may help explain the ubiquity of hierarchy in groups, despite the often negative effects of status inequalities for many group members. Keywords status, collective action, coordination, hierarchy, public goods Past models of collective action typically have addressed how collective actions emerge among homoge- neous groups of undifferentiated actors (for important exceptions, see Clark, Clark, and Polborn 2006; Granovetter 1978; Marwell and Oliver 1993; Oliver, Marwell, and Texeira 1985). From such an approach, collective efforts entail various social dilemmas, including the challenges of motivating individuals to make costly contributions and the coordination of group members’ efforts in ways that are complementary and productive.
    [Show full text]
  • Political Sociology and Social Movements
    ANRV381-SO35-19 ARI 2 June 2009 7:44 Political Sociology and Social Movements Andrew G. Walder Department of Sociology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-2047, email: [email protected] Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2009. 35:393–412 Key Words First published online as a Review in Advance on contentious politics, mobilization, collective action April 6, 2009 The Annual Review of Sociology is online at Abstract soc.annualreviews.org Until the 1970s, the study of social movements was firmly within a di- This article’s doi: verse sociological tradition that explored the relationship between social 10.1146/annurev-soc-070308-120035 structure and political behavior, and was preoccupied with explaining Copyright c 2009 by Annual Reviews. variation in the political orientation of movements: their ideologies, All rights reserved aims, motivations, or propensities for violence. Subsequently, a break- 0360-0572/09/0811-0393$20.00 away tradition redefined the central problem, radically narrowing the scope of interest to the process of mobilization—how social groups, whoever they are and whatever their aims, marshal resources, recruit adherents, and navigate political environments in order to grow and Annu. Rev. Sociol. 2009.35:393-412. Downloaded from arjournals.annualreviews.org succeed. Critics would later insist that the construction of meaning, the by Stanford University - Main Campus Green Library on 07/27/09. For personal use only. formation of collective identities, and the stimulation and amplification of emotions play vital and neglected roles in mobilization, but these alternatives did not challenge the narrowed construction of the prob- lem itself. The resulting subfield has largely abandoned the quest to explain variation in the political orientation of movements.
    [Show full text]