The Rise of the Democratic Socialists of America: a Qualitative Analysis of the Contributing Factors to Insurgent Mobilization
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University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 12-2020 The Rise of the Democratic Socialists of America: A Qualitative Analysis of the Contributing Factors to Insurgent Mobilization Grady Lowery University of Tennessee, Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss Part of the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Lowery, Grady, "The Rise of the Democratic Socialists of America: A Qualitative Analysis of the Contributing Factors to Insurgent Mobilization. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2020. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/6079 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by Grady Lowery entitled "The Rise of the Democratic Socialists of America: A Qualitative Analysis of the Contributing Factors to Insurgent Mobilization." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Sociology. Jon Shefner, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Michelle Christian, Asafa Jalata, Anthony J. Nownes Accepted for the Council: Dixie L. Thompson Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) The Rise of the Democratic Socialists of America: A Qualitative Analysis of the Contributing Factors to Insurgent Mobilization A Dissertation Presented for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Grady Forrest Lowery December 2020 ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am incredibly pleased with the education and mentoring I received at the University of Tennessee which helped me establish a strong theoretical and methodological foundation. As a social scientist, however, my goals extend beyond the confines of the classroom. I am compelled by a moral imperative to conduct research that is applicable to the pursuit of social justice, and I am delighted to have benefited from a program that encourages this approach. The education I acquired as an advisee of Robert Emmet Jones guided my early career, and I am forever grateful for the mentoring and guidance I received from Sherry Cable in the years that followed. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere appreciation to my dissertation committee of Jon Shefner, Michelle Christian, Asafa Jalata, and Anthony J. Nownes. This work would not have been possible without their input and supervision. I am especially grateful to my dissertation chair, Jon Shefner. His persistent encouragement and help made the goal of this project possible. I would also like to express my gratitude to the members of the Democratic Socialists of America, without whom there would have been no study. I am truly thankful for their willingness to find time in their busy schedules to take part in my interviews. Finally, I would like to thank to my parents, Jerry and Joyce Lowery, for their consistent financial and emotional support. Were it not for their generosity and encouragement throughout my graduate career, I would have been unable to achieve this important milestone. Thank you, all. iii ABSTRACT Although there are other more conventional means through which aggrieved populations can voice their concerns, social movements have long served as important vehicles for articulating and advancing a group's interests and claims. Indeed, some of the most significant developments in the history of the modern era are bound up with social movements. As a result, social movement analysts are interested in understanding the protests, conflicts, and other forms of resistance that have challenged the prevailing social order. Scholarly interest in collective action has engendered a proliferation of empirical studies, igniting a series of theoretical debates. These debates are animated around concerns regarding movement emergence, the significance of formal organizations, and the role of elites in social movements. Contemporary movement scholars have underscored the ubiquitous presence of social movements in modern society as an exemplar of their continuing significance as vital agents in generating social change. The Bush administration’s neoconservative foreign policy, the Great Recession, and persistent social inequalities once again inspired the launch of a myriad of protest activities. Inspired in part by Bernie Sanders’ runs for the presidency, a new wave of activists mobilized under the banner of democratic socialism as tens of thousands of them joined the Democratic Socialists of America. This dissertation argues that Sanders, along with likeminded politicians, represents an opportunity for the growth and development of a unique version of socialism in the United States. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................... 1 The Case of DSA ......................................................................................................................... 2 Social Movement Theory ............................................................................................................. 7 Sociology as Advocacy .............................................................................................................. 12 Guiding Question ...................................................................................................................... 13 Data Collection Strategy ........................................................................................................... 13 Participant Observation ............................................................................................................ 14 Semi-Structured Interviews ....................................................................................................... 14 Procedure .............................................................................................................................. 15 CHAPTER II SOCIAL MOVEMENT THEORY ........................................................................ 16 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 16 Classical Collective Behavior Theory ....................................................................................... 17 Limitations of collective behavior theory .............................................................................. 20 Resource Mobilization Theory .................................................................................................. 23 Limitations of resource mobilization theory .......................................................................... 26 Political Process Theory ........................................................................................................... 31 Framing Processes, Ideology, and Discursive Fields ............................................................... 33 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 36 CHAPTER III A BRIEF HISTORY OF U.S. SOCIALISM ........................................................ 37 The Roots of Debsian Socialism ................................................................................................ 37 The Socialist Party of America ................................................................................................. 40 The Origins of Fragmentation .................................................................................................. 41 The Industrial Workers of the World ..................................................................................... 42 The first red scare .................................................................................................................. 44 The Rise of Communism ............................................................................................................ 45 New voices ............................................................................................................................. 46 Death Spiral .............................................................................................................................. 48 CHAPTER IV MOBILIZING SOCIALISTS ............................................................................... 53 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 53 Ice Breaker ................................................................................................................................ 53 Building Coalitions ................................................................................................................... 54 v Radical Organizations ........................................................................................................... 56 Disaffected Democrats .........................................................................................................