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UMI A Bell 6 Howell Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor MI 48106-1346 USA 313/761-4700 800/521-0600 MARCHING ON THE STORM: THE EBBS AND FLOWS OF GULF WAR PROTESTS DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of the Ohio State University By Eric William Swank, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1998 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Keith Kilty, Adviser Professor Virginia Richardson A ym er Professor James Upton College of Social Work UMI Number: 9822373 UMI Microform 9822373 Copyright 1998, by UMI Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. UMI 300 North Zeeh Road Ann Arbor, MI 48103 ABSTRACT In 1991 the United States waged a war against Iraq. While few Americans died in this “fast” war, many U.S. citizens objected to Operation Desert Storm. Numerous Americans privately disapproved of the war while others defiantly created a movement of Gulf War dissenters. This reenactment of the antiwar movement will be the focus of this dissertation. More specifically, the document will trace the inception, growth, and decline of this oppositional movement. In doing so, the issues of protest intensity and demonstration size will be of paramount interest. This project studies the movement's ebbs and flows through several means. Initially, the dynamics of a local mobilization are elaborated through an ethnographic study. Later, this case study of San Diego is supplemented by a content analysis of various news sources. In the end, the report of twenty “mainstream” and “alternative” news services becomes the springboard of national information. When situating protest information within the socio-political context, some substantive and methodological insights appear. On the substantive side, this study reveals an unique movement trajectory. While most antiwar movements react to ongoing wars, this mobilization had a proactive side. That is, the movement’s largest protests fell 11 around the January onset of the war. Hence, this movement broke with past antiwar patterns since it had a protest peak around the first days of bombing. On the methodological questions, this study accentuates the problems of media reliability. That is, individual news papers were a terrible source of information since they neglected most protests and routinely misstated the size of demonstrations. Furthermore, not all of the papers were equally inadequate. In fact, some of the most famous news sources showed grave reporting errors, while less famous sources gave the most complete accounts (i.e., the New York Times andUSA TODAY had the worse coverage practices). lU ACKNOWLEDGMENTS An endless amount of mentors have contributed to the author’s intellectual growth. Since it is impossible to list the entire crew of helpers, I will stick to those who can be consciously identified. Californian Professors James Wood and David Preston initiated me into the world social research. During my stint in the OSU Sociology department, I received numerous insights from Giesela Hinkle and J. Craig Jenkins. Subsequently, my Social Work foray also lead me to some great academicians. For example, Keith Kilty showed me that “praxis” is possible since he successfully combines the elements of political activism and scholarly inquiries. Virginia Richardson’s succinct comments were always beneficial and James Upton’s class lectures presented a coherent schemata of the social movement literature. Adding to these professorial influences were a litany of influential friends. During my thesis days, the editorial comments of Amber Ault, Lake Jagger, and Patrick Hart were quite instructive. Around the same time, my comrades Sanjutka Ghosh, Jean Gregoric, David Smith, and Joel Woeller introduced me to the world of cultural studies and critical theory. Later, my “positivistic” buddy John Clapp furthered my quest for the IV perfect research design and my colleagues at Morehead State University were a encouraging lot. As reassuring as these folks were, three women were the most influential. From the days of elementary school speech classes to the instances of graduate school frustration, my mom consistently promoted an optimistic faith in the future. Without her long hours of patiently working with a dyslexic child, I would have never graduated from high school. In a different way, my sister’s never ending prodding inspired my nimble communication skills and the study of this antiwar movement. Finally, Karen Kovacik showed me an emotional and intellectual honesty that was both smoothing and stimulating. Furthermore, I learned how to a better feminist in her presence. Thus, without my bonds to these compassionate and engaging women, this person would have never entered or finished grad school. VTTA May I, 1966 .................................Bom - San Diego, California 1988 ..............................................AÆ. Sociology, San Diego State University 1988 -1991 ................................... Graduate Teaching Associate, Sociology, Ohio State University 1992............................................. M.A. Sociology, Ohio State University 1992- 1993 ................................... Adjunct Professor, Columbus State 1993-199 6 .................................... Instructor, Columbus College of Art and Design 1994-1996 ..................................... Graduate Teaching Associate, Social Work, Ohio State University 1996 - present.............................. Assistant Professor, Morehead State University PUBLICATIONS Eric Swank, 1993/1994. “Shall We Overcome? The Sense of Power Among Gulf War Protesters.” Critical Sociology 20:31-50. Keith Kilty and Eric Swank. 1997. “Institutional Racism and Media Representations.” Sociological Imagination 34:105-28. Eric Swank. 1998. “Welfare Reform and Bill Clinton’s Domestic Advisors.”Journal of Poverty 2:1-19. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Social Work VI TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract........................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments..............................................................................................................iv V ita.....................................................................................................................................vi List of Tables......................................................................................................................x List of Figures.....................................................................................................................xi Chapters: 1. Introduction.......................................................................................................... 1 2. Relevant Movement Theories.................................................................................4 2.1 Defining a Movement...................................................................... 4 2.2 Movement Size, Movement Resources, and Protest Outcomes .. 6 2.3 The Concept of a Protest Cycle....................................................... 8 2.4 Protests Against the Persian Gulf War............................................10 3. Methodological Concerns...................................................................................... 14 3.1 Defining a Protest ......................................................................... 14 3.2 Counting Procedures......................................................................15 3.2.1 Methods of Counting.....................................................................16 3.2.2 Sources of the C ount......................................................................17 3.3 Reliability of Newspapers..............................................................19 3.3.1 The Selectivity Issue ...................................................................... 20 3.3.2 The Biased Content Issue............................................................... 22 3.4 Newspapers and Antiwar Movements...........................................23 3.5 Gulf War Reporting......................................................................