Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Dissertations Graduate College 4-1988 Defining a Social Problem: A Sociohistorical Analysis of the Antinuclear Weapons Movement Frances B. McCrea Western Michigan University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations Part of the Quantitative, Qualitative, Comparative, and Historical Methodologies Commons, and the Sociology of Culture Commons Recommended Citation McCrea, Frances B., "Defining a Social Problem: A Sociohistorical Analysis of the Antinuclear Weapons Movement" (1988). Dissertations. 2175. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/dissertations/2175 This Dissertation-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DEFINING A SOCIAL PROBLEM: A SOCIOHISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ANTINUCLEAR WEAPONS MOVEMENT by Frances B. McCrea A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Sociology Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, Michigan April 1988 F Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. DEFINING A SOCIAL PROBLEM: A SOCIOHISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE ANTINUCLEAR WEAPONS MOVEMENT Frances B. McCrea, Ph.D. Western Michigan University, 1988 This dissertation is a sociohistorical analysis o£ the anti- nuclear weapons movement in the United States. This work conceptualizes social movements in advanced industrial societies by synthesizing certain aspects of social constructionism, resource mobilization and new class theory. The synthesis argues that progressive social movements are a form of class conflict in which members of the new class challenge the old elite for the control of cultural capital. Such movements are created, in part, by issue entrepreneurs, many of whom are intellectuals. The success or failure of any social movement organization is dependent on its own tactics and strategies, as well as the official response of social control agencies. The research design is a sociohistorical, comparative case study. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are employed for data analysis. Extensive content analysis of documents and interviews with key actors are supplemented with a critical analysis of a wide variety of primary and secondary data. All major antinuclear weapons protest, particularly the Atomic Scientists Movement of the 1940s, the Ban-the-Bomb Movement of the F ~ Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1950s and 1960s, and the Freeze Movement of the 1980s, shared similar characteristics, and experienced similar problems. Each was founded by intellectuals; each operated on liberal and pluralistic assumptions; and each used education, political lobbying and electoral politics as primary strategies and tactics.' After initial successes, each was ultimately coopted by the government and declined. The findings are congruent with the theoretical synthesis. Antinuclear weapons protest is best understood as a new class phenomenon, in which intellectuals have mobilized resources to challenge the ruling elite. Movements have become increasingly professionalized and dependent on foundation support. The most noteworthy success of the movement was the ability of the Freeze Movement to define the nuclear weapons arms race as the paramount social problem of the 1980s. 7et, though the protest has succeeded in challenging the legitimacy of the ruling apparatus, successes of the movement have been mostly symbolic. F Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INFORMATION TO USERS The most advanced technology has been used to photo­ graph and reproduce this manuscript from the microfilm master. UMI films the original text directly from the copy submitted. Thus, some dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from a computer printer. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyrighted material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. 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Order Number 8813167 Defining a social problem: A sociohistorical analysis of the antinuclear weapons movement McCrea, Frances B., Pli.D. Western Michigan University, 1988 UMI 300N.ZeebRd. Ann Arbor, MI 48106 F Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PLEASE NOTE: In all cases this material has been filmed in the best possible way from the available copy. Problems encountered with this document have been identified here with a check mark V . 1. Glossy photographs or pages_____ 2. Colored illustrations, paper or print______ 3. Photographs with dark background____ 4. Illustrations are poor copy______ 5. Pages with black marks, not original copy_____ 6. Print shows through as there is text on both sides of ______page 7. Indistinct, broken or small print on several pages 8. Print exceeds margin requirements_____ 9. Tightly bound copy with print lost in spine______ 10. Computer printout pages with indistinct print______ 11. Page(s)__________lacking when material received, and not available from school or author. 12. Page(s)__________seem to be missing in numbering only as text follows. 13. Two pages numbered . Text follows. 14. Curling and wrinkled pages.S' 15. Dissertation contains pages with print at a slant, filmed as received________ 16. Other_________________________________________________________________ UMI r Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I gratefully acknowledge The Graduate College of Western Michigan University and the Institute for the Study of World Eolitics of New York for funding this research. I am deeply indebted to my committee members for giving me the intellectual opportunity and educational freedom to pursue this work. I wish to thank my advisor Ronald Kramer for his profound influence on my intellectual development and sociological perspective, his faith in my work, and his encouragement and friendship. I am deeply grateful to Stanley Robin for broadening my theoretical perspective, his unwavering professional and personal support, and his tireless work on behalf of the graduate program. I am very much indebted to Rudolf Siebert for helping me gain a greater understanding of European critical thought and for his solidarity in a family tragedy. All are, of course, absolved of responsibility for any errors or omissions that may appear in this dissertation. I would like to thank Helenan Robin for so generously turning over her file on the peace movement and for collecting relevant articles and books for me. Her constant support and encouragement meant a great deal to me. Warm thanks go to my friends Bamela HEvman, Daryl Kelley, Michelle Stone, and Rosamond Robbert for sharing the burdens and joys of graduate days and for always being there when needed. I also wish to express my gratitude and ii F Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. affection to my honorable brother Subhash Sonnad, who refused to give up on me and managed to break through my isolation. For a superb job of typing and for giving up her holidays to complete this manuscript, and for all her help over the years, my sincere appreciation goes to Agnes McColley. Finally, a very special thank you to my family for their love and understanding, and for so gracefully accepting the many inconveniences and disruptions my graduate studies have brought to them. To Gerald Markle, my husband, colleague and friend, my thanks for everything. Without his persistent faith in me, encouragement, prodding, cajolement, editing skills and intellectual input, this dissertation would never have been completed. My sons Mike and Todd, through their love and playful teasing, reminded me of the important things in life and kept me from taking my work too seriously. This work is dedicated to the memory of my beloved son Craig, whose short life but long struggle with