Peter Gundelach
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780198294757
- eISBN:
- 9780191599040
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0198294751.003.0015
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
The aim of this chapter is to examine the significance of social factors and value orientations for people's involvement in protest activity and social movements in Western Europe. It uses the ...
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The aim of this chapter is to examine the significance of social factors and value orientations for people's involvement in protest activity and social movements in Western Europe. It uses the standard social variables (gender, age, education, and occupation) alongside the ‘old’ value orientations (left‐right materialism and secular‐religious orientation), the ‘new’ (materialism/post‐materialism), and two additional value orientations – political and social libertarianism. The analysis concludes that, if protest is understood as a critique of government, grassroots activity (at least since the early 1980s) cannot be construed as protest, but more as a form of self‐differentiation of limited political impact.Less
The aim of this chapter is to examine the significance of social factors and value orientations for people's involvement in protest activity and social movements in Western Europe. It uses the standard social variables (gender, age, education, and occupation) alongside the ‘old’ value orientations (left‐right materialism and secular‐religious orientation), the ‘new’ (materialism/post‐materialism), and two additional value orientations – political and social libertarianism. The analysis concludes that, if protest is understood as a critique of government, grassroots activity (at least since the early 1980s) cannot be construed as protest, but more as a form of self‐differentiation of limited political impact.
John S. Ahlquist and Margaret Levi
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691158563
- eISBN:
- 9781400848652
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691158563.003.0008
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter considers the possibility that political activism may yield an economic benefit to the union. To the extent that this is true, it further reinforces the rank-and-file confidence in the ...
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This chapter considers the possibility that political activism may yield an economic benefit to the union. To the extent that this is true, it further reinforces the rank-and-file confidence in the leadership and, consequently, the governance equilibrium leading to group-level political mobilization. The chapter specifically analyzes whether and how large-scale political actions by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Waterside Workers' Federation (WWF) (now merged into the Maritime Union of Australia, or MUA) could serve as signaling devices to employers when it comes time to bargain over wages. The signaling explanation may be at play in the ILWU, but only after significant technological shocks to the industry and a softening of confidence in Harry Bridges' leadership. Whereas the WWF displays no evidence that its political mobilizations are an attempt to signal solidarity or resolve to employers.Less
This chapter considers the possibility that political activism may yield an economic benefit to the union. To the extent that this is true, it further reinforces the rank-and-file confidence in the leadership and, consequently, the governance equilibrium leading to group-level political mobilization. The chapter specifically analyzes whether and how large-scale political actions by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and Waterside Workers' Federation (WWF) (now merged into the Maritime Union of Australia, or MUA) could serve as signaling devices to employers when it comes time to bargain over wages. The signaling explanation may be at play in the ILWU, but only after significant technological shocks to the industry and a softening of confidence in Harry Bridges' leadership. Whereas the WWF displays no evidence that its political mobilizations are an attempt to signal solidarity or resolve to employers.
Donald W. Katzner
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199765355
- eISBN:
- 9780199896806
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199765355.001.0001
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This book tells the story of an academic department that underwent rapid, wrenching changes at a time and in a place that one would not have expected them to have occurred. The time was the late ...
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This book tells the story of an academic department that underwent rapid, wrenching changes at a time and in a place that one would not have expected them to have occurred. The time was the late 1960s through the 1970s and the place was a US public university heavily dependent on state funding. The Cold War was raging, the US public was fearful of communism and the Soviet Union, and politicians were speaking to these fears for political ends. And the Economics Department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst was in turmoil. In this environment a significant proportion of that department's visible faculty of traditional economists was rapidly created and, in spite of the anti-Marxist political climate and the dependence of the University on state politicians for funding, quickly replaced by a significant visible group of Marxian economists. The story told covers the particulars of the background for these events relating to the University of Massachusetts, the political activism of the period, and the state of the economics profession. It describes the events themselves in considerable detail, the multi-year turmoil within the Economics Department associated with them, the eventual resolution of that turmoil into an intellectually exciting and friendly atmosphere, the significance of the events in terms of academic endeavor, and their legacy for the economics profession.Less
This book tells the story of an academic department that underwent rapid, wrenching changes at a time and in a place that one would not have expected them to have occurred. The time was the late 1960s through the 1970s and the place was a US public university heavily dependent on state funding. The Cold War was raging, the US public was fearful of communism and the Soviet Union, and politicians were speaking to these fears for political ends. And the Economics Department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst was in turmoil. In this environment a significant proportion of that department's visible faculty of traditional economists was rapidly created and, in spite of the anti-Marxist political climate and the dependence of the University on state politicians for funding, quickly replaced by a significant visible group of Marxian economists. The story told covers the particulars of the background for these events relating to the University of Massachusetts, the political activism of the period, and the state of the economics profession. It describes the events themselves in considerable detail, the multi-year turmoil within the Economics Department associated with them, the eventual resolution of that turmoil into an intellectually exciting and friendly atmosphere, the significance of the events in terms of academic endeavor, and their legacy for the economics profession.
Philip Jenkins
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195146165
- eISBN:
- 9780199834341
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195146166.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter discusses the implications of the very close association between church and state in the global South, which in some sense mirrors the lack of distinction between religion and ordinary ...
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This chapter discusses the implications of the very close association between church and state in the global South, which in some sense mirrors the lack of distinction between religion and ordinary life in medieval Europe, and contrast with the segregation of religion from everyday life in the West–the separation of church and state. The history of this close association is traced from colonial to the twentieth century, when Third World (Southern) churches came increasingly to be identified with the cause of reform or, frequently, revolution; differences are described in the liberation theologies adopted in the three Southern regions concerned –Latin America, Africa and Asia, where they took very different courses. Most of the rest of the chapter looks at the sorts of problems that are likely to arise in Christian nations where Christian political activism occurs: threats to a nation’s freedom, democracy, and constitution through the imposition of Christian regimes, uncritical support for new regimes supported by churches, violent acts by messianic, and prophetic, or apocalyptic groups; here, Latin America provides an example of many cases where religious change from Catholicism to Protestantism/Pentecostalism has led to instability. Last, the future implications and dangers of the clear hemispheric division between North and South in the role of religion in politics are outlined.Less
This chapter discusses the implications of the very close association between church and state in the global South, which in some sense mirrors the lack of distinction between religion and ordinary life in medieval Europe, and contrast with the segregation of religion from everyday life in the West–the separation of church and state. The history of this close association is traced from colonial to the twentieth century, when Third World (Southern) churches came increasingly to be identified with the cause of reform or, frequently, revolution; differences are described in the liberation theologies adopted in the three Southern regions concerned –Latin America, Africa and Asia, where they took very different courses. Most of the rest of the chapter looks at the sorts of problems that are likely to arise in Christian nations where Christian political activism occurs: threats to a nation’s freedom, democracy, and constitution through the imposition of Christian regimes, uncritical support for new regimes supported by churches, violent acts by messianic, and prophetic, or apocalyptic groups; here, Latin America provides an example of many cases where religious change from Catholicism to Protestantism/Pentecostalism has led to instability. Last, the future implications and dangers of the clear hemispheric division between North and South in the role of religion in politics are outlined.
Kay Lehman Schlozman, Sidney Verba, and Henry E. Brady
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691154848
- eISBN:
- 9781400841912
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691154848.003.0009
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
This chapter uses evidence about political activity to shed light on two puzzles. First, the chapter considers why, in a two-party system with equal voting, contrary to the logic of the median voter ...
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This chapter uses evidence about political activity to shed light on two puzzles. First, the chapter considers why, in a two-party system with equal voting, contrary to the logic of the median voter model, the majority who have incomes at the lower end of the economic ladder do not use their voting power to foster public policies that redistribute wealth from those above the median. Second, the chapter looks at why the two parties and their candidates do not converge at the preferences of the median voter but instead offer genuine policy alternatives. In response, the chapter reveals that voters are not equal in their voting strength.Less
This chapter uses evidence about political activity to shed light on two puzzles. First, the chapter considers why, in a two-party system with equal voting, contrary to the logic of the median voter model, the majority who have incomes at the lower end of the economic ladder do not use their voting power to foster public policies that redistribute wealth from those above the median. Second, the chapter looks at why the two parties and their candidates do not converge at the preferences of the median voter but instead offer genuine policy alternatives. In response, the chapter reveals that voters are not equal in their voting strength.
Ronnee Schreiber
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195331813
- eISBN:
- 9780199851829
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331813.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter discusses how the study of the CWA and IWF provides fresh ways of thinking about political representation and identity politics, conservative movements, and women's political activism. ...
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This chapter discusses how the study of the CWA and IWF provides fresh ways of thinking about political representation and identity politics, conservative movements, and women's political activism. Far from dismissing conservative women leaders as political pawns and victims of false consciousness, feminists need to take seriously how women are represented by groups like CWA and IWF. Since the media give them face and air time, and since these organizations have close ties to powerful members of Congress, other conservative leaders, and Bush's Republican administration, we should expect that they will indeed be taken seriously as policy advocates for women.Less
This chapter discusses how the study of the CWA and IWF provides fresh ways of thinking about political representation and identity politics, conservative movements, and women's political activism. Far from dismissing conservative women leaders as political pawns and victims of false consciousness, feminists need to take seriously how women are represented by groups like CWA and IWF. Since the media give them face and air time, and since these organizations have close ties to powerful members of Congress, other conservative leaders, and Bush's Republican administration, we should expect that they will indeed be taken seriously as policy advocates for women.
Amy J. Binder and Kate Wood
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691145372
- eISBN:
- 9781400844876
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691145372.003.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Education
This book examines how universities, in tandem with the broader political culture, cultivate distinctive styles of conservatism. Focusing on Eastern Elite University and Western Flagship University ...
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This book examines how universities, in tandem with the broader political culture, cultivate distinctive styles of conservatism. Focusing on Eastern Elite University and Western Flagship University (both pseudonyms), it explores the organizational structures and cultures that shape conservative students' thinking and action, and particularly their political activism. The book shows that conservative students on any given campus share unique, local repertoires of conservative ideas and styles that differ from those available on other campuses. The argument is that colleges nurture and enhance particular forms of student conservatism that have important implications for American politics in general. This introduction explains the book's research methodology and provides a background on Eastern Elite University and the Western Flagship University. It also gives an overview of the chapters that follow.Less
This book examines how universities, in tandem with the broader political culture, cultivate distinctive styles of conservatism. Focusing on Eastern Elite University and Western Flagship University (both pseudonyms), it explores the organizational structures and cultures that shape conservative students' thinking and action, and particularly their political activism. The book shows that conservative students on any given campus share unique, local repertoires of conservative ideas and styles that differ from those available on other campuses. The argument is that colleges nurture and enhance particular forms of student conservatism that have important implications for American politics in general. This introduction explains the book's research methodology and provides a background on Eastern Elite University and the Western Flagship University. It also gives an overview of the chapters that follow.
Robert Wuthnow
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691150550
- eISBN:
- 9781400839759
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691150550.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
No state has voted Republican more consistently or widely or for longer than Kansas. To understand red state politics, Kansas is the place. It is also the place to understand red state religion. The ...
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No state has voted Republican more consistently or widely or for longer than Kansas. To understand red state politics, Kansas is the place. It is also the place to understand red state religion. The Kansas Board of Education has repeatedly challenged the teaching of evolution, Kansas voters overwhelmingly passed a constitutional ban on gay marriage, the state is a hotbed of antiabortion protest—and churches have been involved in all of these efforts. Yet in 1867 suffragist Lucy Stone could plausibly proclaim that, in the cause of universal suffrage, “Kansas leads the world!” This book tells the story of religiously motivated political activism in Kansas from territorial days to the present. It examines how faith mixed with politics as both ordinary Kansans and leaders such as John Brown, Carrie Nation, William Allen White, and Dwight Eisenhower struggled over the pivotal issues of their times, from slavery and Prohibition to Populism and anti-communism. Beyond providing surprising new explanations of why Kansas became a conservative stronghold, the book sheds new light on the role of religion in red states across the Midwest and the United States. Contrary to recent influential accounts, the book argues that Kansas conservatism is largely pragmatic, not ideological, and that religion in the state has less to do with politics and contentious moral activism than with relationships between neighbors, friends, and fellow churchgoers. This is an important book for anyone who wants to understand the role of religion in American political conservatism.Less
No state has voted Republican more consistently or widely or for longer than Kansas. To understand red state politics, Kansas is the place. It is also the place to understand red state religion. The Kansas Board of Education has repeatedly challenged the teaching of evolution, Kansas voters overwhelmingly passed a constitutional ban on gay marriage, the state is a hotbed of antiabortion protest—and churches have been involved in all of these efforts. Yet in 1867 suffragist Lucy Stone could plausibly proclaim that, in the cause of universal suffrage, “Kansas leads the world!” This book tells the story of religiously motivated political activism in Kansas from territorial days to the present. It examines how faith mixed with politics as both ordinary Kansans and leaders such as John Brown, Carrie Nation, William Allen White, and Dwight Eisenhower struggled over the pivotal issues of their times, from slavery and Prohibition to Populism and anti-communism. Beyond providing surprising new explanations of why Kansas became a conservative stronghold, the book sheds new light on the role of religion in red states across the Midwest and the United States. Contrary to recent influential accounts, the book argues that Kansas conservatism is largely pragmatic, not ideological, and that religion in the state has less to do with politics and contentious moral activism than with relationships between neighbors, friends, and fellow churchgoers. This is an important book for anyone who wants to understand the role of religion in American political conservatism.
Paula McDowell
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198183952
- eISBN:
- 9780191674143
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198183952.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 17th-century and Restoration Literature, 18th-century Literature
The period 1678–1730 was a decisive one in Western political history and in the history of the British press. Changing conditions for political expression and an expanding book trade enabled ...
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The period 1678–1730 was a decisive one in Western political history and in the history of the British press. Changing conditions for political expression and an expanding book trade enabled unprecedented opportunities for political activity. This book argues that women already at work in the London book trade were among the first to seize those new opportunities for public political expression. Synthesizing areas of scholarly inquiry previously regarded as separate, and offering a new model for the study of the literary marketplace, it examines not only women writers, but also women printers, booksellers, ballad-singers, hawkers, and other producers and distributors of printed texts. Part I examines the political activity of women workers in the London book trdes, Part II focuses on the largest category of women's writing in this period (religious and religio-political works), and Part III examines in depth one woman's strategies as a political writer (Delarivier Manley). Original in its sources and in the claims it makes for the nature, extent, and complexities of women's participation in print culture and public politics, this book provides new information about middling and lower-class women's political and literary lives, and shows that these women were not merely the passive distributors of other people's political ideas. The book's central argument is that women of the widest possible variety of socioeconomic backgrounds and religiopolitical allegiances played so prominent a role in the production and transmission of political ideas through print as to belie claims that women had no place in public life.Less
The period 1678–1730 was a decisive one in Western political history and in the history of the British press. Changing conditions for political expression and an expanding book trade enabled unprecedented opportunities for political activity. This book argues that women already at work in the London book trade were among the first to seize those new opportunities for public political expression. Synthesizing areas of scholarly inquiry previously regarded as separate, and offering a new model for the study of the literary marketplace, it examines not only women writers, but also women printers, booksellers, ballad-singers, hawkers, and other producers and distributors of printed texts. Part I examines the political activity of women workers in the London book trdes, Part II focuses on the largest category of women's writing in this period (religious and religio-political works), and Part III examines in depth one woman's strategies as a political writer (Delarivier Manley). Original in its sources and in the claims it makes for the nature, extent, and complexities of women's participation in print culture and public politics, this book provides new information about middling and lower-class women's political and literary lives, and shows that these women were not merely the passive distributors of other people's political ideas. The book's central argument is that women of the widest possible variety of socioeconomic backgrounds and religiopolitical allegiances played so prominent a role in the production and transmission of political ideas through print as to belie claims that women had no place in public life.
Ronnee Schreiber
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195331813
- eISBN:
- 9780199851829
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195331813.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
When we think of women's activism in America, figures such as Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan invariably come to mind—those liberal doyennes who have fought for years to chip away at patriarchy and ...
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When we think of women's activism in America, figures such as Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan invariably come to mind—those liberal doyennes who have fought for years to chip away at patriarchy and achieve gender equality. But women's interests are not synonymous with organizations like NOW anymore. As this book shows, the conservative ascendancy that began in the Reagan era has been accompanied by the emergence of a broad-based conservative women's movement. And while firebrands like Ann Coulter and Phyllis Schlafly may be the public face of right-wing women's activism, a handful of large and established women's organizations have proven to be the most effective promoters of the conservative agenda. This book shows that one of the key—albeit overlooked—developments in political activism since the 1980s has been the emergence of conservative women's organizations. It focuses on the most prominent of these groups, Concerned Women for America (CWA) and the Independent Women's Forum (IWF), to reveal how they are using feminist rhetoric for conservative ends: outlawing abortion, restricting pornography, and bolstering the traditional family. But ironically, these organizations face a paradox: to combat the legacy of feminism—particularly its appeal to the majority of American women—they must use the rhetoric of women's empowerment. Indeed, the book illustrates how conservative activists are often the beneficiaries of the very feminist politics they oppose. Yet just as importantly, it demolishes two widely believed truisms: that conservatism holds no appeal to women and that modern conservatism is hostile to the very notion of women's activism.Less
When we think of women's activism in America, figures such as Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan invariably come to mind—those liberal doyennes who have fought for years to chip away at patriarchy and achieve gender equality. But women's interests are not synonymous with organizations like NOW anymore. As this book shows, the conservative ascendancy that began in the Reagan era has been accompanied by the emergence of a broad-based conservative women's movement. And while firebrands like Ann Coulter and Phyllis Schlafly may be the public face of right-wing women's activism, a handful of large and established women's organizations have proven to be the most effective promoters of the conservative agenda. This book shows that one of the key—albeit overlooked—developments in political activism since the 1980s has been the emergence of conservative women's organizations. It focuses on the most prominent of these groups, Concerned Women for America (CWA) and the Independent Women's Forum (IWF), to reveal how they are using feminist rhetoric for conservative ends: outlawing abortion, restricting pornography, and bolstering the traditional family. But ironically, these organizations face a paradox: to combat the legacy of feminism—particularly its appeal to the majority of American women—they must use the rhetoric of women's empowerment. Indeed, the book illustrates how conservative activists are often the beneficiaries of the very feminist politics they oppose. Yet just as importantly, it demolishes two widely believed truisms: that conservatism holds no appeal to women and that modern conservatism is hostile to the very notion of women's activism.
Alexander Smith
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719079696
- eISBN:
- 9781781703052
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719079696.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Scottish Studies
This book is an ethnographic study of devolution and politics in Scotland, as well as of party-political activism more generally. It explores how Conservative Party activists who had opposed ...
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This book is an ethnographic study of devolution and politics in Scotland, as well as of party-political activism more generally. It explores how Conservative Party activists who had opposed devolution and the movement for a Scottish Parliament during the 1990s attempted to mobilise politically following their annihilation at the 1997 General Election. The book draws on fieldwork conducted in Dumfries and Galloway – a former stronghold for the Scottish Tories – to describe how senior Conservatives worked from the assumption that they had endured their own ‘crisis’ in representation. The material consequences of this crisis included losses of financial and other resources, legitimacy and local knowledge for the Scottish Conservatives. The book ethnographically describes the processes, practices and relationships that Tory Party activists sought to enact during the 2003 Scottish and local government elections. Its central argument is that, having asserted that the difficulties they faced constituted problems of knowledge, Conservative activists cast to the geographical and institutional margins of Scotland became ‘banal’ activists. Believing themselves to be lacking in the data and information necessary for successful mobilisation during Parliamentary elections, local Tory Party strategists attempted to address their knowledge ‘crisis’ by burying themselves in paperwork and petty bureaucracy. Such practices have often escaped scholarly attention because they appear everyday and mundane, and are therefore less noticeable. Bringing them into view analytically has important implications for socio-cultural anthropologists, sociologists and other scholars interested in ‘new’ ethnographic objects, including activism, bureaucracy, democracy, elections and modern knowledge practices.Less
This book is an ethnographic study of devolution and politics in Scotland, as well as of party-political activism more generally. It explores how Conservative Party activists who had opposed devolution and the movement for a Scottish Parliament during the 1990s attempted to mobilise politically following their annihilation at the 1997 General Election. The book draws on fieldwork conducted in Dumfries and Galloway – a former stronghold for the Scottish Tories – to describe how senior Conservatives worked from the assumption that they had endured their own ‘crisis’ in representation. The material consequences of this crisis included losses of financial and other resources, legitimacy and local knowledge for the Scottish Conservatives. The book ethnographically describes the processes, practices and relationships that Tory Party activists sought to enact during the 2003 Scottish and local government elections. Its central argument is that, having asserted that the difficulties they faced constituted problems of knowledge, Conservative activists cast to the geographical and institutional margins of Scotland became ‘banal’ activists. Believing themselves to be lacking in the data and information necessary for successful mobilisation during Parliamentary elections, local Tory Party strategists attempted to address their knowledge ‘crisis’ by burying themselves in paperwork and petty bureaucracy. Such practices have often escaped scholarly attention because they appear everyday and mundane, and are therefore less noticeable. Bringing them into view analytically has important implications for socio-cultural anthropologists, sociologists and other scholars interested in ‘new’ ethnographic objects, including activism, bureaucracy, democracy, elections and modern knowledge practices.
Paul M. Sniderman and Benjamin Highton (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691151106
- eISBN:
- 9781400840304
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691151106.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Democratization
Citizens are political simpletons—that is only a modest exaggeration of a common characterization of voters. Certainly, there is no shortage of evidence of citizens' limited political knowledge, even ...
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Citizens are political simpletons—that is only a modest exaggeration of a common characterization of voters. Certainly, there is no shortage of evidence of citizens' limited political knowledge, even about matters of the highest importance, along with inconsistencies in their thinking, some glaring by any standard. But this picture of citizens all too often approaches caricature. This book brings together leading political scientists who offer new insights into the political thinking of the public, the causes of party polarization, the motivations for political participation, and the paradoxical relationship between turnout and democratic representation. These studies propel a foundational argument about democracy. Voters can only do as well as the alternatives on offer. These alternatives are constrained by third players, in particular activists, interest groups, and financial contributors. The result: voters often appear to be shortsighted, extreme, and inconsistent because the alternatives they must choose between are shortsighted, extreme, and inconsistent.Less
Citizens are political simpletons—that is only a modest exaggeration of a common characterization of voters. Certainly, there is no shortage of evidence of citizens' limited political knowledge, even about matters of the highest importance, along with inconsistencies in their thinking, some glaring by any standard. But this picture of citizens all too often approaches caricature. This book brings together leading political scientists who offer new insights into the political thinking of the public, the causes of party polarization, the motivations for political participation, and the paradoxical relationship between turnout and democratic representation. These studies propel a foundational argument about democracy. Voters can only do as well as the alternatives on offer. These alternatives are constrained by third players, in particular activists, interest groups, and financial contributors. The result: voters often appear to be shortsighted, extreme, and inconsistent because the alternatives they must choose between are shortsighted, extreme, and inconsistent.
Amy J. Binder and Kate Wood
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691145372
- eISBN:
- 9781400844876
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691145372.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Education
The last two decades have seen historians and political scientists extensively study the rise of conservatism. An addition to that literature, this book offers an analysis of the state of college ...
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The last two decades have seen historians and political scientists extensively study the rise of conservatism. An addition to that literature, this book offers an analysis of the state of college conservatism and explains the factors that shape the student and the citizen. Conservative pundits allege that the pervasive liberalism of America's colleges and universities has detrimental effects on undergraduates, most particularly right-leaning ones. Yet not enough attention has actually been paid to young conservatives to test these claims—until now. This book explores who conservative students are, and how their beliefs and political activism relate to their university experiences. It shows that the diverse conservative movement evolving among today's college students holds important implications for the direction of American politics.Less
The last two decades have seen historians and political scientists extensively study the rise of conservatism. An addition to that literature, this book offers an analysis of the state of college conservatism and explains the factors that shape the student and the citizen. Conservative pundits allege that the pervasive liberalism of America's colleges and universities has detrimental effects on undergraduates, most particularly right-leaning ones. Yet not enough attention has actually been paid to young conservatives to test these claims—until now. This book explores who conservative students are, and how their beliefs and political activism relate to their university experiences. It shows that the diverse conservative movement evolving among today's college students holds important implications for the direction of American politics.
Jonathan Laurence
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691144214
- eISBN:
- 9781400840373
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691144214.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter addresses the failures of the “outsourcing” phase described briefly in Chapter 2, and other events and issues that prompted European interior ministries to wrest control of state–mosque ...
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This chapter addresses the failures of the “outsourcing” phase described briefly in Chapter 2, and other events and issues that prompted European interior ministries to wrest control of state–mosque relations from their foreign-ministry counterparts and undertake efforts to bring Islam to the table. First, there is a discussion of socioeconomic indicators of integration, followed by the growing problem of foreign government control over Muslims' religious life, an increasingly felt inadequacy of prayer space and imams, and finally, the rise of Political-Islam activism and Islamist terrorism. Then, the chapter delves into the first of two phases of these efforts that culminated in the establishment of Islamic Councils in the ten European states with sizable Muslim populations.Less
This chapter addresses the failures of the “outsourcing” phase described briefly in Chapter 2, and other events and issues that prompted European interior ministries to wrest control of state–mosque relations from their foreign-ministry counterparts and undertake efforts to bring Islam to the table. First, there is a discussion of socioeconomic indicators of integration, followed by the growing problem of foreign government control over Muslims' religious life, an increasingly felt inadequacy of prayer space and imams, and finally, the rise of Political-Islam activism and Islamist terrorism. Then, the chapter delves into the first of two phases of these efforts that culminated in the establishment of Islamic Councils in the ten European states with sizable Muslim populations.
Adam Ewing
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691157795
- eISBN:
- 9781400852444
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691157795.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter explores the extent to which interwar Kikuyu nationalism was forged in the context of broader African rhythms. In particular, interwar Kikuyu activists joined their brethren throughout ...
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This chapter explores the extent to which interwar Kikuyu nationalism was forged in the context of broader African rhythms. In particular, interwar Kikuyu activists joined their brethren throughout the continent in pursuing contacts with Garveyist and other pan-Africanist organizers, absorbing the lessons of African Garveyism, and implementing those lessons in conversation with their particular needs, grievances, and opportunities. After the brief and explosive attempt to organize a pan-African insurgency under the leadership of Harry Thuku in 1921–22, Kikuyu activists pursued a more cautious strategy of fictive unity, consciousness raising, self-help, and separatist institution building that both mirrored the political activism of Garveyism in other parts of the continent and reconstituted it as tribal politics.Less
This chapter explores the extent to which interwar Kikuyu nationalism was forged in the context of broader African rhythms. In particular, interwar Kikuyu activists joined their brethren throughout the continent in pursuing contacts with Garveyist and other pan-Africanist organizers, absorbing the lessons of African Garveyism, and implementing those lessons in conversation with their particular needs, grievances, and opportunities. After the brief and explosive attempt to organize a pan-African insurgency under the leadership of Harry Thuku in 1921–22, Kikuyu activists pursued a more cautious strategy of fictive unity, consciousness raising, self-help, and separatist institution building that both mirrored the political activism of Garveyism in other parts of the continent and reconstituted it as tribal politics.
Judith N. McArthur and Harold L. Smith
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195304862
- eISBN:
- 9780199871537
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195304862.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
Minnie Fisher Cunningham was Texas's most important 20th-century political activist. Best known for directing Texas's successful woman suffrage campaign, she played an important role in the national ...
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Minnie Fisher Cunningham was Texas's most important 20th-century political activist. Best known for directing Texas's successful woman suffrage campaign, she played an important role in the national suffrage movement, helped to establish the League of Women Voters, and served as its first executive secretary. One of the first American women to pursue a career in party politics, she was a founder and resident director of the Woman's National Democratic Club, and in 1927 became acting head of the Women's Division of the Democratic National Committee. Cunningham ran unsuccessfully for the U. S. Senate from Texas in 1928, and in the late 1930s returned to Washington, D.C. to work for the New Deal. She was so successful in presenting its policies to women's groups that the Democratic National Committee considered her the South's best political organizer. From 1944, when she ran for governor as a pro-New Deal candidate, until the end of her life, she was a leader of the Texas liberal movement and helped build an electoral coalition of women, minorities and male reformers within the Texas Democratic Party. An advocate for farmers and labor unions, and an opponent of gender, class, and racial discrimination in a conservative state, she helped to develop a Left Feminism allied with left-liberal organizations to press for expanded democracy and fundamental social change. Her forty years of activism helps fill in the still-emerging narrative of female political activism between the demise of the first women's movement after 1920 and the rebirth of feminism in the 1960s.Less
Minnie Fisher Cunningham was Texas's most important 20th-century political activist. Best known for directing Texas's successful woman suffrage campaign, she played an important role in the national suffrage movement, helped to establish the League of Women Voters, and served as its first executive secretary. One of the first American women to pursue a career in party politics, she was a founder and resident director of the Woman's National Democratic Club, and in 1927 became acting head of the Women's Division of the Democratic National Committee. Cunningham ran unsuccessfully for the U. S. Senate from Texas in 1928, and in the late 1930s returned to Washington, D.C. to work for the New Deal. She was so successful in presenting its policies to women's groups that the Democratic National Committee considered her the South's best political organizer. From 1944, when she ran for governor as a pro-New Deal candidate, until the end of her life, she was a leader of the Texas liberal movement and helped build an electoral coalition of women, minorities and male reformers within the Texas Democratic Party. An advocate for farmers and labor unions, and an opponent of gender, class, and racial discrimination in a conservative state, she helped to develop a Left Feminism allied with left-liberal organizations to press for expanded democracy and fundamental social change. Her forty years of activism helps fill in the still-emerging narrative of female political activism between the demise of the first women's movement after 1920 and the rebirth of feminism in the 1960s.
Lara Medina
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195162271
- eISBN:
- 9780199850365
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195162271.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter examines María Antonietta Berriozábal, native of San Antonio, Texas; Rosa Martha Zárate, of San Bernardino, California; and Tess Browne, of Boston, Massachusetts—all three see themselves ...
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This chapter examines María Antonietta Berriozábal, native of San Antonio, Texas; Rosa Martha Zárate, of San Bernardino, California; and Tess Browne, of Boston, Massachusetts—all three see themselves as catalysts of change in their communities. Their involvement with Las Hermanas, a thirty-four-year-old national religious-political feminist organization of Chicana/Latina Catholics, influenced their profound commitment to community, justice, and faith. This chapter provides a brief overview of the sociohistorical context from which Las Hermanas emerged; then presents snapshot profiles of Zárate, Browne, and Berriozábal. These brief descriptions of their extensive work provide windows into the effect that Las Hermanas has had on Latina Catholic political activism. It is argued that the autonomous space created by Las Hermanas and its integration of spirituality and social activism influenced and strengthened these women in their involvement in civic affairs. No other Latina Catholic organization exists that serves this purpose.Less
This chapter examines María Antonietta Berriozábal, native of San Antonio, Texas; Rosa Martha Zárate, of San Bernardino, California; and Tess Browne, of Boston, Massachusetts—all three see themselves as catalysts of change in their communities. Their involvement with Las Hermanas, a thirty-four-year-old national religious-political feminist organization of Chicana/Latina Catholics, influenced their profound commitment to community, justice, and faith. This chapter provides a brief overview of the sociohistorical context from which Las Hermanas emerged; then presents snapshot profiles of Zárate, Browne, and Berriozábal. These brief descriptions of their extensive work provide windows into the effect that Las Hermanas has had on Latina Catholic political activism. It is argued that the autonomous space created by Las Hermanas and its integration of spirituality and social activism influenced and strengthened these women in their involvement in civic affairs. No other Latina Catholic organization exists that serves this purpose.
Deborah Gould
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226303987
- eISBN:
- 9780226304007
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226304007.003.0009
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
Militant AIDS activist groups began to emerge in 1986–87 in various lesbian and gay communities around the United States. Why did lesbians and gay men become politically active in the face of AIDS, ...
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Militant AIDS activist groups began to emerge in 1986–87 in various lesbian and gay communities around the United States. Why did lesbians and gay men become politically active in the face of AIDS, and why did they embrace angry and militant street activism after a generation of engagement in routine interest group politics? In an account that challenges standard social movement theory, this chapter demonstrates how emotions and their expression — notably shame, fear, pride, grief, indignation, and anger — shaped lesbian and gay responses to the AIDS epidemic, sometimes encouraging lesbian and gay quiescence or community self-help, at other times animating militant political activism. It draws on evidence from Chicago, New York City, and San Francisco.Less
Militant AIDS activist groups began to emerge in 1986–87 in various lesbian and gay communities around the United States. Why did lesbians and gay men become politically active in the face of AIDS, and why did they embrace angry and militant street activism after a generation of engagement in routine interest group politics? In an account that challenges standard social movement theory, this chapter demonstrates how emotions and their expression — notably shame, fear, pride, grief, indignation, and anger — shaped lesbian and gay responses to the AIDS epidemic, sometimes encouraging lesbian and gay quiescence or community self-help, at other times animating militant political activism. It draws on evidence from Chicago, New York City, and San Francisco.
Young-a Park
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780804783613
- eISBN:
- 9780804793476
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804783613.003.0002
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Asian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter provides historical background on the transition from the film activism of the 1980s and early 1990s to the new environment in which independent filmmakers produce and circulate their ...
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This chapter provides historical background on the transition from the film activism of the 1980s and early 1990s to the new environment in which independent filmmakers produce and circulate their films. It presents the story of Kim Dong-won, the chairman of the Korean Independent Filmmakers Association, which parallels the transformation of the wider film activist community. The chapter then explores the process through which film activism opened up alternative ideologies and practices for film production and circulation in the 1980s and early 1990s.Less
This chapter provides historical background on the transition from the film activism of the 1980s and early 1990s to the new environment in which independent filmmakers produce and circulate their films. It presents the story of Kim Dong-won, the chairman of the Korean Independent Filmmakers Association, which parallels the transformation of the wider film activist community. The chapter then explores the process through which film activism opened up alternative ideologies and practices for film production and circulation in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Richard Gale and Therese O’Toole
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847420305
- eISBN:
- 9781447302285
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847420305.003.0008
- Subject:
- Sociology, Sociology of Religion
This chapter examines a case study of faith activism among young Muslim men in UK. It explores how faith identity frames the public engagement and political activism of the British Muslim youth. The ...
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This chapter examines a case study of faith activism among young Muslim men in UK. It explores how faith identity frames the public engagement and political activism of the British Muslim youth. The case study presented herein arises from a two-year qualitative study of black and minority ethnic young people's political engagement, particularly of a locally-based Muslim ‘justice movement’. In this chapter, the manner with which the faith identity and values influenced the political activism and the different scales to which this is expressed by these young men are explored. Attention is particularly given to the notion of ‘glocalised’ political sensibility which shapes their political concern and the terrains on which they are active. Apart from exploring the intersections between local and global terrains on which they are active, the chapter also reflects on how the identification with umma (the global community of Muslims) forms a significant dimension of young Muslim's renegotiation of their identities in relation to familial and cultural heritage and their localised living experience. This chapter begins with a discussion on the ways in which young British Muslims have featured in the public domain before it discusses the recent research on the forms of political and public engagement in Muslims, specifically on contemporary expressions of global Islam. The chapter ends with a discussion on how young activists relate to the public sphere by focusing on their personal engagement with faith and how this informs their identities and political action.Less
This chapter examines a case study of faith activism among young Muslim men in UK. It explores how faith identity frames the public engagement and political activism of the British Muslim youth. The case study presented herein arises from a two-year qualitative study of black and minority ethnic young people's political engagement, particularly of a locally-based Muslim ‘justice movement’. In this chapter, the manner with which the faith identity and values influenced the political activism and the different scales to which this is expressed by these young men are explored. Attention is particularly given to the notion of ‘glocalised’ political sensibility which shapes their political concern and the terrains on which they are active. Apart from exploring the intersections between local and global terrains on which they are active, the chapter also reflects on how the identification with umma (the global community of Muslims) forms a significant dimension of young Muslim's renegotiation of their identities in relation to familial and cultural heritage and their localised living experience. This chapter begins with a discussion on the ways in which young British Muslims have featured in the public domain before it discusses the recent research on the forms of political and public engagement in Muslims, specifically on contemporary expressions of global Islam. The chapter ends with a discussion on how young activists relate to the public sphere by focusing on their personal engagement with faith and how this informs their identities and political action.
