David S. Meyer
I'm a professor of sociology and political science at the University of California, Irvine. I've been thinking, and writing about, protest politics for almost ever. This site offers comments on contemporary events, informed (I hope) by knowing something about history and about the academic study of social movements.
Tag Archives: protest
Can the IRS resurrect the Tea Party?
By allowing mid-level bureaucrats to dump on local Tea Party groups, the Internal Revenue Series provided the movement a chance to regroup and re-emerge on the public stage. Particularly at the grassroots, the Tea Party has mostly severely diminished, divided, … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Amy Nelson, Cathy Guthrie, Cherry Hill, Cincinnati, Folk Uke, immigration, Los Angeles, protest, tax, tea party, Washington DC
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Template blinders: the where’s the movement question?
Anti-austerity protests have reappeared across Southern Europe. Citizens are taking to the streets to protest cuts in services and high unemployment. Where’s the protest in the United States, where we are embarking on new cuts in government spending (call it … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged austerity, democracy, Greece, history, protest, Spain
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Resurrecting immigration reform and recalling the DREAMers
Only a small part of any comprehensive immigration reform proposal that the Senate considers will address the Dreamers, young people brought without papers to the United States as children, but the revival of immigration reform is directly attributable to their … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged anti-immigrant, Charles Schumer, coming out, Dream, immigration, influence, Marco Rubio, outcomes, protest
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Threat, polarization, and mobilization in the gun debate
Until just a few weeks ago, the notion of a policy-relevant debate about access to guns seemed fanciful. Supporters of relatively easy access to firearms of all sorts were resolute, and advocates of limits of any kind were either silent … Continue reading
Policing police at Davis
Nearly a year after a campus police office at the University of California pepper sprayed students nonviolently protesting against tuition hikes–under the banner of Occupy–the University has reached a settlement with the students. The LA Times reports that the police … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged courts, Davis, Occupy, pepper spray, police, protest, settlement, students, University of California
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A protest is a threat (the Komen debacle)
It’s never just the demonstration that brings about change. Rather, it’s the larger actions that demonstrators promise (and authorities fear) that lead to concessions. Demonstrators threaten to storm the barricades, stop paying taxes, or vote, or contribute money. Their targets … Continue reading
Posted in countermovements, Uncategorized
Tagged abortion, breast cancer, funding, health, Michael Bloomberg, Planned Parenthood, protest, social media, Susan G. Komen, threats
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Roe v. Wade commemorations, 2012
Last year, anti-abortion and abortion rights activists staged demonstrations commemorating (or protesting) the 1973 Supreme Court decision, Roe v. Wade. Below is last year’s post, which ends with the prediction of large demonstrations next year. That’s today. And today: both … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged abortion rights, anti-abortion, DC, elections, John Boehner, March for Life, protest, Republian party, Roe v. Wade, Susan B. Anthony List, Washington
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Remembering the present: Guantanamo protests and a decade of detention
President Obama didn’t keep his campaign promise to close the American prison for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay. Yesterday marked Gitmo’s 10th anniversary. The camp on Cuba, conveniently perhaps outside the jurisdiction of normal legal procedures in the United States, … Continue reading
Is protest contagious?
As the year comes to an end, unexpected and potentially powerful protest movements are appearing in unexpected places, including China, Russia, and Syria, threatening to topple regimes and change the world. Protest movements seem to appear in a spate. Arab … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 1848, 1989, Arab Spring, contagion, Occupy, protest, Tahrir Square, tea party, Time
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