Author Archives: David S. Meyer

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About David S. Meyer

Author and professor of Sociology and Political Science at the University of California, Irvine

Peace movement anyone?

Posted on September 12, 2014 by David S. Meyer

Strong social movements are hard to start and end all too easily.  It’s just about exactly the opposite of wars. President Obama’s speech last night (September 10) was emphatic about a couple of things: his determination to use American military … Continue reading →

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Reviving Labor from the bottom

Posted on September 8, 2014 by David S. Meyer

Even organized labor mostly skipped this year’s Labor Day, which has never really been about the American worker.  Later in the week, however, activists made another play at reviving the fortunes of organized labor–and the American worker–from the bottom up. … Continue reading →

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Scoring the Tea Party at the polls

Posted on August 26, 2014 by David S. Meyer

Almost from the outset, the Tea Party movement committed to an electoral strategy to get what its adherents wanted–or at least some of what they wanted.  By 2010, the movement had largely moved from the town halls and streets to … Continue reading →

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Ice bucket challenged

Posted on August 25, 2014 by David S. Meyer

A creative campaign to raise attention and money for ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) has circulated across the web and through virtually every social media channel.  You’ve seen a friend or a celebrity post a video of themselves dumping ice water … Continue reading →

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Days of quiet rage

Posted on August 22, 2014 by David S. Meyer

Generating turnout at a movement event is hard work.  Grievances and injustice don’t make protest happen; rather, grievances allow an activist effort to resonate. When Anonymous called for nationwide demonstrations on the Ferguson events, they were depending upon local networks … Continue reading →

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Days of Rage: Is Ferguson spreading out or dissipating?

Posted on August 21, 2014 by David S. Meyer

Inspired by the ongoing events in Ferguson, Anonymous has called for Days of Rage protests across the nation:   At least one part of the story here is the reasonably sophisticated use of social media, including Youtube above.  The description … Continue reading →

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Nurse-in in Beverly Hills

Posted on August 21, 2014 by David S. Meyer

Protest, when it works, makes it hard to ignore something that was previously ignorable.  Yesterday, women held a nurse-in at the Anthropologie store in Beverly Hills.  The flash meal was a response to an incident earlier in the week, when … Continue reading →

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How movements work; Shamu’s story.

Posted on August 20, 2014 by David S. Meyer

Here’s a shift: SeaWorld is building larger pens for the killer whales it keeps as performers and tourist attractions.  It also announced an enhanced focus on research.  Where did this come from? This is the movement story: Shamu, the stage … Continue reading →

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Protest and riots

Posted on August 19, 2014 by David S. Meyer

Violence polarizes.  It makes people pay attention.  It makes people take sides.  And this goes for violence from authorities like the police as well as protesters. It doesn’t take many people, committed or crazy, in masks or police uniforms and … Continue reading →

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Ferguson and protesting police

Posted on August 14, 2014 by David S. Meyer

Unfortunately, there’s not much new about protests in reaction to overly eager policing, and there are many tragic, maybe criminal, endings that don’t generate protests as well.  In Ferguson, a small suburb of St. Louis, the police have clearly been … Continue reading →

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