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

When anger isn’t enough

Posted on August 14, 2011 by David S. Meyer

(A little long for the blog, this is cross-posted from the Washington Post.) There’s something exciting, sometimes terrifying, about people taking to the streets to get what they want. In Cairo’s Tahrir Square, they gathered to demand the ouster of … Continue reading →

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Claiming victory gracelessly

Posted on August 4, 2011 by David S. Meyer

A win is a problem for a social movement.  Activists never get all they want, and smaller reforms can make it hard to get supported riled up and active.  At the same time, movement organizers need to show that they … Continue reading →

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What the Tea Party won; what it cost

Posted on August 1, 2011 by David S. Meyer

As we discussed last week, professional politicians sell out movements.  Speaker John Boehner has worked hard throughout the negotiations to play to the most committed elements of the Tea Party in the House of Representatives, advocating positions that he would … Continue reading →

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Crime, punishment, and protest

Posted on July 28, 2011 by David S. Meyer

Tim DeChristopher has been sentenced to two years in jail and a $10,000 fine.  About 2 1/2 years ago, after Barack Obama had been elected president, partly by promising to protect the environment more aggressively than President George W. Bush … Continue reading →

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Will parents protest education cutbacks?: The organizational deficit

Posted on July 27, 2011 by David S. Meyer

Sandy Banks, is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times and the parent of two daughters studying in the California State University system.  She’s frustrated that it’s costing her so much more to help her kids out, and angry that … Continue reading →

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Is there still a Tea Party movement?

Posted on July 25, 2011 by David S. Meyer

If a political movement doesn’t mobilize, is it still a movement?  Although the term “Tea Party” is thrown about a lot these days, particularly in reference to the hard-line anti-debt faction of Republicans in the House, it’s not clear that … Continue reading →

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The debt debate: Can the Republican Party sell out the Tea Party?

Posted on July 21, 2011 by David S. Meyer

Political parties have to sell out the movements that support them.  First, they exploit the energy, incorporate new activists and ideas, and then find some watered down way to soften the rough edges. Parties that can’t tame the movements that … Continue reading →

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Prisoners continue to fast, apparently

Posted on July 13, 2011 by David S. Meyer

News about the ongoing hunger strike in Pelican Bay’s “supermax” prison is leaking out slowly and unreliably.  (We’ve covered the hunger strike a few days ago, as well as the hunger strike as a tactic more generally.) While there’s little … Continue reading →

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Who’s to blame for increased California university tuition?

Posted on July 12, 2011 by David S. Meyer

Tuition at the public universities in California, including the University of California, Irvine, which pays my salary, continues to skyrocket, even as operating budgets in the University of California and California State Universities erode.  The president of the University of … Continue reading →

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Unemployment politics and the organizational deficit

Posted on July 11, 2011 by David S. Meyer

Slid into the Business section of Sunday’s NY Times, Catherine Rampell notes that the number of unemployed in the United States has climbed over 14 million, but that the unemployed are politically invisible: In some ways, this boils down to … Continue reading →

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