Tag Archives: countermovements

On Wisconsin: Class War and Coalitions

Calling the mash-up in Madison, where the Tea Party meets organized labor, “class war,” was Mike Huckabee’s idea.  Huckabee deplored President Obama’s choice to weigh in, rather modestly, on the conflict in Wisconsin.  (Class war, apparently, is a large problem … Continue reading

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DA’s indictment gives Irvine 11 another chance

What was Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas thinking?  Pressing criminal charges against the students who disrupted an invited talk by Israel ambassador Michael Oren gives them a political opportunity that they were completely unable to create for themselves. Recall … Continue reading

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The Egyptian Revolution: Tipping Points Tip Both Ways

When Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak promised to stay out of the next election, for the moment anticipated in the fall, he figured to change the balance of power in the streets.  Knowing that Mubarak was ostensibly committed to leave office, … Continue reading

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Roe v. Wade commemorations

Visitors to Washington, DC can choose either an anti-abortion or abortion rights demonstration this week. The March for Life started with a rally on the National Mall, then activists marched to the Supreme Court to protest Roe v. Wade, praying … Continue reading

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Defeats and Victories

Movements don’t disappear after a legislative verdict.  Victories and defeats change calculations about what’s possible and how to go about getting it, but they virtually never–at least in the United States–provide a decisive resolution to the sorts of issues that … Continue reading

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Phelps Family Flop? Not quite.

Elizabeth Edwards’s funeral in Raleigh, North Carolina, was another occasion for the Westboro Church (read: Fred Phelps and family) to get attention. As discussed here, the tiny hyperconservative church has succeeded in gaining national attention by picketing military funerals and … Continue reading

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Science, Animals, and Terror

Terror is a social movement strategy, but not a popular one in the United States.  Terror, and violence more generally, polarizes, and when people make choices, it’s not always on the side of the movement. Animal rights activism takes diverse … Continue reading

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Intolerance of Intolerance

What if your cause doesn’t have many supporters?  Smaller numbers have to take on more extreme tactics or make more outlandish claims in order to win the kind of attention that those large demonstrations on the Washington mall get.    A … Continue reading

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What social media can do:

I taught an undergraduate social movements course in the Fall of 2008.  The vast majority of the students reported that they had never done anything political at the beginning of the course.  This changed as the fall went on.  A … Continue reading

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Immigration Activists Push the Dream Act

Public frustration with current immigration policy never seems to fade into the background these days.   At Congress.org, Ambreen Ali reports that reform activists are planning to press Senators to vote for the Dream Act next week.  Their campaign will include … Continue reading

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