This site provides a space for the
study of social movements in the U.S., including those movements as
linked to transnational and global movements. Our emphasis is on recent
and contemporary movements, but we also aim to provide materials on
earlier movements. We seek to bring together the best insights of
sociology, political science, anthropology, history, cultural studies,
American studies, ethnic studies, women's studies, and other fields
of social movement analysis, as well as the insights of movement activists
inside and outside of academia.
We are particularly interested in helping develop work on the cultural
dimension of social movements. We believe that, despite some
excellent work, the specifically cultural study of social movements
remains relatively undeveloped. We hope to keep a rather open definition
of what cultural approaches to movement analysis might entail, but
one key element is the further refinement of the concept of movement
cultures, a term meant to include all those practices and
meaning-making processes by which those within a given movement
express their distinctiveness vis-à-vis the surrounding culture(s)
with which they interact. These practices and processes include,
but are not limited to: rituals and symbolically charged actions;
movement-specific ideologies; ideolects, jargons, and other special
language forms; works of art and other expressive forms; unique
value systems; material culture objects peculiar to the movement;
and various other behaviors and expressions that enhance movement
solidarity, strengthen movement-bred identities and communicate
movement ideas, values, and goals. In studying these cultural forms
we hope to link them up to, rather than see them as autonomous from,
political economy, socio-cultural institutions, and other structural
factors that have previously been privileged in movement analysis.
We view culture neither as fully autonomous, nor as reducible to
these other forces, but as in complex, mutually constructive interaction
with them.
The site currently consists of links to on-line articles, bibliographies,
course syllabi, conferences, a glossary of terms for movement analysis,
and sets of links to historically-oriented and contemporary sites
categorized by movement type. A listserv on social movement cultures,
as well as other interactive elements are planned for the future.
We hope the site will prove useful to a variety of scholars, activists,
and activist-scholars.