POLI 2160 / SOC 1436 Social Movements and Political Change

Abstract

“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor… it must be demanded by the oppressed.” As this quotation from Martin Luther King Jr. implies, citizens must sometimes resort to protests, strikes, sit-ins, strikes, and boycotts, and other disruptions to demand attention to their grievances and compel social change. Yet, shared grievances do not automatically produce social movements, and the impact of these challenges on entrenched norms or institutions is often uncertain. This course thus poses two broad questions: How do we account for the emergence of social movements, and why are some movements successful in bringing about change, while others are not? To furnish students with the tools necessary to answer these questions, this course surveys a rich interdisciplinary literature. We explicate the central concepts of social movement theory through an investigation of various social movements, with an emphasis on the civil rights and women’s movement. Then, coming up to the present, we analyze Occupy Wall Street, the Tea Party, and the Resistance movement against Trump Presidency. By the end of the semester, students will have a better understanding of movement emergence and decline, participation, and various aspects of movement impact, including upon individual participants as well as cultural and political change.

__Course Goals and Objectives.__ ➢ Introduce students to social movement theory to understand movement formation and impact. ➢ Develop appreciation for the importance of incentives and social networks in explanations of individual behavior. ➢ Provide basic knowledge of major US social movements and their role in US politics. ➢ Foster theoretical understanding of change processes and policy outcomes in the US politics.