Courses

This course examines the current literature on social movements and related forms of collective action. Specific attention is given to the theory and methods of social movement research, levels of analysis of social movement activity, the political process and resource mobilization models of collective action, framing dynamics, movement participation, movement emergence/mobilization, movement outcomes, social revolutions, social movements outside of advanced capitalist democracies, transnational movements, and state repression-movement dynamics. Students will learn the contemporary...

Social movements are a common feature of politics in the modern world. We will examine social movements defined as outsiders to institutional politics, that use nonconventional strategies to exercise political influence, and that engage in sustained interaction with political and economic elites. Social movements vary widely in terms of their size, strategies, goals, organizational forms and success. For example, analysts study social movements ranging from local chapters of environmental organizations to national revolutionary movements and international terrorist networks.

This course surveys a range of major global social trends over the last few centuries in order to better understand contemporary globalization processes. We will draw on large-scale historical transformations from the past and compare their similarities and differences to current global transitions. Specifically, we examine the rise of bureaucracy, industrial capitalism, and national social movements/revolutions to assist us in comprehending current world trends such as the network society, neo-liberal economic restructuring, international social movements, and global conflict. The course is divided into the following nine themes:

Basic Concepts and Theories of Social Change
1. The Global Diffusion of Bureaucratic and Network Organizational Structures
2. The Historical Rise of Capitalist Society
3. The Transition from Fordism to Neo-Liberal Globalization
4. The Debt Crisis in the Developing World
5. Democratization as a Global Pattern
6. Cultural Explanations of Change and International Conflict in the Post-Cold War Era
7. Social Movements in International Perspective
8. Environmental Issues and Urbanization in a Globalizing World