More than an Activist: Identity Competition and Participation in a Revolutionary Socialist Organization

Chris Hardnack

doi:10.18778/1733-8077.07.2.03

Authors

Chris Hardnack University of Oregon, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1733-8077.07.2.03

Keywords:

Social Movements, Identity Theory, Identities, Case Studies, Activists, Socialists

Abstract

How do activists manage life commitments and membership in a radical social movement organization? Starting with the assumption that activists are ‘more than activists’ who have personal lives that can affect their movement lives, I use identity theory to analyze how competition among identities influences participation in the organization to which they belong. I also assess how the collective identity of a revolutionary socialist organization affects the personal identities of activists. This movement identity is labeled ‘socialist identity’ which must then compete with other identities that the activist may possess. The methods used were modified life history interviews of former and current members, participant observations, and content analysis of the organization’s documents.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Chris Hardnack, University of Oregon, USA

Chris Hardnack is a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Oregon. His areas of interest are social movements, political sociology, social theory, and political economy. He is currently examining the anti-globalization, anti-war, and immigrant rights movements as an anti-neoliberal protest wave in the United States. In addition, he is working on a synthesis of neo-Marxist class analysis and identity theory. He also completed a Master's degree in sociological practice at California State University, San Marcos, where his research focused on the impact of identity construction and salience on social movement participation.

References

Adler, Patricia A. and Peter Adler. 1987. Membership Roles in Field Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412984973

Blee, Kathleen M. and Verta Taylor. 2002. ʺSemi-Structured Interviewing in Social Movement Research.ʺ Pp. 92-118 in Methods of Social Movement Research, edited by B. Klandermans and S. Staggenborg. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Google Scholar

Della Porta, Donatella and Mario Diani. 2006. Social Movements: An Introduction. 2nd edition. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Google Scholar

Downton, James and Paul Wehr. (1998. ʺPersistent Pacifism: How Activist Commitment Is Developed and Sustained.ʺ Journal of Peace Research 35:531-555.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343398035005001

Flacks, Richard. 1988. Making History: The Radical Tradition in American Life. New York: Columbia University Press.
Google Scholar

Gamson, William A. 1991. ʺCommitment and Agency in Social Movements.ʺ Sociological Forum 6:27-50.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01112726

Hasso, Frances S. 2001. ʺFeminist Generations? The Long-term Impact of Social Movement Involvement on Palestinian Women‟s Lives.ʺ American Journal of Sociology 107(3):586-611.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/338974

Hochschild, Arlie. 2003. The Second Shift. London: Penguin Books.
Google Scholar

Hunt, Scott A. and Robert D. Benford. 1994. ʺIdentity Talk in the Peace and Justice Movement.ʺ Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 22:488-517.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/089124194022004004

Hunt, Scott A. and Robert D. Benford. 2004. ʺCollective Identity, Solidarity, and Commitment.ʺ Pp. 433-457 in Blackwell Companion to Social Movements, edited by D. Snow, S. A. Soule and H. Kriesi. Oxford: Blackwell.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/b.9780631226697.2003.00020.x

Hunt, Scott A.; Robert D. Benford and David A. Snow. 1994. ʺIdentity Fields: Framing Processes and the Social Construction of Movement Identities.ʺ Pp. 185-208 in New Social Movements: From Ideology to Identity, edited by E. Larana, H. Johnston and J. Gusfield. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Google Scholar

Johnston, Hank. 2002. ʺVerification and Proof in Frame Discourse Analysis.ʺ Pp. 62-91 in Methods of Social Movement Research, edited by B. Klandermans and S. Staggenborg. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Google Scholar

Klandermans, Bert. 2002. ʺHow Group Identification Helps Overcome the Dilemma of Collective Action.ʺ The American Behavioral Scientist 45:887-900.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0002764202045005009

Lofland, John. 1996. Social Movement Organizations: Guide to Research on Insurgent Realities. New York: Aldine de Gruyter.
Google Scholar

McAdam, Doug. 1986. ʺRecruitment to High-Risk Activism: The Case of Freedom Summer.ʺ American Journal of Sociology 92(1):64-90.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/228463

McAdam, Doug. 1992. ʺGender As a Mediator of the Activist Experience: The Case of Freedom Summer.ʺ American Journal of Sociology 97:1211-1240.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/229900

McAdam, Doug and Ronelle Paulsen. 1993. ʺSpecifying the Relationship Between Social Ties and Activism.ʺ The American Journal of Sociology 99:640-667.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/230319

McCarthy, John D. and Mayer N. Zald. 1977. ʺResource Mobilization and Social Movements: A Partial Theory.ʺ American Journal of Sociology 82:1212-1241.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/226464

McVeigh, Rory and Christian Smith. 1999. ʺWho Protests in America: An analysis of Three Political Alternatives – Inaction, Institutionalized Politics, or Protest.ʺ Sociological Forum 14:985-702.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021656121301

Melucci, Alberto. 1989. Nomads of the Present: Social Movements and Individual Needs in Contemporary Society. London: Hutchinson Ltd.
Google Scholar

Naples, Nancy A. 1992. ʺActivist Mothering: Cross-Generational Continuity in the Community Work of Women from Low-Income Urban Neighborhoods.ʺ Gender and Society 6(3):441-463.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/089124392006003006

Polletta, Francesca and James M. Jasper. 2001. ʺCollective Identity And Social Movements.ʺ Annual Review of Sociology 27:283-305.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.27.1.283

RSO. 2007. [Citation withheld to maintain organization anonymity].
Google Scholar

Simon, Bernd; Stefan Sturmer and Michael Loewry. 1998. ʺCollective Identification and Social Movement Participation.ʺ Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 74(3):646-658.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.3.646

Snow, David A. and Douglas McAdam. 2000. ʺIdentity Work Processes in the Context of Social Movement: Clarifying the Identity/Movement Nexus.ʺ Pp. 41-67 in Self, Identity and Social Movements, edited by S. Stryker, T.J. Owens and R. W. White. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minneapolis Press.
Google Scholar

Stryker, Sheldon. 1980. Symbolic Interactionism: A Social Structural Version. Menlo Park, CA: Benjamin/Cummings.
Google Scholar

Stryker, Sheldon. 2000. ʺIdentity Competition: Key to Differential Social Movement Participation?ʺ Pp. 21-40 in Self, Identity and Social Movement, edited by S. Stryker, T.J. Owens and R. W. White. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minneapolis Press.
Google Scholar

Stryker, Sheldon. 2008. ʺFrom Mead to a Structural Symbolic Interactionism and Beyond.ʺ Annual Review of Sociology 34:15-31.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.34.040507.134649

Stryker, Sheldon and Peter Burke. 2000. ʺThe Past, Present, and Future of an Identity Theory.ʺ Social Psychology Quarterly 63:284-297.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2695840

Stryker, Sheldon; Timothy J. Owens and Robert W. White. 2000. Self, Identity and Social Movements. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minneapolis Press.
Google Scholar

Thorne, Barrie. 1975. ʺProtest and the Problem of Credibility: Uses of Knowledge and Risk-Taking in the Draft Resistance Movement of the 1960s.ʺ Social Problems 23(2):111-123.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/799650

Van Dyke, Nella; Doug McAdam and Brenda Wilhem. 2000. ʺGendered Outcomes; Gender Differences in the Biographical Consequences of Activism.ʺ Mobilization 5(2):167-177.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.17813/maiq.5.2.a609t7l80077617k

Whalen, Jack and Richard Flacks. 1989. Beyond the Barricades: The Sixties Generation Grows Up. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Google Scholar

White, Robert W. and Micheal R. Fraser. 2000. ʺPersonal and Collective Identities and Long Term Social Movement Activism: Republican Sinn Féin.ʺ Pp 324-346 in Self, Identity and Social Movements, edited by S. Stryker, T.J. Owens and R. W. White. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minneapolis Press.
Google Scholar

Whittier, Nancy. 1995. Feminist Generations: The Persistence of the Radical Women’s Movement. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Google Scholar

Wiltfang, Gregory and Doug McAdam. 1991. ʺThe Costs and risks of Social Activism: A Study of Sanctuary Movement Activism.ʺ Social Forces 69:987-1010.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2579299

Zald, Mayer N. and Roberta Ash. 1966. ʺSocial Movement Organizations: Growth, Decay, and Change.ʺ Social Forces 44(3):327-341.
Google Scholar DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2575833