Waves of Contention and Relations among the Radical, Moderate, and Conservative Groups of Social Movements

• In Event: 535 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Paper Session. Strategy and Social Movements

Abstract

We examine the relationships among U.S. radical, moderate, and conservative contingents within social movements during and after the peak of activism and state concessions. Through a qualitative analysis of secondary sources that document several U.S. movements within the U.S, this paper offers theoretical and conceptual insights into social movement organizational or group interactions. First, our paper grapples with characterizations of organizations within a movement field as radical or moderate that are loosely and variably defined in the literature. We find that in some movements there is also a distinct conservative flank. Second, our paper examines the possibility that the relationships among the radical, moderate, and conservative groups as well as their presence or absence may impact social movements variously during different cycles of the social movement.

Authors

• Belinda Robnett, University of California-Irvine

• Carol L. Glasser, Minnesota State University - Mankato

• Rebecca Trammell, Metropolitan State University-Denver