Stumbling Blocks or Stepping Stones? The Problems and Promises of Policy Reform for Social Movements

• In Event: 556 - Regular Session. Collective Behavior

Abstract

Activists rarely, if ever, get everything they want from policy demands. During the policy making process their demands are tempered into political compromises. Do these policy concessions co-opt movements or do they provide activists a foothold for further change? This question is fundamental to democracy: Can movements promote the change they want through democratic processes like policy reform? The movement for protection of animals used in research provides a good case for examining this topic. I examine the impact of federal regulation at the laboratory level by interviewing scientists, bioethicists, veterinarians, and other professionals involved in research with animals. I also use ethnographic and archival data to capture changes that are related to increasing regulations of research using animals. I found that policy reforms created structural access to laboratory decision-making. This access facilitated changes in attitudes and practices of those involved in animal research.

Author

• Erin Evans, University of California-Irvine