The Role of Cultural Matching in Micro-Mobilization

• In Event: 463 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 05. Framing in Environmental Activism

Abstract

Mobilizing individuals to fight together for justice is inherently an interpersonal, cultural act. Yet widely used explanations of collective action overlook the cultural work that precedes the core components of micro-mobilization: communicating opportunities, transferring resources, and creating resonant meanings or frames. I examine this cultural work using ethnographic research on the fight over mountaintop removal coal mining in central Appalachia. I find that micro-mobilization is a process of cultural matching between social movement organizations and potential participants: Organizations tended to recruit community members who already matched or fit culturally with the existing group; community members tended to join and support organizations whose mobilizing styles matched their expectations. Cultural mismatching created disconnection, interfered with frame alignment, exacerbated community tension, and hindered further collective-action efforts. This study contributes a more robust account of culture in mobilization and uncovers a key micro-social process that accounts for why social movements sometimes fail, or never even begin.

Author

• Daniel Escher, University of Notre Dame