Local Resistance, Linkage, and Scale Shift: Anti-Fracking Mobilization and Movement Emergence in the Marcellus Shale

• In Event: 463 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 13. Movement Emergence

Abstract

Why do some groups mobilize while others do not? How do local struggles “link up” to form movements of larger scale? These are core questions within social movement studies. However, the tendency of social movement scholars to “select on the dependent variable” has limited our understanding of mobilization, and “scale shift” (Tarrow and McAdam 2005). Few studies consider both positive and negative cases of mobilization. My research addresses this gap by comparing anti-fracking mobilization in New York and Pennsylvania at the county-level. Using fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), and unique data on the founding of anti-fracking organizations, I offer insight into the conditions that facilitate mobilization, and the development of large-scale social movements. This research also helps to explain differences in the strength and influence of the anti-fracking movement in New York and Pennsylvania.

Author

• Amanda E. Maull, Pennsylvania State University