Reasons, Tales, and Collective Action: Explaining Types of Participation in the #YoSoy132 Movement in Mexico

• In Event: 474 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 15. Theory-Building for Social Movement Studies

Abstract

Individuals’ political mobilization has been explained by the rational choice theory according to the general tenets of its approach to human behavior (i.e., Becker 1968; Olson 1971; Schelling 1978). Following the well-known distinction between the narrow theory and the broad theory of rationality (i.e., Elster, 1988), this work presents a more extensive view of the individuals’ behavior in a process of political mobilization, considering the individuals´ strategic calculus for their participation in a contentious collective action (Tarrow 1997), but also incorporating cognitive, normative, and emotional factors to the explanation. From a set of thirty interviews to active participants in the movement # YoSoy132 in Mexico City (14 women and 16 men), and using an innovative application of the typological theory (i.e., Elman 2005; George and Bennett 2005; Collier et al. 2012) at individual level, our findings show a nexus between different individuals’ types of behaviors, different kinds of reasons (i.e., instrumental vs. normative) and different “tales” (Merrill et al. 2000) on the movement (i.e., expressive vs. rational). These findings suggest the fruitfulness of the use of the typological theory to explain behavior at individual level.

Authors

• Rodolfo Sarsfield, Autonomous University of Queretaro

• Rafael Plancarte, University of Guadalajara