Overcoming the Latecomer Dilemma: The Trajectory of the Community University Movement in Taiwan

• In Event: 474 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 05. Framing Processes

Abstract

Movement initiator-latecomer interplay is an important element in social movements. Yet there has been less consideration of this aspect from a processual and qualitative perspective. Based on an ethnographic case study in one of the community universities and data collected from multiple sources, the article explores the interplay between movement initiators and latecomers in the Community University Movement in Taiwan. I focus on three aspects: 1) initiators’ strategies to develop the movement; 2) the latecomer’s impacts on the movement; 3) the response of movement initiators. By framing a concept of the latecomer dilemma, I explore the rapid growth and fail to insist the original goal of this grassroots education reform movement. The article remedies the lack of discussion on latecomers by proposing to see the relationship between movement initiators and latecomers as a strategic interaction and contributes to our understanding on movement latecomers and has implications for the outcome and continuity of social movements.

Author

• Chengpang Lee, University of Chicago