Development of the New Right Movement Infrastructure: Analyzing Complex Field and Organizational Connections

• In Event: 282 - Student Forum Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 06. Social Movements, Identity, and the Media

Abstract

This paper looks at the period from the 1970s to early 1990s in the development of the “New Right” movement infrastructure in the United States. This provides a rich case for describing the interactions between organizations in the “complex webs” (Fligstein & McAdam) of proximate movement fields that comprise the New Right. The paper seeks to expand scholarship at the intersection of social movement, organization, and field theory by detailing key mechanisms that tie New Right organizations together, including shared boards of directors, exchange of staff, alumni status in a conservative student organization, shared funders, and shared direct mail lists through dedicated consultants. Given that most social movements organizations (SMOs) are nonprofits, while most of organization theory has developed around corporations, the paper will furthermore indicate similarities and differences in applying corporate organization theory to the unique characteristics of the nonprofit sphere.

Author

• Alex DiBranco, Yale University