Activism Without Activists: Ideological Conflicts in Collective Action in the Tea Party.

• In Event: 474 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 18. The Tea Party

Abstract

Early critics of the Tea Party Movement doubted the grassroots potential of the mobilization partly based on ideological grounds: How can a movement organize collectively around a campaign to reduce collective responsibility for public welfare? (see DiMaggio 2011; Street and DiMaggio 2011). And yet, in the five years since the movement began, a vibrant grassroots component has emerged, successfully challenging established political powers and involving thousands of new citizens into sustained campaigns (Skocpol and Williamson 2012). In this paper, I examine ideological conflict in Tea Party organizers directly, finding that they did struggle with ideological and cultural contradictions between their foundational emphasis on individualism and the collective activities in which they engaged. Furthermore, I find that the results of this struggle limited the extent of the organizing in which they were willing to engage.

Author

• Elizabeth Yates