Three Words: “We the People”: Free Spaces and Collective Identity in the Tea Party

• In Event: 106 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Refereed Roundtable Session and Business Meeting
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 06. Ideological Movements of the Left and Right

Abstract

This study suggests that the Tea Party represents a free space than it is a movement for anti-liberal individuals. This study addresses how one Tea Party coalition, which we call the Flagship Tea Party (FTP) is comprised of individuals who attend the FTP meetings for affirmation of their beliefs, rather than because they are sympathetic with the Tea Party. As a result, the FTP lacks cohesion, commitment, and strategic action, made evident through multiple failed attempts at collective action. Instead of mobilizing for or against a specific cause, members of the FTP appear to come together only to express their identities as “anti-liberals”, rather than to unite under a particular political orientation or cause. We argue that right-wing movements - embodied by individuals feeling devalued, frustrated, and powerless - may vent and voice their dissent of US economic and political structures in any non-left venues, regardless of the organizational identity of the group. In light of these findings, we propose a new lens through which social movement scholars interpret dimensions of free spaces with groups experiencing power devaluation.

Author

• Stacy Keogh George, Whitworth University