The Logic of Cannabis Pragmatism in the Marijuana Legalization Movement

• In Event: 2483 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 09. Organizations and Movements

Abstract

Since the mid-1990s, the marijuana legalization movement (MLM) has focused primarily on using ballot initiatives to legalize first medical and later recreational marijuana use. This paper examines the disagreements and conflicts in the marijuana legalization movement and the relatively durable lines along which they fell. It then looks closely at the working consensus, the shared practices and beliefs that emerged in the early 2010s, which I call the Logic of Cannabis Pragmatism. It draws upon ideas from the study of strategic action fields and institutional logics, as well as from social movement theory, to make sense of what happened.

Author

• Jerome Lionel Himmelstein, Amherst College