CCPA 680C - Foundations Collective Action

Credits: 3

This course introduces students to the social bases and logics of collective action. It surveys leading theories of protest and then examines illustrative cases of community organizing and social movements. In doing so, it addresses several key questions concerning collective action by powerless groups, including: What are movements? What are the barriers to collective action by the powerless? Why are people usually quiescent in the face of oppression and exploitation? Why and how do social movements nonetheless arise? What role do community organizers play in the emergence of social movements? Are labor and unions particularly relevant for non-elite protest? Why do movements win or lose? And when does mass protest contribute to systemic change? The course will explore these questions (and others) by studying case studies of organizing and movements from the US and the Global South. Offered: semester varies.