Social movements

Gubernatorial mansions are historically home to white men. Candidates with contrary identities, such as women and racial minorities have met limited success in their quest for office. Yet the number of women seeking executive level office has increased and these women represent a broader intersectional identity. The low percentage of women governors has been examined in detail, but that analysis largely holds gender as an isolated variable and does not consider the candidates' broader identity. This project posits gender is only one factor of candidate identity called into question when it is nonnormative and varies from historical office holders. I argue candidate identity interacts with the identity expressed by voters and the collective identity found in social movements. The ability of the candidate to navigate this interaction and use it to their advantage is paramount to their success. I find that structural differences in the Democratic and Republican parties provide opportunities and constraints for women candidates. Further, gender, race, and previous political experience are intersectional and create different responses by candidates. Ultimately, successful candidates align their political identity with the collective identity found in contemporary social movements as a mitigation mechanism for voters uncomfortable with who the candidate appears to be.

This research study examined how the United Opt Out grassroots movement grew from a small listserv in 2011 into a national formidable organization, now referred to as the Opt Out movement, which rallied against the use of high stakes tests as the primary determinant of student achievement as defined in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB, 2002). While educators and parents did not oppose testing, they rejected the focus on a singular assessment created at the state level and the blatant disregard of other school-based assessments. It was soon evident that educators and parents had minimal input, while private corporate foundations and think tanks exerted a tremendous amount of influence on education policy. To counteract the corporate reform movement and to gain voice in education policy, grassroots movements, started and led by educators, began to organize. The Opt Out movement was one such movement that called on students to engage in civil disobedience by opting out of high stakes tests.

In this thesis, I document the existence of the American Engaged Buddhist (AEB) social movement by describing its history, organizations, and actions. Then, I utilize AEB's example to address unresolved debates within NSM theory, including wherein newness is to be found, whether NSMs are reactive and/or progressive, the non-economic basis of group solidarity, and the emphasis on cultural rather than political change. I place considerable focus on the creation and maintenance of the bodhisattva identity and the cohesiveness of the sangha (religious community). Through a qualitative case study, I find that the movement is organized around religious beliefs rather than the economic or structural class of the participants. AEB participants present as culturally motivated and show both progressive and reactive collective behavior. The basis of the movement's solidarity, plus its technologically savvy forms of communications and global networking, lend it a distinct air of newness apart from traditional social movements.

In 1967, American public broadcasting was established with a mandate to offer educational and artistic programs, a forum for debate and controversy, and a voice for the otherwise voiceless. Public radio and television's mission was, in some respects, comparable to the role of the ideal public sphere, a realm removed from state and market interference and in which citizens discuss matters of common concern, without regard to race, gender, class, or individual self-interest. Yet much of the medium's promise has remained unfulfilled, its existence irrelevant to most Americans. This study first explores the meaning of publicness, inquires into the causes of its problematic manifestation in public broadcasting, and envisions a more public form of the system. Publicness requires inclusive access and full participation by citizens, accountability, and insulation from political and commercial pressures. But public broadcasting's publicness, already narrowed by the upper-middle-class, secular, heterosexist, white, male biases of its founders, is further hindered by systemic insularity and infighting, inadequate funding, elected officials' micro-management, and commercial broadcasters' fear of competition. Most observers agree that reform of the system for the 21st century requires restructuring and creation of a new funding mechanism, in addition to an expanded definition of culture, more participation by citizens, and greater utilization of digital media technologies. However, any such reform is likely to encounter several political, economic, social, and cultural obstacles from lawmakers, public broadcasters, and commercial broadcasters. The study then assesses the effectiveness and prospects of Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting (CIPB), a grassroots group attempting to reform the medium. This analysis concludes that CIPB's recommendation for restructuring and financing largely comports with most scholars' ideas. And its development of a nationwide network of local chapters and alliances often is exemplary of practices researchers associate with effective social movement organizations. But hegemonic political, economic, social, and cultural constraints impede the group's effectiveness and prospects.

The purpose of this dissertation is to develop the theoretical concept of social movement momentum by examining the origins, framing strategies, and organizational dynamics of the East Timor transnational social movement. To accomplish this, in-depth interviews of twenty activists and intellectuals involved in the East Timor movement from 1975-1999 were conducted and examined using qualitative data analysis methods. Specifically, comparative historical methods utilizing grounded theory and the phenomenological approach were employed. This study fills a gap in the social movement literature by engaging and expanding the main theoretical debates in sociology over movement mobilization, political outcomes, movement emotions, solidarity, and movement framing. These debates, along with the theoretical concept of social movement momentum as developed in this dissertation, are used to explain and analyze interviewees' first-hand accounts of the East Timor campaigns. . This resulted in a series of successes that represent the peak of the momentum in the East Timor movement. In sum, this study aids researchers in understanding how the successes and failures of social movement activity can be better explained using the theoretical concept of social movement momentum. By analyzing the significance of momentum in a movement post hoc, this study contributes a more nuanced understanding of how social movements create social change.

This thesis examines identity as a process, how it is a reflection of, or reaction to, social, economic, and political circumstances. Identity is examined, through an ethnographically informed analysis, as it is represented, contested, and focused in the visual discourse of a small population. The research suggests that identity manifests at specific and strategic moments within the symbolic practices of resistance in coastal Ecuador. Grievances to economic and political power structures are acted out in clear-cut identity terms, or motifs, and function to organize diverse interests into social action. The study illustrates two identity motifs that are commonly asserted in the local context: depictions of being indigenous and of being the underdog. Using local examples, this thesis addresses the complexities of identity formation, examines the strategic capacity of identity, and offers insight into the relationships between identity, resistance, and power.