21st Century Social Movements

In this course, we explore theoretical and empirical research on social movements, defined as collective mobilizations that are either large scale or remain organized for at least one year, & aim to instigate political change. During the semester we examine and debate a range of scholarship, both theoretical and case-based, across the disciplines of political science, sociology, psychology and other relevant fields that address the dynamics of radical imagination, movement emergence, the process of organizing, the process of professionalization, the process of demobilization/abeyance, and the phenomenon of political acceptance. We also endeavor to assess the different political impacts social movements make in politics and policy in the United States and beyond.