Social movements, the formation and play of public opinion, and the behavior of interest groups.

Social Movements: While this course introduces students to sociological scholarship on social movements, it does so from the perspective of movements themselves. We explore a variety of social movements in 20th and 21st century U.S. history, including: the Movement of the Unemployed; the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements; The Free Speech Movement; the Chicano Movement; the Red Power Movement; the Gay Liberation Movement; the Occupy Movement; Standing Rock; and the Movement for Black Lives. Focusing on questions and concerns that emanate from the experiences of these movements, we turn to sociological and social science scholarship to develop analytic and theoretical approaches that enable us to pursue those questions. What are the conditions that allow for (or obstruct) the emergence of a movement, and how can we recognize and fully exploit those conditions when they arise? What forms of organization have facilitated movements, and which have endangered them? What different kinds of strategies and tactics have various movements adopted, and how effective have they been in different contexts? What strategic and tactical innovations have been introduced in the contemporary period? What challenges and forms of repression have movements faced historically, and how have they adapted? Finally, how can we fully assess the impacts of movements, even accounting for their unintended reverberations?

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills