Doctoral Dissertation Research: How Does Law Matter for Social Movement Networks?

社会运动通过要求更严格地执行现有法律、废除法律和制定新法律，催化了美国法律制度的变化。然而，很少有研究从相反的角度探讨法律和社会运动的相互作用，即考察法律的创造如何影响社会运动。这项研究旨在通过考察自1977年《露天采矿控制和复垦法案》(SMCRA)通过以来，阿巴拉契亚地区反对露天采矿的运动是如何演变的，从而阐明这些动态。SMCRA的重要性怎么强调都不为过，因为该法案呼吁对露天采矿进行联邦监管，阻止了呼吁废除这种做法的日益增长的运动，并使有争议的开采方法山顶移除合法化。研究人员将这一社会运动视为一个网络，旨在了解反露天采矿社会运动组织之间的关系是如何变化的，并继续随着法律的参与而变化。接触包括所使用的策略，以及他们框定露天采矿问题的方式和他们寻求的目标。网络分析使研究人员能够将个别社会运动组织的网络地位与他们的法律立场联系起来。通过与组织领导人的访谈，研究人员可以获得关于法律如何影响内部运动动力学以及运动动力学如何影响法律的内部评估。

Social movements have catalyzed change in the U.S. legal system by demanding more stringent enforcement of existing laws, the repeal of laws, and the creation of new laws. Much less research, however, has approached the interplay of law and social movements from the opposite perspective, that is, examining how the creation of law affects social movements. This research aims to shed light on these dynamics by examining how the movement opposing surface mining in Appalachia has evolved since the passage of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA). The significance of SMCRA cannot be overstated, as the act called for the federal regulation of surface mining, headed off the growing movement calling for the abolition of the practice, and also legitimated the controversial extraction method known as mountaintop removal.The researchers approach this social movement as a network, aiming to understand how the relationships between anti-surface mining social movement organizations changed, and continue to change in response to legal engagements. Engagements include the tactics used, as well as the ways they frame the problem of surface mining and the goals they seek. Network analysis allows the researchers to correlate the network positions of individual social movement organizations with their legal stances. Interviews with organizational leaders allow the researchers to garner insider assessments of how the law influences intra-movement dynamics and how movement dynamics influence the law.