Doctoral Dissertation Research: Business Unity and Anti-Corporate Social Movement Protests in the U.S., 2000-2010

是什么决定了美国的大公司如何应对针对它们的社会抗议？公司在策略上表现出很大的变化，有时满足要求，有时采取强硬立场反对让步，甚至报复抗议者。为什么这些公司的反应如此不同？本研究主要研究企业精英社会关系的影响。企业是根据个别企业层面的因素采取不同的战略，还是也从社会层面发展这些战略？如果他们在社会上这样做，企业精英在战略上是否表现出团结？该研究结合了组织社会学和经济学理论，以确定影响抗议反应的相关公司层面特征。社会运动理论被纳入评估抗议可能对企业产生的影响。最后，用统一理论解释了企业间网络的影响。研究人员将使用这些网络来测试统一行为是否不仅仅是个人利益的聚合，而是社会建构的，是集体行动的结果。将运行Logistic多层次随机效应模型，以样本中对公司的抗议作为分析单位。该研究还建立了一个2000年至2010年美国抗议活动的数据库。这项研究有两个主要的学术贡献。首先，这是对商业精英围绕抗议活动的策略最深入的研究。以往的研究受到抗议类型或影响的限制。其次，这是第一个量化企业网络在应对抗议策略中的作用的研究。虽然可以理解，企业不是社会上独立的行为者，但还没有对抗议活动进行定量研究，以衡量企业的社会关系对企业应对抗议的影响。更广泛的影响目前，人们对企业的政治行为的理解并不完全，活动家们也不完全了解企业的社会关系在多大程度上阻碍或帮助了他们的努力。鉴于反企业抗议活动的突出表现（在“占领华尔街”和其他旗帜下），对许多运动和政策参与者来说，这是一个重要的时刻。所研究的时间段涵盖了重大的政治和经济事件——包括2007年的金融崩溃和住房危机，公共部门的萎缩，以及大公司对政治和经济权力的日益巩固——进一步证实了研究的必要性，以更好地理解大公司及其反对者的现象。

Michael SchwartzTarun BanerjeeSUNY at Stony Brook What determines how large corporations in the U.S. respond to social protest against them? Firms show a lot of variation in their strategies, sometimes accommodating demands, and at other times, taking strong stands against concessions or even retaliating against protesters. Why do these firms respond so differently? This research studies the influence of social relations of the corporate elite. Do firms undertake differing strategies based on individual firm-level factors or do they also develop these strategies socially? If they do so socially, do the corporate elite show unity in their strategies? The research incorporates organizational sociology and economic theory to identify relevant firm-level characteristics that impact responses to protests. Social movement theory is incorporated to assess the influence protests may have on firms. Finally, unity theory is used to explain the impact of networks formed between companies. The researchers will used these networks to test whether unified behavior is not just the convergence of individual interest but is socially constructed and results from collective action. Logistic multi-level random effects models will be run, with a protest against a firm in the sample as the unit of analysis. The research also builds a database of protests in the U.S. from 2000 to 2010. This study has two main scholarly contributions. First, this is the most in-depth study on the strategies of the business elite around protests. Previous research has been limited by protest type or impact. Second, this is the first study to quantify the role of corporate networks in their strategies against protests. While it is understood that corporations are not asocial independent actors, no quantitative studies of protests have yet measured the influence of their social relations on their responses to protest. Broader ImpactsCurrently there is an incomplete understanding of the political actions of firms, and activists operate without full knowledge of the degree to which the social relations of firms impede or aid their efforts. Given the prominence of anti-corporate protests (under the Occupy Wall Street banner as well as others), this is a consequential time for many movements and policy actors. The time period under study covers significant political and economic occurrences -- including the 2007 financial collapse and housing crisis, the shrinking of the public sector, and the increasing consolidation of political and economic power by large corporations -- further confirming the need for research to better understand the phenomena of large corporations and those that oppose them.