Doctoral Dissertation Research: Commitment and Disengagement in Social Movements

rory McVeighDaniel EscherUniversity of Notre dame这个项目研究了为什么一些创造社会变革的努力失败了而另一些成功了。这项研究建立在集体行动的经典理论基础上，重点关注阿巴拉契亚中部活动家、组织和社区成员之间的互动。阿巴拉契亚中部是一种有争议的采矿实践——山顶采矿的所在地。一些组织成功地获得了社区成员的支持和参与，而另一些组织则往往失败。研究人员推测，造成这种情况的原因是他们在某些关键方面的文化匹配能力。换句话说，成功的文化匹配是一个重要的过程，使活动家能够将变革的结构性潜力转化为居民的实际动员。共同调查委员会将通过65个随机和有目的选择的居民和活动家的访谈来检验这一过程，考察各种道德承诺、象征性边界以及个人和集体记忆。研究者还将在三个月的实地考察过程中观察这两组之间的相互作用。这项研究将有助于学术理解为什么社会运动有时会失败（或甚至从未开始），通过展示集体行动的一个关键但被忽视的组成部分。更广泛的影响这个项目有两个更广泛的影响。首先，这个项目对致力于边缘化人群社会变革的实践者和研究他们的学者很有用。它表明，不满、组织资源和适当的框架等因素不足以推动一场运动；与当地居民建立信任是组织社区变革的关键初始组成部分。该项目突出了有效组织的成就，也揭示了全球范围内可能相似的居民的一些突出价值观和优先事项，特别是在经济多样化有限的农村地区。我将把我的发现分发给我考察和展示的环境组织，并广泛发表。其次，该项目将一个代表性不足的群体带到了前台，揭示了他们在严重的结构性劣势中履行承诺的努力。这项研究的结果将使社区团体更好地了解他们所服务的人群。

SES- 1409581Rory McVeighDaniel EscherUniversity of Notre DameThis project examines why some efforts to create social change fail while others succeed. The study builds on classical theories of collective action by focusing on the interactions between activists, organizations, and community members in central Appalachia, home to a contentious mining practice called mountaintop mining. Some organizations succeed in gaining the support and participation of community members while others tend to fail. The investigators hypothesize that the reason for this is their ability to match culturally in certain key ways. In other words, successful cultural matching is an important process enabling activists to convert the structural potential for change into residents' actual mobilization. The co-PI will examine this process through 65 interviews with randomly and purposively selected residents and activists, examining various moral commitments, symbolic boundaries, and personal and collective memories. The investigator will also observe interactions between these two groups over the course of three months of fieldwork. This study will contribute to scholarly understanding of why social movements sometimes fail (or never even begin) by showing a key yet overlooked component of collective action.Broader ImpactsThis project has two broader impacts. First, this project is useful for practitioners who work for social change among marginalized populations and the scholars who study them. It demonstrates that factors like grievances, organizational resources, and appropriate framing are not enough to fuel a movement; building trust with local residents is a key initial component of organizing for community change. This project highlights what effective organizations accomplish and also reveals some of the salient values and priorities of residents that are likely to be similar across the globe, particularly in rural areas with limited economic diversification. I will distribute my findings to the environmental organizations I examine and present and publish them widely. Second, this project brings to the fore an underrepresented group, bringing to light their attempts to live out their commitments amid severe structural disadvantages. Results from this study will enable community groups to better understand the people they serve.