Doctoral Dissertation Research: Commitment and Disengagement in Social Movements

博士论文研究：社会运动中的承诺与脱离

• 批准号: 1409581
• 负责人: Rory McVeigh
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: University of Notre Dame
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-07-01 至 2015-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1409581&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Commitment; Disengagement

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.

SES-1409581罗里麦克维丹尼尔土方圣母大学这个项目研究为什么一些努力创造社会变革失败，而其他人成功。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的活动家，组织和社区成员之间的互动，阿巴拉契亚中部是一个有争议的采矿实践的所在地，称为山顶采矿。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。 研究人员假设，这是因为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，使积极分子能够将结构性变革潜力转化为居民的实际动员。 联合PI将通过随机和有目的地选择的居民和活动家的65次访谈来检查这一过程，检查各种道德承诺，象征性边界以及个人和集体记忆。 调查员还将在三个月的实地考察过程中观察这两个群体之间的互动。这项研究将有助于学术上理解为什么社会运动有时会失败（或甚至从来没有开始），通过显示一个关键的，但被忽视的组成部分，集体行动。首先，该项目对致力于边缘化人口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是不够的，以燃料的运动;与当地居民建立信任是一个关键的初始组成部分，组织社区变革。该项目突出了有效组织的成就，并揭示了地球仪各地居民，特别是经济多样化有限的农村地区居民可能具有的一些突出价值观和优先事项。我将把我的发现分发给我所研究和介绍的环保组织，并广泛发表。其次，该项目突出了代表性不足的群体，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。