ASOK15442U Å - CANCELLED - Advances in the Study of Social Movements

This course provides a sociological introduction to the study of protest and social movements. How can protesters, social movements, NGOs and journalists spread new ideas and critical knowledge about burning political and social issues to institutions, governments, and the broader public?

How do activists cooperate across countries and in coalitions involving migrants, refugees, or institutional labor unions, and socially disadvantaged groups? Reflecting pressing concerns and salient issues of the periods in which knowledge and democratic innovation is generated within activism and social movements this course provides students an overview of international research in the field over the past 50-60 years.

Our starting point is mapping the field of Social movement studies in relation to the Sociology of knowledge. We then analyze the challenges and conditions for organizing protest and building effective coalitions on issues such as climate change, workers’ rights, social justice, migration, gender/LGBT rights, human rights and others.

The lectures and classroom discussions will focus on the role of organizational dynamics of cooperation, decision-making, and the diffusion and translation of knowledge and protest strategies within and through social movement coalitions.

Case studies will focus on the interaction of movements and parties in the US over the past 50 years, the dynamics of student activism in the contemporary U.S., migration and refugee solidarity protests, right wing extremist and populist mobilizations, and questions of gender, and intersectionality. Students are expected to present tentative research agendas, get feedback, and present their interests/projects in light of what they've learned in the course.