Democracy in the Making
How Activist Groups Form
Published on 19. April 2012
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-0-19-984276-6 (ISBN)
Description
Why do activist groups get stuck in routine ways of talking and acting? And why are these so hard to change? Kathleen Blee provides a provocative answer: that the way grassroots groups start can hamper their ability to invigorate political life and change society for years to come. Important for both scholars and activists, it shows how grassroots activism can better live up to its potential, and pinpoints the pitfalls that activist groups should avoid.
Based on observing more than 60 grassroots groups in Pittsburgh for three years, Democracy in the Making is an unprecedented look at how ordinary people come together to change society. It gives a close-up look at the deliberations of activists on the left and right as they work for animal rights, an end to the drug trade in their neighbourhood, same-sex marriage, global peace, and more. It shows how grassroots activism can provide an alternative to civic disengagement and a forum for envisioning how the world can be transformed. At the same time, it documents how activist groups become mired in dysfunctional and undemocratic patterns that their members dislike but can't fix.
By following grassroots groups from their very beginnings, Blee traces how their sense of what is possible and appropriate shrinks over time as groups develop a shared sense of who they are that forecloses options that were once open. At the same time, she charts the turning points at which options re-open and groups widen their sense of possibility.
Based on observing more than 60 grassroots groups in Pittsburgh for three years, Democracy in the Making is an unprecedented look at how ordinary people come together to change society. It gives a close-up look at the deliberations of activists on the left and right as they work for animal rights, an end to the drug trade in their neighbourhood, same-sex marriage, global peace, and more. It shows how grassroots activism can provide an alternative to civic disengagement and a forum for envisioning how the world can be transformed. At the same time, it documents how activist groups become mired in dysfunctional and undemocratic patterns that their members dislike but can't fix.
By following grassroots groups from their very beginnings, Blee traces how their sense of what is possible and appropriate shrinks over time as groups develop a shared sense of who they are that forecloses options that were once open. At the same time, she charts the turning points at which options re-open and groups widen their sense of possibility.
Reviews / Votes
Democracy in the Making offers a marvelous synthesis of sociological acumen and hope. Kathleen Blee finds that while social activists often narrow their visions of doable social change, they also can learn together and take surprising new directions with unpredictable results. A wide range of activists will recognize themselves in this book's wonderfully fine-grained portraits of politics at the grassroots. Scholars and active citizens alike will appreciate Democracy in the Making for revealing how group dynamics and past experience shape but never wholly dictate collective action. * Paul Lichterman, author of Elusive Togetherness: Church Groups Trying to Bridge America's Divisions * Democracy is not just about institutions and social movements are not just about protest. As Kathleen Blee convincingly demonstrates, activists aim at constructing spaces for the development of conceptions and practices of democracy. Their democratic potentials are, however, not always fulfilled. Theoretically innovative and methodologically rigorous, this study of 69 activist groups investigates the micro-dynamics of mobilization into collective action-its successes and its failures. * Donatella della Porta, Department of Political and Social Sciences, European University Institute * This book is an enormous breath of fresh air in an area that often recycles concepts and perspectives. Blee demonstrates her immense knowledge of the field of social movements and collective action but is bound by none of it. Eschewing the well-worn grooves of current perspectives in which most research is conducted, she offers a strikingly original approach to grassroots activism that will substantially reorient research in collective action and social movements. This is a path-breaking study that refocuses our attention on the processes of activism. * Marc W. Steinberg, Associate Professor of Sociology, Smith College*
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Undergraduate and graduate students, and scholars and researchers of protest, activism, political sociology, social movements, and American politics.
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
543 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-984276-6 (9780199842766)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
03/2012
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€22.99
Available for download
E-Book
03/2012
1st Edition
OUP eBook
€22.99
Available for download
Person
Kathleen M. Blee is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Pittsburgh and author of Women of the Klan: Racism and Gender in the 1920s and Inside Organized Racism: Women in the Hate Movement
Content
Acknowledgments ; Chapter 1: Making Democracy ; Chapter 2: Theorizing the Emergence of Activism ; Chapter 3: Who Belongs? ; Chapter 4: What's the Problem? ; Chapter 5: How Should We Treat Each Other? ; Chapter 6: Lessons ; Appendices ; Bibliography