Syllabus

NOTE: the most recent version of the syllabus is at http://brownbag.me:9001/p/networkmovements. The version on this page is an occasional static grab from the etherpad, to fall back on in case etherpad goes down.

Networked Social Movements: Media & Mobilization
CMS.361/861
Location: E15-335
Day/Time: Wed 2-5
Prof. Sasha Costanza-Chock [ http://schock.cc ]
contact | email: schock AT mit.edu | twitter / identi.ca: @schock
office hours: TBD, E15-322
Description: This  seminar is a space for collaborative inquiry into the relationships  between social movements and the media. The course reviews these  relationships through the lens of social movement theory, and functions  as a workshop to develop student projects. Seminar participants will  work together to explore frameworks, methods, and tools for  understanding networked social movements in the digital media ecology.  We will engage with social movement studies as a body of theoretical  and  empirical work, and learn about key concepts including: resource  mobilization; political process; framing; New Social Movements;  collective identity; tactical media; protest cycles; movement structure;  and more. We’ll explore methods of social movement investigation,  examine new data sources and tools for movement analysis, and grapple  with recent innovations in social movement theory and research.  Assignments include short blog posts, a book review, co-facilitation of a  seminar discussion, and a final research project focused on social  movement media practices in comparative perspective.
    •    Enrollment: limited to 16
    •    Open to both graduate and advanced undergraduate students.
Course Goals:
Students who take this course will be able to:
     •      Understand and articulate the relationships between social  movements and the media system, from various standpoints within social  movement studies.
    •      Demonstrate knowledge of the major shifts in research approaches to media & mobilization over time.
    •      Apply theoretical and methodological tools of social movement research to a specific social movement formation
     •      Plan, research, and complete a substantive project that  contributes to comparative analysis of some aspect of social movement  media, grounded in a concrete movement case and linked to the social  movement studies literature. Final projects may take the form of a paper  and/or a research tool.
Learning Tools and Activities
Participants  in this course will engage with a series of written and audiovisual  texts, discuss them together, and share reflections on the course blog;  explore methods of social movement research in a series of labs, and  develop and deliver a substantive final project that focuses on some  aspect of media & mobilization in comparative perspective between  the Occupy Movement and another social movement.
Learning activities over the course of the semester include:
    •    Engage with class texts and discussions;
    •    Take shared notes via etherpad;
    •    Write a series of blog posts;
    •    Present a summary of a social movement studies book to the rest of the class;
    •    Co-facilitate a seminar discussion;
    •    Attend a protest event and document media practices;
    •    Interview a social movement participant;
    •    Survey movement participants;
    •    Conduct frame analysis;
    •    Conduct peer review of each others’ work;
     •    Complete a final project (develop clear research questions, choose  appropriate methods & tools, produce compelling study design;  present a detailed project workplan; research, write, and present the  final project)
Final Projects
The  final project is an analysis of some aspect of social movement media,  communication, and/or culture, in comparative perspective between the  Occupy Movement and another social movement formation of your choice.  Projects must have a clearly defined research question, appropriate  methods & tools, and a reasonable workplan. Students can choose to  work with the Occupy Research network, or develop individual or team  projects.
Coordination tools:
    •    Website: http://networkmovements.wordpress.com
Student Assignments & Grading:
Grading for this course is organized as follows:
     •    10% texts & discussion: you are responsible for engaging with  all texts for the class, and coming to all course meetings prepared to  discuss the week’s texts
    •    20% reflections/blog posts
    •    10% final project proposal
    •    10% Seminar facilitation
    •    10% book report
    •    30% final project
    •    10% final project presentation
Reflections
Expect  to spend time (approx. 2 hours) each week on a  written reflection that  you will post to the course blog. Reflections  should focus on the  week’s theme and tie together assigned texts with  your own project.  Blog posts must be posted by no later than noon (12pm)  each Tuesday to  receive full credit. At least 10 posts are required for  full credit. Of  these 10 posts:
  • The book report will count as one post,
  • the final project proposal will count as one post,
  • the final project write-up will count as one post,
  • One post will be a summary of posts to the course blog for the week,
  • One will be a revision of shared seminar notes.
  • The remaining 5 posts are open ended reflections.
Final project proposal
Includes short overview, RQ, case selection, methods, tools, detailed workplan.
Book report
Each student chooses one book to read, summarize in a post, and present to the class. Books are either available in digital form, or on reserve at Hayden Library, 14S-100.
Final project
The final project compares some aspect of social movement media (tools, practices, production, circulation, reception, impacts, etc) in comparative perspective between two (or more) social movement formations. It should involve original research, although the methods are wide open. You’ll analyze findings from your research within a framework drawn from social movement studies, and the final project should include a short review of the literature you’re drawing on, a discussion of your research question and methods, analysis of what you find, and a conclusion that discusses the implications.
Final project presentation
A  presentation of the final project. This is presented to the seminar  f2f, and should also be available online in a (rich media) format of  your choosing (slide deck, prezi, video/audio, etc)
A note about the Writing Center
The  Writing and Communication Center (12-132) offers free one-on-one  professional advice from published writers about oral presentations and   about all types of academic, creative, and professional writing. More  information is available at http://writing.mit.edu/wcc.
A note about blogging and anonymity
All participants in the course are expected to post regular blog entries on a publicly accessible site (the course blog at http://networkmovements.wordpress.com  ). You may, however, choose to remain anonymous (actually,  pseudonymous) by publishing under a pseudonym not easily linkable to  your real name.
Required Statement on Plagiarism
Plagiarism  – use of another’s intellectual work without acknowledgement – is a   serious offense. It is the policy of the CMS Faculty that students who   plagiarize will receive an F in the subject, and that the instructor   will forward the case to the Committee on Discipline. Full   acknowledgement for all information obtained from sources outside the  classroom must be clearly stated in all written work submitted. All   ideas, arguments, and direct phrasings taken from someone else’s work  must be identified and properly footnoted (or linked). Quotations from  other sources must be clearly marked as distinct from the student’s own   work. For further guidance on the proper forms of attribution, consult   the style guides available in the Writing and Communication Center  (12-132) and the MIT Website on Plagiarism located at: http://humanistic.mit.edu/wcc/avoidingplagiarism.
Course Schedule
Week 1 (Feb 8): Introduction 
  • Overview of the class
  • Social movement studies, broad overview.
  • Social movement research methods, broad overview.
  • Overview of Occupy Research
Watch: 10 Tactics for turning information into action: http://informationactivism.org
Week 2 (Feb. 15th): Networked Movements & ICTs
  • Aday,  Sean, Farrell, Henry, Lynch, Marc, Sides, John, Kelly, John, and Zuckerman, Ethan. “Blogs and Bullets: New Media in Contentious Politics“, United States Institute of Peace, 2010. http://www.usip.org/files/resources/pw65.pdf
    Suggested:
    
  • Introduction,  in McAdam, Doug, J. McCarthy, and M. Zald, eds. 1996. Comparative  Perspectives on Social Movements. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Victoria Carty “Overview of Social Movement Theories and a Proposed Synthesis,” in Wired and Mobilizing, pp.7-19
  • Mario Garrido and Alexander Halavais, “Mapping Networks of Support for the  Zapatista Movement: applying Social-Networks Analysis to Study Contemporary Social Movements.”
Lab: attend Mobile Activism Summit @ MIT.
Book report: Ronfeldt, Arquilla, et. al., The Zapatista “Social Netwar” in Mexico. http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR994.html#toc (rogelio :)
Week 3 (Feb 22nd): (Classical Theories), Resource Mobilization, Political Process
(notes writeup: Amy)
Additional:
  • Jenkins, Craig: Resource Mobilization Theory and the Study of Social Movements. American Review of Sociology, 9, 1983, 527-53.
Book report: Tarrow, Sidney. 1998. Power in Movement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (Kelly)
Methods lab: survey
Week 4 (Feb 29th): Framing & Standing (Huan)
Additional:
    •    Capek, Stella M. 1993. “’The Environmental Justice Frame:’” Social Problems 40 (1): 5-24.
    •    Oliver, Pamela E., and Hank Johnston: What a Good Idea! Ideology and Frames in Social Movement Research. Mobilization, vol. 5, 2000,  37-54.
    •    Snow, David A., Jr. E. Burke Rochford, Steven K. Worden, and Robert  D. Benford. 1986. “Frame Alignment Processes, Micromobilization, and  Movement Participation.”American Sociological Review 51: 464-81.
    •    Snow, David A., and Robert D. Benford: Mobilization Forum:  Clarifying the Relationship between Framing and Ideology, Mobilization,  vol. 5, 2000, 55-60.
    •    Johnston, Hank, and Pamela E. Oliver: Mobilization Forum: Breaking the Frame. Mobilization, vol. 5, 2000, 61-64.
    •    Ferree, Myra Marx, and David Merrill: Hot movements, cold  cognition: Thinking about social movements in gendered frames.  Contemporary Sociology
    •    [text by Luntz]
    •    [report oriented towards nonprofits, eg frameworks institute, or ‘how to frame x’]
Book report:  Ferree, MM et al. 2002. Shaping abortion discourse: Democracy and the public sphere in Germany and the United States. Cambridge Univ Pr.—-(Huan)
Methods Lab: Frame Analysis
Week 5 (March 7th): Movement Identity (Nathalie)
[FUD Hackathon]
(Summary Post: Gabi)
     •    Polletta, Francesca, and James Jasper.  2001.  “Collective  Identity and Social Movements.”  Annual Review of Sociology 27: 283-305.
     •    Taylor, Verta and Nancy Whittier. 1992. “Collective Identity in  Social Movement Organizations.” In Frontiers in Social Movement Theory,  edited by Aldon D. Morris and Carol McClurg Mueller. New Haven, CT: Yale  University Press.
    •    Nick Dyer-Witheford, “The New Combinations: Revolt of the Global Value-Subjects,” http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/new_centennial_review/v001/1.3dyer_witheford.html
     •    Ray, Raka, and Korteweg, A. 1999. “Women’s Movements in the Third  World: Identity, Mobilization and Autonomy”. Annual Review of Sociology  25:47-71
     •    Snow, David A., and Doug McAdam: Identity Work Processes in the  Context of Social Movements: Clarifying the Identity/Movement Nexus. In:  Self, Identity, and Social Movements. Ed. by. Sheldon Stryker, Timothy  Owens, Robert W. White. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2000
Book report: 
Castells, Manuel. 2004 [1997]. The Power of Identity, second edition. Malden, Mass: Blackwell. (optional: pablo, auditing)
Methods Lab: Semi-Structured Interview
Week 6 (March 14th): final project proposals / presentations
Final project proposals due (abstract, RQ, preliminary annotated bibliography)
Presentation of final project proposals to the class for feedback
Week 7 (March 21st): Protest Cycles
#21M  event at Berkman: Watch the livestream, take shared notes, write a  short post putting the Berkman discussion in dialogue with at least one  of the readings to date.
Read:
  • Snow,  David A. and Robert Benford. 1992.  “Master Frames and Cycles of  Protest.” In A. Morris and C. Mueller (Eds.), Frontiers in Social  Movement Theory.  New Haven, CT:  Yale University Press.
  • Michael D. Kennedy, “Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, and Historical Frames: 2011, 1989, 1968,” Jadaliyya October 11, 2011
  • Sara  A. Soule, “The Student Divestment Movement in the United States and  Tactical Diffusion: The Shantytown Protest,” Social Forces Vol.75, No.3  (1997), pp.855-882
  • [Kondratieff Long Waves]
Book report: Digital Media and Democracy: Tactics in Hard Times.
Week 8 (SPRING BREAK)
Week 9 (April 4th) New Social Movements (Gabi)
    •    Melucci, Alberto. 1980. “The New Social Movements: A Theoretical Approach.” Social Science Information 19: 199-226.
    •    ——. 1985. “The Symbolic Challenge of Contemporary Movements.” Social Research 52: 789-816.
     •    Offe, Claus.  1985.  “New Social Movements: Challenging the  Boundaries of Institutional Politics.” Sociological Research 52: 817-68.
    •    Pichardo, Nelson. 1997. “New Social Movements: A Critical Review.” Annual Review of Sociology 23: 411-30.
     •    Lievrouw, Leah. 2011. “New Social Movements” (41-59) and “Getting  people on the street: Mediated mobilization” (149-176) in Alternative  and Activist New Media, Polity Press
     •    Calhoun, Craig. “New Social Movements” of the Early Nineteenth  Century. In: Social Science History, vol 17. 1993 385-428.
     •    Cohen, Jean L.: Strategy or Identity. New Theoretical Paradigms  and Contemporary Social Movements. Social Research, vol. 52. 1985 (CP)
     •    Melucci, Alberto: A Strange Kind of Newness: What’s “New” in New  Social Movements? in: Larana et. al. (eds.): New Social Movements. From  Ideology to Identity. Temple 1994. (CP)
Book report: Gitlin, Todd. 1980. The Whole World is Watching. Berkeley: University of California Press. (Nathalie)
Watch: Un Poquito de Tanta Verdad
Week 10 (April 11th): Tactical Media (Molly Sauter)
First draft final project due (abstract, outline, RQ, methods, lit review, preliminary findings)
    •    Boler, Megan. 2008. “Introduction,” in Digital Media and Democracy: Tactics in Hard Times. MIT Press. http://www.scribd.com/doc/39038380/Media-digital-Media-and-Democracy
     •    Renzi, Alessandra. 2008. “The Space of Tactical Media.”  in  Digital Media and Democracy: Tactics in Hard Times. MIT Press. http://www.scribd.com/doc/39038380/Media-digital-Media-and-Democracy
    •    [Biella Coleman on Anonymous]
Book report: Critical Art Ensemble. 1994. Electronic Civil Disobedience. Critical Art Ensemble. http://www.critical-art.net/books/ecd/  (Molly Sauter)
Watch: [TIWDLL, or video selections from DIY 24/7, or Anonymous video selection]
Methods Lab: NewsJack
Week 11 (April 18th): Outcomes (Kelly Kern)
    •    Gamson, W. A. 1998. “Social movements and cultural change.” From contention to democracy 57–77.
     •    McAdam, Doug: The Biographical Impact of Activism. In: How Social  Movements Matter. Ed. by Marco Guigni, Doug McAdam, Charles Tilly.  Minneapolis. University of Minnesota Press, 1999, 3-21.
     •    Burstein, Paul: Social Movements and Public Policy. In: How Social  Movements Matter. Ed. by Marco Guigni, Doug McAdam, Charles Tilly.  Minneapolis. University of Minnesota Press, 1999, 3-21.
    •    Costanza-Chock, mapping the repertoire of electronic contention
    •    Beth Kanter on metrics for movement outcomes: http://www.bethkanter.org/movement-metrics/
Book report: Digital Activism Decoded: http://www.meta-activism.org/infobox/book/ (Vic Donnelly)
Lab: Project workshop TBD
Week 12 (April 25th): Repression  (Vic Donnelly) (Amy)
Second draft final project due (complete draft of final project)
Read: 
    •    Luis A. Fernandez, “Managing and Regulating Protest: Social Control and the Law,” in Policing Dissent, pp.68-91
    •    [Selections from Donatella della Porta re: [policing, repression]
    •    [Key text re: cointelpro]
    •    [Selection from morozov, The Net Delusion]
Watch: [ TIWDLL / The Miami Model? ]
Browse: Pepper Spray Cop Tumblrs
Book report: Evgeny Morozov, The Net Delusion. (Pamela Montalvo!)
Lab: Project workshop TBD
Week 13 (May 2nd): Transnational Movements
[Scc at Re:publika conference, berlin]
Read: 
     •    McAdam, Doug and Dieter Rucht: The Cross-National Diffusion of  Movement Ideas. Annals of the American Academy, AAPSS, 528, 1993, 56-74.
     •    Rupp, Leila. “Constructing Internationalism: The Case of  Transnational Women’s Organizations, 1888- 1945″ American Historical  Review 99, 1994, 1571-1600.
     •    Schulz, Markus S.: Collective Action Across Borders: Opportunity  Structures, Network Capacities, and Communicative Praxis in the Age of  Advanced Globalization. Sociological Perspectives, 41, 1998, 587-616.
     •    Passy, Florence: Supranational Political Opportunities as a  Channel of Globalization of Political Conflicts. In: Social Movements in  a Globalizing World, ed. by Donatella della Porta, Hans Peter Kriesi  and Dieter Rucht. London: Macmillan, 1999, S. 148-169.
     •    Smith, Jackie: Globalizing Resistance: The Battle of Seattle and  the Future of Social Movements. Mobilization, 2001, vol. 6, issue 1,  1-19.
Book report: 
Keck, Margaret E. and Kathryn Sikkink. 1998. Activists Beyond Borders. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press. (Amy)
Lab: project workshop TBD
Week 14 (May 9th): Movement Structure (Pamela Montalvo!)
     •    Staggenborg, S. 1988. “The consequences of professionalization and  formalization in the pro-choice movement.” American Sociological Review  53(4):585–605.
     •    David Graeber, “Enacting the Impossible: Making Decisions by  Consensus” & “Principles of Solidarity,” in This Changes Everything,  pp.22-226
     •    Nathan Schneider, “No Leaders, No Violence: What Diversity of  Tactics Means for Occupy Wall Street,” in This Changes Everything,  pp.39-44
     •    Rothschild-Whitt, Joyce: The Collectivist Organization: An  Alternative to Rational-Bureaucratic Models. American Sociological  Review, vol. 44, 1979, 509-527.
     •    Staggenborg, Suzanne: Can Feminist Organizations be Effective? In  Feminist Organizations. Harvest of the New Women’s Movement, ed. by Myra  M
Book report: Shirky, C. 2008. Here comes everybody: The power of organizing without organizations. Penguin Pr. (Gabi)
Lab: Project workshop TBD
Week 15 (May 16th): Final Presentations
Final paper due date TBD

Leave a Reply

Please log in using one of these methods to post your comment:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture

You are commenting using your Twitter account. ( Log Out / Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out / Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s