Players and Arenas

327 Pages·2015·2.24 MB·English

PROTEST AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 1 PROTEST AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
Players and Arenas: The Interactive Dynamics of Protest bridges the Ja
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gap between structural and cultural theories by placing protestors and p
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other players with whom they interact in the context of structured arenas. a
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Although beginning from the goals and means that each player controls, we d
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can watch what happens when they interact creatively over short or long u
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periods of time. The main constraints on what protestors can accomplish are v
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not determined directly by social and political structures so much as they n
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are imposed by other players with different goals and interests. Although k
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the strategic complexity of politics and protest is enormous, this book makes e
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a beginning through a careful catalogue of players and arenas. s.)
The book brings together a diverse group of global experts on the interactions
between political protestors and the many other strategic players with whom
they interact, including cultural institutions such as scientists, artists, intel-
lectuals, mass media, and religious organizations, as well as other players in
the social movement sector such as potential allies or competitors, recruits,
or funders.
P
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a Edited by James M. Jasper and Jan Willem Duyvendak
James M. Jasper is a sociologist at the CUNY Graduate Center, New York. y
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Jan Willem Duyvendak is a sociologist at the University of Amsterdam. r
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They both have written a number of books on recent social movements, a
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and are the co-editors of AUP’s book series Protest and Social Movement. d Players and Arenas
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The Interactive Dynamics of Protest
ISBN: 978-90-8964-708-5
AUP.nl
9 789089 647085
Players and Arenas
Protest and Social Movements
Recent years have seen an explosion of protest movements around the world,
and academic theories are racing to catch up with them. This series aims to
further our understanding of the origins, dealings, decisions, and outcomes
of social movements by fostering dialogue among many traditions of thought,
across European nations and across continents. All theoretical perspectives are
welcome. Books in the series typically combine theory with empirical research,
dealing with various types of mobilization, from neighborhood groups to
revolutions. We especially welcome work that synthesizes or compares different
approaches to social movements, such as cultural and structural traditions,
micro- and macro-social, economic and ideal, or qualitative and quantitative.
Books in the series will be published in English. One goal is to encourage non-
native speakers to introduce their work to Anglophone audiences. Another is to
maximize accessibility: all books will be available in open access within a year
after printed publication.
Series editors
Jan Willem Duyvendak is professor of Sociology at the University of Amsterdam.
James M. Jasper teaches at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
Players and Arenas
The Interactive Dynamics of Protest
Edited by

James M. Jasper and Jan Willem Duyvendak
Amsterdam University Press
Cover illustration: Polish legislators protesting the passage of anti-piracy legislation, 2012
(www.bleedingcool.com)
Cover design: Coördesign, Leiden
Lay-out: Crius Group, Hulshout
Amsterdam University Press English-language titles are distributed in the US and Canada by
the University of Chicago Press.
isbn 978 90 8964 708 5
e-isbn 978 90 4852 423 5 (pdf)
nur 695
© James M. Jasper and Jan Willem Duyvendak / Amsterdam University Press B.V., Amster-
dam 2015
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of
this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise)
without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the author of the book.
Every effort has been made to obtain permission to use all copyrighted illustrations
reproduced in this book. Nonetheless, whosoever believes to have rights to this material is
advised to contact the publisher.
In memory of Nelson Mandela

Contents
Introduction 9
Playing the Game
James M. Jasper
Part 1 Insiders and supporters
1 Movement Factions 35
Players and Processes
Francesca Polletta and Kelsy Kretschmer
2 Fractal Arenas 55
Dilemmas of Style and Strategy in a Brazilian Student Congress
Ann Mische
3 Beyond Channeling and Professionalization 79
Foundations as Strategic Players in Social Movements
Edward T. Walker
4 Mind the Gap! 97
Strategic Interaction during Summit Protests
Christian Scholl
Part 2 Market players
5 Corporations as Players and Arenas 119
Philip Balsiger
6 Professions, Social Movements, and the Sovereign Corporation 141
Frank Dobbin and Jiwook Jung
7 The Double Game of Unions and the Labor Movement 169
Ruth Milkman
Part 3 Experts, intellectuals, and media
8 Giving Voice 189
The Ambivalent Roles of Specific Intellectuals in Immigrant and
LGBT Movements
Walter Nicholls and Justus Uitermark
9 Playing with Fire 211
Flame-Retardant Activists and Policy Arenas
Alissa Cordner, Phil Brown, and Margaret Mulcahy
10 Put Me in, Coach? Referee? Owner? Security? 229
Why the News Media Rarely Cover Movements as Political Players
Edwin Amenta, Neal Caren, and Amber Celina Tierney
11 When and Why Religious Groups Become Political Players 251
The Pro-Life Movement in Nicaragua
Silke Heumann and Jan Willem Duyvendak
12 What the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street Illuminate about
Bystander Publics as Proto-Players 275
Hahrie Han and Dara Z. Strolovitch
Conclusion 295
Patterned Fluidity: An Interactionist Perspective as a Tool for
Exploring Contentious Politics
Jan Willem Duyvendak and Olivier Fillieule
Contributors 319
Index 323
Introduction
Playing the Game
James M. Jasper
The last several years have been exciting for those who study protest, with a
wave of activity ranging from revolutions in the Arab-speaking world to tent
cities in Israel, Europe, and the United States, followed by Turkey, Brazil, and
elsewhere. There have been right-wingers like the Tea Party sympathizers
who shouted down their elected representatives in town hall meetings in the
United States, and left-leaning projects in favor of the “99 percent.” But even as
we congratulate ourselves for living through an important moment in history,
we should not forget that protest occurs every day, all around the world, and
probably always has – whether or not it is dramatic and sustained enough to
attract media coverage. Protest is a fundamental part of human existence.
Despite a plethora of exciting cases to study, theories of protest move-
ments have reached an impasse. On the one hand, theories of great structural
shifts – modernization, markets, nation-building, urbanization – no longer
have much to say about the practice of protest, commenting instead on the
conditions of possibility for collective action in the grand sweep of history.
On the other hand, cultural theories which focus on the perspectives of
protestors, including their emotions and grievances and choices, have had
difficulty building beyond them and connecting with the arenas from
which outcomes eventually emerge.
A strategic perspective may be able to bridge this gap by giving equal
and symmetric weight to protestors and to the other players whom they
engage, and by focusing equally on players and the arenas in which they
interact (Jasper, 2004).1 Although beginning from the goals and means that
each player controls, we can watch what happens when players interact
creatively over short or long periods of time. The main constraints on what
protestors can accomplish are not determined directly by economic and
political structures so much as they are imposed by other players with
different goals and interests. Although the strategic complexity of politics
and protest is enormous, in this book we hope to make a beginning through
a careful examination of players and arenas, accompanied by theorizing
on the strategic interactions among them.
The big paradigms that linked social movements to History or to Society
have fallen out of favor. If there has been a trend in recent theories of protest,