Crossing Categorical Boundaries

A Study of Diversification by Social Movement Organizations

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4522657
AutoresD J Wang (0000-0002-0367-1630, Columbia University, autor correspondente), H Rao (0000-0002-1085-7038, Stanford University), Sarah A Soule (Stanford University)
Ano2019
Volume84
Fascículo3
Páginas420-458
Data de publicação2019-06-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAmerican Sociological Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0003-1224 • E-ISSN: 1939-8271
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0003122419846111
OpenAlexW2944191712
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas19
Referências citadas118

When do protest organizations borrow issues or claims that are outside their traditional domains? Sociologists have examined the consequences of borrowing claims across movement boundaries, but not the antecedents of doing so. We argue that movement boundaries are strong when there is consensus about the core claims of a social movement, which we measure by cohesion and focus. Cohesion and focus enhance the legitimacy of a movement and impede member organizations from adopting claims associated with other movements. Analyzing movement organizational activity at U.S.-based protest events from 1960 to 1995, we find that a social movement organization is less likely to adopt claims from other movements when the social movement in which it is embedded exhibits high cohesion and focus. However, when movement organizations do borrow claims, they are more likely to do so by borrowing from movements that themselves exhibit high cohesion and focus. We describe the application of our findings to organization theory, social movements, and field theoretic approaches to understanding social action

Business · Cohesion (chemistry · Diversification (marketing strategy · Economic geography · Economics · Focus (optics · Institutional theory · Legitimacy · Movement (music · Organizational field · Political science · Public relations · Social movement · Social movement theory · Social science · Sociology · Law · Marketing · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Psychology · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Social Psychology