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In this paper, we develop an institutional movement logics approach to analyze the structure and dynamics of the US social movement field from 1960 to 1995. Using protest event data taken from the Dynamics of Collective Action dataset, we elicit the most salient combinations of issues, tactics, and targets reported to co-occur at protest events in four periods: 1960–1965, 1966–1972, 1973–1987, and 1988–1995. The analysis reveals the existence of six movement logics of varying breadth, flexibility, and stability. We also detect two important shifts in the overall structure of the field, one toward a broad and flexible form of state-centric politics and one toward several differentiated and narrowly defined forms of nonpolitical contention. We find support for two key premises of the institutional movement logics framework, limited diversity, and relative stability within and between logics while showing that a longer time frame offers a window on field dynamics not visible with shorter study time frames. We close by providing suggestions for further research seeking to build on the institutional movement logics approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contemporary Islamic activism is manifested in heterogeneous and overlapping forms. This paper aims at furthering the understanding of Islamic activism by developing a two-dimensional typology that accounts for the nature of Islamic activism discourse and the outlook of its programmatic action. Specifically, the terrain of Islamic activism is mapped out by intersecting two orientations: the approach toward understanding sharia (Islam's socio-religious teachings) and the form of activism. As for sharia approaches, three modes of thinking occupy Islamic activism: a didactic mode, a literalist mode, and an eclectic mode. On the other hand, three forms of activism divide the field of action: a local social movement of a limited scope of concerns, a global social movement of expansive social and political themes, and an individualistic type of activism. The interaction of these types of activism with the modes of sharia understanding produces the ecology of contemporary Islamic activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging scholarship has considered the potential for online spaces to function as sites of informal justice. To date, there has been little consideration of the experiences of individuals who seek justice online, and the extent to which victims' justice needs can be met online. Drawing on the findings of a mixed-methods research project with street harassment victims in Melbourne, Australia, I consider participants' reasons for, and experiences of, disclosing their encounters of street harassment online. I examine the extent to which these 'map on to' a selection of victim's justice needs. While it is evident that online spaces can function as sites of justice, it is vital to ask for whom and in which contexts justice can be achieved online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political life in modern Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan is commonly characterized by a strong central government, influential economic elites, and a relatively homogeneous society. In such settings, we would not expect to find much impact by foreigners and small NGO actors on policy changes, but the cases in these countries challenge this assessment. Relatively unskilled foreign workers in present-day Northeast Asia face a range of hardships, and existing government programs have provided little support until recently. Media portrayals of foreign workers--as in several other industrialized democracies--reinforce popular suspicions and fear of these foreigners. Yet, citizens of host countries themselves have formed numerous voluntary associations aimed at assisting foreign workers. I call the activities of these groups "associative activism." My account of associative activism makes explicit the process through which some activists, who initially work in concert chiefly to solve specific problems, eventually form broader political ambitions as they exert pressure on dominant features of the public sphere, especially processes of governance, political representation, and opinion formation. I identify three domains of associative activism through which political influence is exerted by immigrant rights groups: legislative, juridical and municipal. These efforts illustrate how civil society groups can play an increasing role in protecting foreigners' fights and advancing democratization in Northeast Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the history of the working class of Detroit, Michigan between 1919 and 1945 considering competing interests forwarded by the United Automobile Workers of America (UAW) labor union and the various religious influences of the Catholic Church, African American Protestantism, and Southern evangelicals. Notable people considered include Southern Baptist preacher J. Frank Norris, UAW director Zygmund Dobrzynski, clergyman Gerald L. K. Smith, and African American social movement leader Reverend Charles Hill. Other topics considered include the Great Depression, the movement of Southern labor to Northern industrial centers, and impact of World War II on working class religious attitudes.

The most accepted explanation for gender differences is the sociocultural model that holds them to be results of socialization and/or occupancy of sex differentiated roles. There has been extensive social change in the past three decades, reducing sex typed role assignments and attitudes. However, examination of some 30 researchers shows that the social change has not been followed by change in sex typing. This present study of trends in stereotypic and self responses between 1974 and 1997 confirms the stability in sex typing, over seven surveys and 4,000 respondents. In addition, there is evidence of increase in the perceived femininity of females. These results are contrary to the predictions from the sociocultural model. They are, however, consistent with the alternate evolutionary model postulating constant gendered differences based on genetic patterns evolved from adaptations to differing reproductive challenges of early males and females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Across democratic countries, amounts of individualistic legal activity are starkly different The current trend in explaining this variation is to break legal activity into different categories and explain why variation exists within each type; While this trend has been useful in providing detailed analyses across. a narrow spectrum of activities, it moves the field away from the broader context in which all legal activity occurs. I take the opposite tack here, considering myriad types of legal activity at once. This study first finds that across nation-states, levels of many different types of legal activity are correlated with each other. Using a structural equation model and OLS regression equations, I then demonstrate that state decentralization and state/society interpenetration, i.e, the lack ofa clear boundary between the state and civil society, tend to fuel individualistic legal activity. The implication is that changing individual incentives to engage in legal activity may fuel social change in some national contexts but not others, and that such contextual effects are predictable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]