Competition and Resource Partitioning in Three Social Movement Industries

Abstract

Drawing hypotheses from resource mobilization and resource partitioning theories (RMT and RPT), this article examines how interorganizational competition and social movement industry (SMI) concentration affect the level of tactical and goal specialization of protest organizations associated with the peace, women's, and environmental movements. Additionally, the article examines how specialization affects the survival of these organizations. By and large, the findings are commensurate with the expectations of RMT and RPT. Results indicate that interorganizational competition leads to more specialized tactical and goal repertoires. Concentration in the SMI also leads to specialization, but this is only true for less established organizations. Results also indicate that tactical and goal specialization decrease organizational survival, unless the industry is highly concentrated.

Social Movement Organizational Collaboration: Networks of Learning and the Diffusion of Protest Tactics, 1960–1995

“…Specifically, some SMOs employ a more specialized tactical repertoire, whereas others use a wide array of different tactics (Levitsky 2007;Soule and King 2008). For example, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the National Organization for Women (NOW) used a wide variety of protest tactics, ranging from disruptive strategies like demonstrations and other forms of civil disobedience to more formal tactics such as lawsuits and petitions.…”

“…For example, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the National Organization for Women (NOW) used a wide variety of protest tactics, ranging from disruptive strategies like demonstrations and other forms of civil disobedience to more formal tactics such as lawsuits and petitions. In this same period, Women Strike for Peace (WSP) only organized rallies and demonstrations, making its repertoire much more specialized (Soule and King 2008).…”

Paradise Sold: Resource Partitioning and the Organic Movement in the US Farming Industry

“…Movements are inherently dynamic phenomena, unfolding in stages: they emerge, grow, and eventually decline. Resource partitioning theorists reason that social and identity movements enhance specialists' viability by increasing the dimensionality of the resource space and by creating resource pockets for specialists to exploit (e.g., Carroll & Swaminathan, 2000;Greve, Pozner, & Rao, 2006;Soule & King, 2008). In the micro-brewing and micro-radio cases, for example, strong identity movements are found to be important drivers of partitioning and are identified as successful triggers of specialist proliferation.…”

Resource partitioning revisited: evidence from Italian television broadcasting

“…Since then, empirical evidence for resource partitioning has accumulated across a wide range of organizational populations (for a review see Carroll et al, 2002). More recent research has even extended its application beyond businesses-for example, to the study of social movements (Soule and King, 2008). Understanding of the theory has deepened as its application has broadened.…”