Pathways to Prohibition

From Pabst to Pepsi: The Deinstitutionalization of Social Practices and the Creation of Entrepreneurial Opportunities

“…Widespread, systematic opposition to drinking, though, had its origins in the religious revivalism of the Second Great Awakening in the early 1800s. One of the common threads that tied together various expressions of Protestant religious fervor of this period was a belief in the moral perfectability of humans, and excessive drinking, as a manifestation of moral imperfection, became a target of religious reformers (Szymanski, 2003). Concern with drinking as a social problem was also fueled by the connection between drinking and immigrant identity.…”

“…Prohibition laws clearly represented the strictest form of brewery regulation and became a tactic vigorously pursued by the WCTU at federal, state, and local levels. In an in-depth case study, Szymanski (2003) found that in Michigan the WCTU played a primary role in the passage of county and state prohibition laws. It succeeded in persuading numerous counties and states to pass such laws, and by 1918, 65 percent of the states and counties in the U.S. had banned alcoholic beverages.…”

The Vegan Society and social movement professionalization, 1944–2017

“…For instance, openly sexist imagery and correspondence were published (and challenged) in The Vegan (Boyd 1986, Francis 1986, Peirson 1986, The Vegan Society 1985, and The Vegan Society even put to vote whether or not to allow homosexuals to advertise in The Vegan in the 1980s (Kew 1986). Szymanski (2003) warns that the radical strategy may be disadvantageous for a social movement it is often difficult to create a mobilizing radical ideology that is also inclusive, but The Vegan Society's professionalized structure demonstrates that moderates, too, can struggle with this point.…”

“…Here "radical" refers to a protest style oriented towards societal restructuring over reform (Fitzgerald and Rodgers 2000). Szymanski (2003) furthers that radical activists are skeptical of moderation and pragmatism as strategies which would be capable of [ . .…”