Specifying the Relationship Between Social Ties and Activism

Teenage girls’ narratives of becoming activists

“…They have variously emphasised rational and calculated self-interest (McCarthy & Zald, 1977), socialpsychological factors such as efficacy and strong identification with the group whose grievances the movement addresses (Klandermans, 1984;Snow & Oliver, 1993), participation in social networks from which individuals are recruited (Diani, 2004;McAdam & Paulsen, 1993), the processes of frame alignment (Snow, Rochford, Worden, & Benford, 1986), and family background, class, education, and other elements of political socialisation that support activist engagement (Sherkat & Blocker, 1994). Rather than taking up a position in these longstanding debates over the factors that are most predictive of participation, this paper instead follows a growing number of studies that examine how activists themselves talk about their routes into activism (Lyson, 2014;McGuire, Stewart, & Curtin, 2010;RuizJunco, 2011;Valocchi, 2013).…”

Social Networks Matter. But How?

“…della Porta 1988Porta , 1995Diani 1995;Fernandez and McAdam 1989;Friedman and McAdam 1992;Gould 1995;Klandermans 1997;Klandermans and Oegema 1987;Kriesi 1993;Oberschall 1973Oberschall , 1993Marwell and Oliver 1993;McAdam 1982McAdam , 1988McAdam and Paulsen 1993;Rosenthal et al 1985;Snow et al 1980). The aim of this paper is not simply to provide further empirical evidence of the key role of social interactions in a given process of individual participation; it is rather to address the question of how networks intervene in this process.…”

“…As I shall try to show, networks have multiple functions and intervene at different moments in the process of individual participation. Following the findings of scholars who have underscored the importance of networks for individual participation but who, at the same time, have stressed our still limited knowledge of the dimensions of networks that actually influence participation (Kim and Bearman 1997;Gould 1995;Heckathorn 1993;Marwell and Oliver 1993;McAdam and Paulsen 1993), this paper will seek to specify the various roles that networks play in the process of individual participation.…”

How do Civic Associations Foster Political Participation? The Role of Scope and Intensity of Organizational Involvement

“…Being asked to participate by one's political party, groups of affiliation, family, friends, or others in the social networks, makes one more likely to engage in political activities (e. g., Booth and Richard 1998;Brady, Schlozman, and Verba 1999;Bratton 1999;Huckfeldt and Sprague 1992;Kenny 1992;Knoke 1990). In the social movement literature, for example, many studies have highlighted the positive association between recruitment and the likelihood of one's engagement in protests, boycotts, or the like (Diani and McAdam 2003;Fernandez and McAdam 1988;McAdam and Paulsen 1993;Walker 2008). Therefore, mobilization allows people to live beyond personal resource constraints and may narrow the participation gap between low and high-status individuals (McClurg 2003).…”

“…This is consistent with the findings from social network scholars who argue that the recruitment effect is strong among those who have a close relationship. This kind of embeddedness provides quality information on politics, mutual trust, and certainty (McAdam and Paulsen 1993). In addition, holding constant other factors, compared to those who are independent from both parties, the expected number of formal political acts for those who consider themselves as more liberal is 90.7 % higher (p < 0.01), and this number is 62.1 % higher for Republicans.…”