Movement Outcomes and Dimensions of Social Change: The Multiple Effects of Local Mobilizations

Abstract

We use case study materials on a community mobilization against a landfill proposal to test the notion that social movement outcomes are multidimensional. We find that outcomes of community mobilization at Tug Hill in New York occurred at four levels of the social structure. Outcomes at the individual level benefited activists and included the expansion of friendship networks and personal transformations. Outcomes at the social movement organization level were mixed; the landfill was built despite mobilization, but the group endured as a watchdog organization. The host community benefited from its revitalization and its heightened political consciousness. Outcomes at the macro level included passage of more stringent state regulations of landfills. Our findings suggest the need for an expanded conceptualization of movement outcomes in which levels of social change are distinguished by the recipient of change.