The Preconditions and Consequences of Social Movement Actions: Opinions of Immigrant Assimilation among Local Polity Members in France

Abstract

A new branch of the social movements literature calls attention to the lack of research on the unintended consequences rather than intended outcomes of social movements. This paper examines one of these potential unintended consequences: negative attitudes toward the intended beneficiaries of the movement. The paper departs from past analysis of public opinion, however, by focusing on the views of local polity members. Specifically, the paper analyzes French mayors' attitudes toward immigrant assimilation to evaluate the impact of the immigrants' rights movement in France during the 1980s. Contrary to the expectations of the literature on the unintended consequences of social movements, immigrant protests have little influence on local polity members' attitudes toward immigrant assimilation. Instead, the macro-level preconditions for immigrant mobilization, particularly the size of the immigrant population, are far more important in shaping mayors' attitudes. These findings suggest that research on social movements must carefully control for mobilization preconditions when analyzing the unintended consequences of collective action.