Potential Activity Research Articles

Fighting for human rights: Collective action by actual and potential activists

Studying collective action with activists is increasingly important due to the large number of social movements fighting for human rights. Many studies are only partly conducted with actual activists and studying both actual and potential activists is important to understand how to foster people?s engagement. This research aimed to test two different models of Collective Action (Social Identity Model of Collective Action and the Encapsulation Model of Social Identity in Collective Action) to better understand how models work using two different samples: 1) a group of activists who were already participating in a protest at the time (N = 155), and 2) a group of potential activists (N = 232). A questionnaire evaluating Social Identification, Moral Outrage and Collective Efficacy was administered. Results show the Encapsulation Model of Social Identity in Collective Action as the model that better explains relationships between variables in both samples. The ?efficacy path? is shown as the better way to make people engaged. The discussion highlights the meaningful relevance of the findings for the future understanding and conceptualization of activism in order to develop effective recruitment campaigns.

A Comedian and an Activist Walk into a Bar: The Serious Role of Comedy in Social Justice

A Comedian and an Activist Walk into a Bar: The Serious Role of Comedy in Social Justice

Welcome to the Party? Ethnicity and the Interaction between Potential Activists and Party Gatekeepers

In modern democracies, political parties are the vehicles through which new groups gain political entry. Are parties equally welcoming to all new activists, irrespective of their ethnicity? In a fi...

Do College Social Justice Activists Stop When They Graduate? Explaining Volunteer Activist Participation in a Life Course Transition

AbstractWhy does volunteer participation by college social justice activists decline dramatically following graduation? Using a new, multimethod longitudinal study that spans college and the early post-graduate years, I test existing theory about how changes in time constraints, social support, and organizational opportunities affect volunteer activist participation in social justice movements. Analyzing qualitative data from semi-structured interviews to further understand decreases in activism, I find no evidence showing that changes in time constraints or social support lead to changes in activist volunteering, but there is evidence to support the effects of organizational opportunities. Findings from the qualitative data further emphasize that activist opportunities are easier to access on college campuses, specifically because activism is physically convenient to the potential participant. Future research and practice should explicitly address the spatial proximity of potential activists to social movement opportunities, and should additionally remain sensitive to different needs of activists at different points in the life course.

Who could be One Health Activist at the community level?: A case for India

BackgroundCommunity health workers (CHWs) are the mainstay of the public health system, serving for decades in low-resource countries. Their multi-dimensional work in various health care services, including the prevention of communicable diseases and health promotion of non-communicable diseases, makes CHWs, the frontline workers in their respective communities in India. As India is heading towards the development of One Health (OH), this study attempted to provide an insight into potential OH activists (OHA) at the community level. Thus, this case study in one of India’s western cities, Ahmedabad, targeted identifying OHA by exploring the feasibility and the motivation of CHWs in a local setting.MethodsThis case study explores two major CHWs, i.e., female (Accredited Social Health Activists/ASHA) health workers (FHWs) and male (multipurpose) health workers (MHWs), on their experience and motivation for becoming an OHA. The data were collected between September 2018 and August 2019 through a mixed design, i.e., quantitative data (cross-sectional structured questionnaire) followed by qualitative data (focus group discussion with a semi-structured interview guide).ResultsThe motivation of the CHWs for liaisoning as OHA was found to be low; however, the FHWs have a higher mean motivation score [40 (36–43)] as compared to MHWs [37 (35–40)] out of a maximum score of 92. Although most CHWs have received zoonoses training or contributed to zoonoses prevention campaigns, their awareness level was found to be different among male and female health workers. Comparing the female and male health workers to act as OHA, higher motivational score, multidisciplinary collaborative work experience, and way for incentive generation documented among the female health workers.ConclusionASHAs were willing to accept the additional new liaison role of OHAs if measures like financial incentives and improved recognition are provided. Although this study documented various systemic factors at the individual, community, and health system level, which might, directly and indirectly, impact the acceptance level to act as OHA, they need to be accounted for in the policy regime.

Abortion Providers on Politically Engaging Patients.

For decades, abortion providers have lamented the lack of patients' voices in the abortion rights movement. Given the millions of women who have received abortions, the absence of this large constituency, providers assert, has been politically costly. Underlying this disappointment is a parallel question that reflects a philosophical divide among abortion providers: are attempts to politically engage abortion patients a desired or appropriate element of care? We interviewed providers from 14 abortion clinics, representing a range of approaches to care, patient volume, and geographic locations. We transcribed and analyzed the interviews to identify themes related to whether, why, and how providers worked to politically engage their patients. We found that many respondents limited or avoided political engagement with patients, believing that such efforts interfered with patient care or comfort, were not a priority given limited time, and were not something in which patients were interested. Many participants were unclear as to what political work they could pursue as nonprofit facilities. In contrast, other providers believe political outreach helped patients to more fully understand their care experiences, could influence future patients' access to care, and was an important part of the way they cared for patients. These varying approaches reflect divergent ways of and reasons for engaging abortion patients politically. Future research should consider if the act of obtaining an abortion could be understood as low-level engagement with the abortion rights movement, particularly as abortion access is increasingly limited and patients might be considered potential activists.

Activism in Southwestern Queer and Trans Young Adults After the Marriage Equality Era

In 2015, marriage equality in the United States was a big win for the gay and lesbian movement. Marriage equality as a primary focus of the movement, however, was not without its critiques, particularly as an issue affecting mostly white, gay, economically secure individuals. Given the history of the movement, it is essential to ask what is next. Young queer and trans people represent the next generation of potential activists and advocates for queer and trans liberation, yet little empirical attention has been paid to their goals for the movement and motivations to be actively involved, particularly among young adults in rural, conservative states. Therefore, this study sought to understand the social, economic, and environmental issues deemed important by queer and trans young adults (aged 18–29), as well as their motivations to get involved in activism efforts. Data came from a mixed-methods program evaluation, which presents a picture of the issues and motivations that led study participants ( n = 65) toward activism in one conservative, highly rural, Southwestern state in the United States. The findings of this study are discussed in light of theoretical and empirical literature and then implications for the queer and trans movement, activists, and organizers are offered.

Digitaler Video-Aktivismus: Rhetorische Strategien der Protestmobilisierung im Internet : Digital Video Activism: Rhetorical Strategies of Protest Mobilization on the Internet

The Internet has become a central place for protest communication: the organization of protest actions, the networking of potential activists, the dissemination of information, the calling for participation in protest actions, and the mobilization of support for protest concerns. All these and other practices have migrated from the analog to the digital sphere of publicity on the Internet. Thus the forms and strategies of public protest and activism have also changed and expanded. The article traces the special conditions of protest mobilization on the Internet. Against this background it examines different types of activist online videos with their specific audiovisual rhetorical strategies.

Digitaler Video-Aktivismus: Rhetorische Strategien der Protestmobilisierung im Internet : Digital Video Activism: Rhetorical Strategies of Protest Mobilization on the Internet

The Internet has become a central place for protest communication: the organization of protest actions, the networking of potential activists, the dissemination of information, the calling for participation in protest actions, and the mobilization of support for protest concerns. All these and other practices have migrated from the analog to the digital sphere of publicity on the Internet. Thus the forms and strategies of public protest and activism have also changed and expanded. The article traces the special conditions of protest mobilization on the Internet. Against this background it examines different types of activist online videos with their specific audiovisual rhetorical strategies.

“KNEADING POLITICS”: COOKERY AND THE AMERICAN WOMAN SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT

During the American woman suffrage movement, opponents described suffragists as abnormal, unsexed, non-mothers who desired to leave the home and family en masse, levying “war against the very foundation of society.” This charge ultimately compelled suffragists around the nation to respond by embracing expediency arguments, insisting the women's votes would bring morality, cleanliness, and order to the public sphere. This article charts how suffragists capitalized on movements for home economics, municipal housekeeping, and pure food to argue for the compatibility of politics and womanhood. In particular, this article examines suffrage cookbooks, recipes, and bazaars as key campaign tactics. More than a colorful historiographical side note, this cookery rhetoric was a purposeful political tactic meant to combat perennial images of suffragists as “unwomanly women.” And suffragists ultimately employed the practice and language of cookery to build a feminine persona that softened the image of their political participation and made women's suffrage more palatable to politicians, male voters, potential activists, and the general public.

“No es una crisis, es que ya no te quiero". Humor y protesta en el movimiento 15M

Este articulo explora la relacion entre humor y protesta a traves del estudio de la utilizacion estrategica del humor en el movimiento 15M en Madrid en 2011. El analisis de diversas plataformas (carteles, performances, documentos internos y comunicacion en internet) sirve para evaluar el potencial subversivo del humor en relacion con la comunicacion de reivindicaciones, la organizacion interna del movimiento, el reclutamiento de activistas y la construccion de identidad colectiva. A nivel teorico, el articulo subraya las ventajas de combinar un enfoque expresivo con otro que entienda el humor como una accion instrumental de los participantes. Los resultados muestran como los activistas fueron en buena medida conscientes de una serie de beneficios asociados a la utilizacion del humor que iban mas alla de la propia accion de divertirse y, en consecuencia, organizaron diversas iniciativas con el objetivo de alcanzar esos beneficios.

Activist shareholders and the duration of supervisory board membership: Evidence for the German Aufsichtsra

We study the fixed term nature of the German supervisory board appointment hypothesizing that the timing of the upcoming election has an impact on the credibility of effort by activist investors. More credible approaches should consequently be associated with higher wealth effects. An average abnormal return that is up to 6.9 percent higher can be observed when potential activists consider the timing of the next supervisory board election. Capital markets apparently perceive an activist effort within one to two years prior to the election as being most credible. Quite contrary to intuition it seems that high cash positions on targets’ balance sheets have a negative impact on the post-announcement wealth effects.

Social Media Foreign Policy: Examining the Political Use of Social Media by Ethnic Identity Groups in the United States

Several scholars have noted intergenerational differences between members of diasporic communities in the United States as a potential source of weakening strength among identity-based interest groups. For example, changing attitudes amongst the children and grandchildren of Cuban exiles in the US have been cited as sources of some recent changes in American foreign policy toward Cuba. One way for existing elites within diasporic interest groups to reach out to new generations of potential activists is through the use of social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter. Scholars, to this point, have largely ignored the use of social networking by ethnic identity interests in the US. This article examines the use of social media by ethnic identity interest groups as an important new tool in this regard. Specifically, it attempts for the first time to measure the level of involvement in social media advocacy in a systematic matter. Results indicate that the most powerful ethnic identity groups in the US are also the most likely to have an active social media presence. In addition, groups that are ‘generationally challenged’ do not appear to be using social media to address this issue.

Mechanical Platelet Activation Potential in Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

Intraluminal thrombus (ILT) in abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) has potential implications to aneurysm growth and rupture risk; yet, the mechanisms underlying its development remain poorly understood. Some researchers have proposed that ILT development may be driven by biomechanical platelet activation within the AAA, followed by adhesion in regions of low wall shear stress. Studies have investigated wall shear stress levels within AAA, but platelet activation potential (AP) has not been quantified. In this study, patient-specific computational fluid dynamic (CFD) models were used to analyze stress-induced AP within AAA under rest and exercise flow conditions. The analysis was conducted using Lagrangian particle-based and Eulerian continuum-based approaches, and the results were compared. Results indicated that biomechanical platelet activation is unlikely to play a significant role for the conditions considered. No consistent trend was observed in comparing rest and exercise conditions, but the functional dependence of AP on stress magnitude and exposure time can have a large impact on absolute levels of anticipated platelet AP. The Lagrangian method obtained higher peak AP values, although this difference was limited to a small percentage of particles that falls below reported levels of physiologic background platelet activation.

You Can Help Stop America’s March to the Right

You Can Help Stop America’s March to the Right

Greenhouse gas emission reductions as a motivator of e85 purchases across market segments

Abstract Background Climate change has become a concern of both policy makers and consumers. Transportation constitutes a key source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; hence, alternative transportation fuels with reduced GHG emissions are of increasing interest as a potential strategy for decreasing emissions. However, consumer views on achieving emission reductions through the use of alternative fuels have not been widely studied. Understanding consumer preferences related to alternative fuels is relevant as new fuel options become available. Methods This study uses a two-step cluster analysis of opinion variables to segment consumers into four market segments (Potential activists, Environmentals, Neutrals, and National interests). Cluster profiles are examined based on demographics and opinion variables related to concerns about national security, food versus fuel, perceived effects of personal actions, perceived effects of other's actions, and environmental issues. Willingness to pay (WTP) for reductions in GHG emissions through purchases of ethanol blends is estimated via conjoint analysis from a national survey. Results Estimates reveal that WTP varies in significance and magnitude across the four segments. In particular, the Environmentals market cluster is the only cluster consistently willing to pay a premium for emission reductions. Conclusions Market opinion clusters play a significant role in WTP for emission reductions through purchases of E85. Results suggest the existence of a potential niche market consisting of consumers with strong environmental concerns who are willing to pay a premium for renewable fuels in order to reduce GHG emissions.

Aging, Agency, and Activism: Older Women as Social Change Agents

Current cohorts of older women are potential social activists, and their potential to contribute to social change is examined. It is argued that engagement in social action is positive and empowering for aging women. Older women both contribute to and benefit from social capital, connections among individuals in social networks, and norms of reciprocity (Putnam, 2000). Recommendations are offered for organizations that wish to recruit and engage older women as members. A feminist therapy perspective is consistent with the empowerment of older women as social agents.

Phosphorus pools and other soil properties in the rhizosphere of wheat and legumes growing in three soils in monoculture or as a mixture of wheat and legume

Phosphorus and nitrogen availability and forms are affected by soil properties as well as by plant species and further modulated by soil microbes. Additionally, close contact of the roots of two plant species may affect concentrations and forms of N and P. The aim of this study was to assess properties related to N and P cycling in the rhizosphere of wheat and legumes grown in monoculture or in wheat/legume mixtures in three soils differing in pH. Faba bean, white lupin and wheat were grown in three soils differing in pH (4.8, 7.5 and 8.8) in monoculture or in mixed culture of wheat and legumes. Rhizosphere soil was collected at flowering and analyzed for P pools by sequential fractionation, available N as well as community structure of bacteria, fungi, ammonia oxidizers, N2-fixers and P mobilizers by polymerase chain reaction (PCR)—denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). Soil type was the major factor determining plant growth, rhizosphere nutrient dynamics and microbial community structure. Among the crop species, only faba bean had a significant effect on nitrification potential activity (PNA) in all three soils with lower activity compared to the unplanted soil. Soil type and plant spieces affected the community composition of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOB), ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), N2-fixers (nifH), P mobilizers (ALP gene) and fungi, but not that of bacteria. Among the microbial groups, the AOA and nifH community composition were most strongly affected by crop species, cropping system and soil type, suggesting that these groups are quite sensitive to environmental conditions. All plants depleted some labile as well as non-labile P pools whereas the less labile organic P pools (NaOH extractable P pools, acid extractable P pools) accumulated in the rhizosphere of legumes. The pattern of depletion and accumulation of some P pools differed between monoculture and mixed culture as well as among soils. Plant growth and rhizosphere properties were mainly affected by soil type, but also by crop species whereas cropping system had the least effect. Wheat and the legumes depleted less labile inorganic P pools in some soils whereas less labile organic P pools (NaOH extractable P, acid extractable P) accumulated in the rhizosphere of legumes.

Discursive Opportunities, Feeling Rules, and the Rise of Protests Against Aircraft Noise

Social movement researchers propose different ways to incorporate meaning into structural approaches, notably into political opportunity structure (POS) theory. In this article we further develop one of the recent attempts to do so: discursive opportunity structure theory (DOS) as proposed by Koopmans and Olzak. We pay particular attention to the role of feelings. Although the DOS model correctly points toward the discursive construction of political opportunities, it does not explain why certain events are experienced as opportunities by potential activists. We propose the reason is two-fold: 1) discourse contains feeling rules and 2) discourse resonance implies the shaping of protest subjectivity. Our model is applied to a specific case: protests against aircraft noise annoyance in two countries. We show that feeling annoyed by aircraft sound is shaped by specific policy discourses, which then prepares the ground for protests.

Ethnic Mobilization among the Maya of Yucatán

While the literature on indigenous political mobilization in Latin America is now quite extensive, relatively little has been published on why ethnic mobilization has not occurred in some indigenous regions. In this article, I examine a case where there is very little mobilization and organization around ethnic identity: Yucatán, Mexico. I begin with a political history of Yucatán, comparing it with and contrasting it to Chiapas. I then argue that ethnic mobilization in Yucatán is significantly limited for two main reasons: first, Maya peasants had so little relative autonomy under the corporatist regime (1940s–1980s) and official peasant leagues that they were constrained in using the experience garnered in these leagues for subsequent ethnic-based organization; and second, the social organizations and networks that provide activists and potential activists with the capacity to mobilize – namely, peasant leagues and the progressive Catholic Church – have not served as vehicles for leadership training and organization in Yucatán.