Collective Action Research Articles

Undocumented migrant workers as activist citizens: resisting citizenship exclusion through photovoice

ABSTRACT This article discusses the foregrounding of migrant activism through a photovoice project that emerged organically from groups of undocumented South Asian migrant men in Greece. It argues that this collective creative action against the criminalization of migrant ‘illegality’ constitutes an active act of citizenship that contests, from below, exclusionary citizenship rights and formal modes of inclusion into the body politic of a nation state. Isin’s concept of ‘activist citizen’ (2008) allows us to interpret migrant participation as a creative political mobilization that challenged their formal citizenship exclusion. The act of becoming intentionally visible through photo-taking and the multimedia installation allowed them to undertake constructive resistance against their forced invisibility and migrant abjectness. By representing themselves as empowered activist-citizens, and by using their photos, videos, and texts as evidentiary material, the undocumented migrant workers sought to destabilize dominant imaginaries and discourses that present them as fearful, deviant masculine others.

On the implementation of zero-determinant strategies in repeated games

Zero-determinant strategies are a class of strategies in repeated games which unilaterally control payoffs. Zero-determinant strategies have attracted much attention in studies of social dilemma, particularly in the context of evolution of cooperation. So far, not only general properties of zero-determinant strategies have been investigated, but zero-determinant strategies have been applied to control in the fields of information and communications technology and analysis of imitation. Here, we further deepen our understanding on general mathematical properties of zero-determinant strategies. We first prove that zero-determinant strategies, if exist, can be implemented by some one-dimensional transition probability. Next, we prove that, if a two-player game has a non-trivial potential function, a zero-determinant strategy exists in its repeated version. These results assist us to implement zero-determinant strategies in broader situations.

From Apocalypse to Empowerment: Reframing Climate Action

Abstract This article proposes empowerment as a new frame for analyzing, communicating, and practicing climate action. I first discuss the role of collective action frames in social movements and the limitations of the predominant apocalyptic climate narratives. I then elaborate the concept of empowerment, which has received little attention from political scientists, who have emphasized “power-over” rather than “power-to.” Empowerment has long been a focus of attention within critical social work, feminist theory, community psychology, and social movement theory. Drawing on these literatures and others, I identify three dimensions of empowerment—critical awareness, resources and opportunities, and autonomy—and consider practical steps that climate leaders can take to empower others to simultaneously pursue personal development and social transformation.

From shared grievances to collective action: A multilevel study of economic adversity and protest

From shared grievances to collective action: A multilevel study of economic adversity and protest

An adaptive exploration mechanism for Q-learning in spatial public goods games

The Q-learning algorithm has been widely applied to investigate the emergence of cooperation in social dilemmas. Despite ϵ -greedy being the most common exploration strategy in Q-learning, mechanisms for adjusting exploration as the game environment changes have not been thoroughly researched. To stay close to reality, this paper proposes an environment-adaptive exploration-based Q-Learning algorithm. We applied the registration concept from image processing to characterize agents’ sensitivity to changes in their surrounding environment to obtain local stimulation. Additionally, we calculated the advantage differences between the agent and the global environment to acquire global stimulation. Simulation results on the public goods game show that the level of cooperation increases and the fraction of exploration consequently decreases when the agents focus more on the local environment. However, the impact of the basic exploration rate on the level of cooperation is not uniform: when the enhancement factor is low, an increase in the exploration rate promotes cooperation, while when the enhancement factor is high, increasing the exploration rate reduces the level of cooperation. The basic exploration rate directly affects the fraction of exploration. Therefore, increasing the basic exploration rate can stably increase the fraction of exploration of the agents. Similarly, the effect of the memory strength parameter λ on the level of cooperation is positively correlated, and increasing the value of λ increases the level of cooperation across the board. These evolutionary dynamics could enrich the understanding of cooperation in complex systems.

The Search for Paxlovid: Medication Acquisition as Anticipation Work After China's Zero-COVID Policy

In early December 2022, China's zero-COVID policy came to an end. For Chinese citizens, an imaginary of safety predicated on collective action and state care was replaced with a general focus on individualized responsibility for maintaining one's health. This expedited policy reversal had the unintended effect of infecting around 80% of China's population in one month, leading to a period of confusion, anxiety, and infection. One way of obtaining safety in a precarious time was to acquire medical resources. Through an online ethnographic investigation, we trace the acquisition of Paxlovid, an antiviral medication that had its distribution within China complicated by geopolitical tension and supply issues. By attending to the precarity of Chinese citizens at home and abroad, we show how Paxlovid was desired in both the present tense for the presently ill and in the future tense as an anticipatory form of safety. We use the analytical lens of anticipation work to unpack individual, collective, and state anticipatory practices supported by various social media platforms within and across borders. In doing so, we highlight moments of friction between and among various actors to argue that attending to affect, precarity, and practices in moments of conflict is critical to understanding the complexities of computer-supported cooperative work.

Tullock contest alliances with proportional prize-sharing agreements: private collective action mechanisms?

Tullock contest alliances with proportional prize-sharing agreements: private collective action mechanisms?

El costo de la independencia: Latino house-cleaners in Technology-Mediated Labour Markets

This paper explores the interplay between identity, collective action, and digital marketplaces among Latino house-cleaners in Toronto. Domestic work, such as house-cleaning, has traditionally been devalued, gendered, and delegated to marginalised immigrant populations. The informal nature of house-cleaning work, also introduces precarity, vulnerabilities and potential avenues of exploitation. Drawing on 19 interviews with Latino house-cleaners, the paper underscores how identity shapes experiences and strategies in the labour markets. We find that Latino house-cleaners prefer to use asynchronous digital marketplaces, such as social media commerce groups and online classified advertisement websites, as the platforms provides flexibility and control over their labour outcomes. The paper further delves into how group identities online - such as being Latino and women - foster collective action and solidarity. The paper provides insights on how we can support the needs support the challenges and needs of immigrant domestic workers in technology-mediated labour markets.

Power and Play: Investigating "License to Critique" in Teams' AI Ethics Discussions

Past work has sought to design AI ethics interventions--such as checklists or toolkits--to help practitioners design more ethical AI systems. However, other work demonstrates how these interventions may instead serve to limit critique to that addressed within the intervention, while rendering broader concerns illegitimate. In this paper, drawing on work examining how standards enact discursive closure and how power relations affect whether and how people raise critique, we recruit three corporate teams, and one activist team, each with prior context working with one another, to play a game designed to trigger broad discussion around AI ethics. We use this as a point of contrast to trigger reflection on their teams' past discussions, examining factors which may affect their ''license to critique'' in AI ethics discussions. We then report on how particular affordances of this game may influence discussion, and find that the hypothetical context created in the game is unlikely to be a viable mechanism for real world change. We discuss how power dynamics within a group and notions of ''scope'' affect whether people may be willing to raise critique in AI ethics discussions, and discuss our finding that games are unlikely to enable direct changes to products or practice, but may be more likely to allow members to find critically-aligned allies for future collective action.

Religion, secularization, and far-right support in the Netherlands, Hungary, and Italy

Academic evaluations of the relationship between religion, secularization, and far-right collective actors have grown increasingly complicated. New religious immigrants, seen as invaders importing contradictory values imposed on the populous by EU elites, may threaten Christian and irreligious Europeans. Europe has been secularizing for decades, concurrent with a resurgence in far-right collective action, but this far-right resurgence has also accompanied an increase in religious discourse in politics. In this study, I investigate the relationship between religion, secularization, and far-right collective action utilizing three case studies. I find, with some caveats, that in Hungary, Fidesz motivates Christian voters with religious nationalist appeals, while assertive secularization motivates irreligious voters in the Netherlands. Italy is more complex, where far-right collective actors are less able to monopolize social issues. These findings speak to the critical role religious values and institutions play in shaping voter preferences and present competing options for secularist politics moving forward.

The Dual‐Edged State Paradox: Fighting for Justice When the State is Unreliable

Sociological theories of collective resistance offer insights into how communities mobilize against oppression but often overlook the complexities when the state, an entity relied upon for justice, also acts as an agent of betrayal. Based on 8 years of ethnographic research in Palermo (2016–2024), this study examines the relationship between Sicilian activists and the state, shaped by the dual forces of mafia oppression and state complicity. The present research explores how activists navigate the complexities of collective trauma rooted in state complicity, while simultaneously relying on parts of the state as indispensable allies in their fight for justice. The study introduces the “Dual‐Edged State Paradox,” as a novel framework that captures this contradictory relationship. To navigate the paradox, activists adopt two key strategies: ‘fragmented trust dynamics’ and ‘layered collective resistance’. These strategies illustrate how activists continually recalibrate trust and engage in multi‐layered resistance, adjusting their approach to balance public protest with collaboration based on the positioning of different state actors. This research contributes to our sociological knowledge on collective action, particularly in settings where activists grapple with both external violence of non‐state actors and internal betrayal from the state apparatus.

Female Genital Mutilation in Somalia: Leveraging Opinions, Perceptions, and Experiences for Effective Interventions

This review critically examines the socio-cultural and religious landscape of female genital mutilation (FGM) in Somalia, where the practice remains pervasive despite global condemnation and human rights infringements. With the highest FGM rates globally, Somalia's scenario underscores the complexities of eradicating practices deeply embedded in societal fabric. The purpose of this review is to understand prevailing attitudes towards FGM among various Somali stakeholders and to recalibrate intervention strategies accordingly, with an emphasis on harm reduction as a pragmatic initial approach towards a long-term eradication goal. The review employs a thematic synthesis of qualitative studies to discern Somali communities’ awareness of FGM health risks, ongoing support for the practice, and resistance to its abandonment. It reveals a perceptual shift towards Sunna, a less extreme FGM form, influenced by religious considerations and health awareness, yet still infringing on women's rights. The contentious role of medicalization as a harm-reduction tactic is also discussed, which, while safer, may perpetuate the practice. Overall, the review underscores the necessity for culturally sensitive, community-driven interventions that advocate for collective action against FGM. These interventions should integrate educational efforts, legal frameworks, and redefinition of FGM's socio-cultural importance, aiming for a gradual yet definitive end to the practice.

Who Dominates the Coalition? Frame Salience and Public Support for Policy–Democracy Protest Coalitions under Authoritarian Rule

Abstract How does the public support a coalition in which pro-democracy advocates and policy-based protesters join forces in street protests? When policy-based and pro-democracy groups protest together, they create a collective action frame that includes a policy component and a democracy component. In this article, I develop the frame salience theory, arguing that support for a policy–democracy protest coalition depends on which component of the joint frame is perceived to be more dominant. I argue that in authoritarian regimes, the policy component typically dominates the coalition because it is more accessible and available to the public. This perception shifts public support for the alliance towards the baseline level of support for the policy movement. In other words, public support for the alliance defaults to the baseline level of support for the policy movement. I find evidence for my argument using a survey experiment administered to 1,209 Vietnamese respondents. This article highlights a dilemma pro-democracy groups face: joining policy-based movements may boost support, but sustaining democracy after the protest becomes challenging.

‘It's good what we're doing and it's scary what we're facing’: young people’s care-ful environmental action in the UK

ABSTRACT In this paper, we argue for greater recognition of young people’s contributions to environmental action through social and environmental justice. It draws on findings from research based on eleven organisations in the UK exploring young people’s connection with environment-related collective action and activism in the UK landscape. Building on theoretical arguments of ethics of care and implicit activism and capturing a range of practices of young people, the paper explores young people’s multiple framing(s) of activisms – towards the environment and each other. Drawing on the experiences of young people and facilitators within these organisations, we unpack the experiences and representation of minoritised groups in the climate movement and other forms of environmental engagement. The findings demonstrate thoughtful and effective approaches towards inclusion within the UK context and in terms of global climate justice but also highlight a need for more intersectional approaches and awareness of enduring barriers often relating to racialised identities.

Organised Violence, Inequality and Work: Violence Specialists as a Classed Occupation

Scholars have long debated what is the role of inequalities in organised violence, but the causal mechanisms remain unclear. I argue that mainstream approaches (e.g. deviance, subcultures, grievances, rational choice and Marxism) fall short because they overlook that organised violence is an intensive form of work. These perspectives often exoticise individuals involved in violence for profit or political purposes. Violence is not a deviant feature of social life but an integral part of collective action. By applying occupational lenses, I position those engaged in violence as a specialised class of manual workers recruited in the protection labour market. Scholars can acknowledge the occupational stratification observed before in research about organised violence by understanding violence specialists as workers. This essay explores how the sociology of work can enhance our understanding of inequality reproduction within criminal organisations, guerrillas, armies, police forces, mercenaries and private military companies.

Peran Aksi Kolektif untuk Mitigasi Bencana dalam Resiliensi Komunitas Menghadapi Tanah Longsor

Landslide disasters cause various impacts such as damage to facilities and infrastructure, loss of housing, too many casualties as well as providing psychological impacts that affect the social life of the community. The negative impact of disasters can be reduced by mitigating so that communities can survive. Muara 1 Village, Cibunian Village has carried out mitigation activities both structural and non-structural. Collective action by communities can achieve resilience if communities take collective action. The research method uses a quantitative approach through questionnaires and a qualitative approach with in-depth observation and interviews. Respondents in this study amounted to 80 respondents. Quantitative data was processed using Microsoft Excel 365 application and IBM SPSS Statistic 24 application. This study uses simple statistical analysis supported by qualitative data to see collective action variables with community resilience in facing landslide disasters. The results showed that collective action is still top down and not yet fully the community of Kampung Muara 1 is said to be resilient.

Bridging Theory and Practice: Applying Ostrom’s Law to Real-World Resource Management

This article aims to address the practical application of Elinor Ostrom's contributions to resolve issues related to collective action in three key areas: (1) the establishment of institutions, (2) adherence to collective obligations, and (3) mutual monitoring. The article explores the appropriate ways to implement Ostrom's theories across different regions and communities. The discussion begins by outlining Ostrom's significant contribution to economic theory, and this contribution is often referred to as "Ostrom's Law." This principle posits that a resource arrangement that works in practice can work in theory, challenging the prevailing belief that common-pool resources are inherently mismanaged and require either centralized regulation or privatization. The article further examines the potential for developing a practical model for future collective, coordinated actions, which would incorporate both the strengths and limitations of Ostrom's economic theory. Five models for the creation of new collective agreements, as proposed in Ostrom’s works are analyzed, alongside practical examples from countries such as Spain, Philippines, Nepal, and Turkey, where Ostrom's principles have been effectively applied in the management of natural resources. Ostrom's analytical methods and her conclusions regarding collective action theory hold significant value for developing practical tools for direct implementation, particularly in contexts of rapid development, such as those faced by nations, organizations, and smaller collectives. The methodology in 'Bridging Theory and Practice: Applying Ostrom’s Law to Real-World Resource Management' combines qualitative case studies, comparative analysis, and theoretical modeling to explore the practical application of Elinor Ostrom's theories of collective action and management.

The horror of today and the terror of tomorrow: The role of future existential risks and present-day political risks in climate activism.

In response to the urgent global climate crisis, climate activism has risen as a potent force. Decision-making regarding climate collective action includes individuals' perceptions of the anticipated future existential risks of the climate crisis (risk of inaction) and present-day political risks of climate activism (risk of action). Our research, spanning four studies (two correlational surveys and two pre-registered experiments), focused on climate activism in Germany (N = 1027). We consistently showed that heightened politicized activist identification was associated with both confrontational and non-confrontational climate collective action across four studies. Furthermore, the anticipated existential climate risk was associated with non-confrontational climate action and present-day political risk with confrontational action. Politicized climate identity remained a robust predictor across different action tactics, while the content and temporality of risk (future existential vs. present-day political) in one's environment determined the transition between engagement in confrontational and non-confrontational climate action dynamically. Nevertheless, we did not find causal links between risk perceptions and collective action. We discuss our findings in line with ESIM (Elaborated Social Identity Model), and potential explanations for the lack of causal relationship and future directions for alternative methodologies and comprehensive conceptualization of risk perceptions are suggested.

Citizen science promotes knowledge, skills and collective action to monitor and protect freshwater streams

Abstract Citizen science has great potential to foster ecological knowledge, skills and collective action for biodiversity conservation. To date, however, there are few experimental studies of behaviour change outcomes induced by citizen science. We assessed the effects of citizen science in ecological stream monitoring on participants' individual and collective behaviour and action intentions to protect streams beyond the immediate scope of the citizen science project. For this we applied a three‐wave, quasi‐experimental survey design with a citizen science treatment group (N = 213 participants of the project FLOW in Germany) and two control groups (waiting control group: N = 92, panel control group: N = 250). In addition, we analysed citizen science effects on potential predictors of freshwater conservation behaviour, such as knowledge, skills, awareness of stream stressors and group identification. Results of linear mixed‐model analysis showed that, compared to the control groups, citizen scientists significantly increased their objective stream‐related knowledge, their self‐reported stream monitoring skills and their awareness of stream stressors. These changes remained stable 6 weeks after the citizen science intervention. Notably, citizen scientists also reported increased identification with their citizen science project group and higher levels of collective and personal behaviour to protect streams at posttest (e.g. contacting local politicians with ideas for stream protection or using biodegradable detergents). Analysis revealed that increases in group identification and collective stream protection behaviour were significantly correlated. We could show that the citizen science intervention was particularly effective for participants with high intrinsic motivation and for those with low prior knowledge and experience in stream monitoring. Synthesis and applications. Citizen science can serve as a useful tool to promote ecological understanding, awareness and collective action to conserve freshwater streams. By fostering volunteer skills and community building, citizen science projects can empower participants with different levels of experience to engage in freshwater monitoring and protection. Decision makers should actively support approaches for citizen participation in freshwater monitoring, recognising that collective engagement of diverse community members is needed to finally meet the European Water Framework Directive's goal of restoring the good ecological status of freshwater ecosystems. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Promoting cooperation in collective actions: Evidence from the reserve fund for maintenance in China

Cooperation among group members is the ultimate pursuit in any collective actions. Despite the presence of well-documented theories and experimental evidence in the collective action problem, the empirical evidence on promoting cooperation in the problem is scarce. We examine the collective tasks of using reserve funds for maintenance in urban residential areas using a unique administrative data that covers approximately 5,000 maintenance projects in Nanjing, China. Applying an instrumental variable approach, we show that a 1,000 yuan increase in extra cash payment increases the consent rates of implementing a maintenance plan by approximately 1 percentage point. Our results suggest that additional information revealed by uncovered maintenance costs could serve as a non-monetary tool to promote cooperation in making collective-action decisions. We confirm the conjecture by surveying 112 householders involved in the maintenance projects.