Page 1Page 2Page 3Page 4Page 5Page 6Page 7Page 8Page 9Page 10Page 11Page 12Page 13Page 14Page 151Sociology 626: Social MovementsFall 200711:00 - 12:15 Tuesday & Thursday 360 Science HallProf. Pamela [email protected] Social Science 262-6829Tuesday & Thursday 2:15-3:15 and by appointmentWe may also use some of the course software available through Learn@UW. If so, a link to this site willbe provided on the course web site and will also be available through your my.wisc.edu web page.Course web site: http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~oliver/Soc626/Soc626.htmNOTE: This site is in the process of being updated.This course will review theory and research on social movements, with an empirical emphasis on recentAmerican and European movements such as the Civil Rights/Black movement, the women's movement,and numerous "issue" movements such as nuclear power, peace, environment, neighborhood, etc. Wewill give some attention to movements in other countries, especially Latin America, and to developingsome understanding of the ways in which movements differ between countries, with particular attentionto political structures and political cultures. We will talk explicitly about the differences betweenmovements around enduring social cleavages such as race, class, and gender and those around narrowerissues. We will talk about the interrelations among movements, and how they shift across time and differbetween nations. This course generally operates from the intellectual standpoint of the activist who isconcerned about an issue and wants to do something about it. This leads to an emphasis on questions ofmobilization and strategy and, even for the confirmed non-activist, provides an anchor for analysis. Theclass outline is organized by theoretical issue, but we will weave discussions of current issues andparticular movements into this outline. It is expected that about 20-25% of the class time will be devotedto discussions.Understanding social movements involves both abstract principles which apply across a large number ofplaces, times, and issues AND the specific details of each particular place, time, and issue. Lectures willgenerally stress abstract principles (with examples). You will be expected to use outside reading andresearch to deepen your knowledge of some specific cases, and to bring this knowledge into classdiscussions.Books & ArticlesBooks have been ordered through University Bookstore and Underground Textbooks.Required: (1) Jeff Goodwin & James Jasper, The Social Movements Reader. Blackwell Publishing. This reader isan excellent compilation of articles. (2) David S. Meyer. The Politics of Protest: Social Movements in America.Recommended: As explained below, you will do 2-5 book reports for this class. The first two mustcome from the list of recommended books appended to this syllabus. The others may come from this list. You must receive my prior approval of any book not on the list.Other articles to read are available through links on the course web site or may be posted on thelearn@uw course page/. Some are posted in the Social Science Library electronic reserves which areSociology 626, Social Movements, Fall 2007, Pamela Oliver 2accessible to students enrolled in this course, others are in a password-protected directory on my website, still others are accessible through JSTOR. The username and password for articles on my web sitewill be emailed to registered class members. Please check early in the term to verify that you can accessall these locations from your Internet connection. A test box is provided on the course web site.RequirementsItem Due WeightParticipation, feedback,attendanceongoing 5%Test #1 (Objective & shortanswer)In class October 25 15%Test #2 (Objective & shortanswer)In class December 11 15%Interview about activism Interview posted by Sept 20,paper due by September 2715%*Book report #1 October 18 15%*Book report #2 November 8 15%*Book report #3 November 29 15%*Final essay December 20 15%**Lowest grade will be dropped. If you are satisfied with your grade going in to finals week, you do notneed to do the final essay.NOTE: With prior approval, you may substitute a major research paper or project for the three bookreports. This option is available only if you have filed a full paper proposal with a reading list andresearch plan by the time the first book report is due, October 18. It is also possible to substitute asmaller empirical project for the third book report.Each requirement will be graded on a standard 4-point scale (A=4, AB=3.5, B=3 etc.), and the coursegrade will be calculated as the weighted average of these grades. Guideline grading standards for papers:F=assignment less than half done or fraudulent (if fraudulent, an academic misconduct charge will also befiled); D=assignment done partially or with grave errors; C=does the assignment completely but lackssociological theory; BC=C+ no major writing problems, attempts to use sociological theory; B=BC +acceptable writing, uses sociological theory without major errors; AB=B + well-written, uses sociologicaltheory correctly and with understanding; A=AB + unusually good, very well-written, uses sociologicaltheory with insight and deep understanding. “Sociological theory” here refers to the theories discussed incourse materials.Sociology 626, Social Movements, Fall 2007, Pamela Oliver 3You may do extra book reports or small empirical projects of comparable size (I will give you examples).Extra work will be rewarded in two ways. First, only the best four grades for these will count in youraverage. Second, if you have done all the required work for the class, each "extra" activity that is of Cquality or better directly adds .2 to your final course grade average (i.e. if your average is 3.2, one extraactivity would make it a 3.4, raising you from a B+ to an AB) up to a maximum of +.6. Extra workcannot compensate for failing to take an exam. As a matter of policy, I qualitatively examine all grades within +/- .05 of a cutting point and make ajudgment about which grade is most just. For example, the cutting point between an A and an AB is3.75, so I examine all averages between 3.7 and 3.8 and make a qualitative judgment about whether thehigher or lower grade more fairly represents your overall performance in the course. In addition, Ireserve the right to raise grade distributions if it appears I have been grading too harshly. I also reservethe right to raise the grade of a