Cultural, Disruptive, and Organizational Sources of Movement Power

Over the past two decades scholars have published numerous articles and books on the consequences of social movements. This talk present a broader assessment of our progress to date and a roadmap for future studies. Early scholarship focused on debates about the conceptualization of movement success and whether movement’s have independent effects. However, scholars have failed to theorize expectations regarding pathways and mechanisms of movement influence—or lack thereof. I identify three main types of mechanisms: cultural, disruptive, and organizational, and I show how scholars can focus on these to advance understanding of movement influence.