Social Movements and Media

Jennifer S. Earl is a Professor of Sociology and Government and Public Policy at the University of Arizona, where she studies social movements, information technologies, and the sociology of law. She is also a Tucson Public Voices Fellow and is the co-author of Digitally Enabled Social Change with MIT Press. Deana A. Rohlinger is a Professor of Sociology at Florida State University, USA. She studies mass media, political participation, and politics in America. She is the author of Abortion Politics, Mass Media, and Social Movements in America (Cambridge University Press 2015) as well as dozens of research articles. Her new book, Digital Media and American Society, will be published in 2018 by New York University Press.

• Introduction,  The Past, Present, and Future of Media and Social Movements Studies: Introduction to the Special Issue on Media and Social Movements; Jennifer Earl and Deana Rohlinger. Part One: Media and Recruitment into Activism 1, Turning Fans into Heroes: How the Harry Potter Alliance Uses the Power of Story to Facilitate Fan Activism and Bloc Recruitment; Jackson Bird and Thomas V. Maher 2, Pathways to Contemporary Youth Protest: The Continuing Relevance of Family, Friends, and School for Youth Micromobilization; Thomas V. Maher and Jennifer Earl Part 2: Media, Participation, and Identity 3, Twitter as a Feminist Resource: #YesAllWomen, Digital Platforms, and Discursive Social Change; Bernadette Barker-Plummer and Dave Barker-Plummer 4, Speaking Up Online: Civic Identity and Expression in the Digital Age; Carrie James and Ashley Lee Part Three: Media and Movement Organizations 5, Breaking Through and Burning Out: The Contradictory Effects of Young Peoples’ Participation in Institutionalized Movements; Hava Rachel Gordon 6, Inclusive and Exclusive Organizational Identity and Leadership Online: The Case of the Anti-GMO Movement; Deana Rohlinger and Shawn Gaulden 7, Media Use and Participant Inclusion: Influences on Efficacy in Paid Staff Youth Non-Profit Civic Organizations; Sarah Gaby

Sponsored by the Communication, Information Technologies, and Media Sociology section of the American Sociological Association, this volume contains eight essays on social movements and mass media. Sociology, media studies, education, and other scholars from the US address the influence of mass media on activist recruitment, including the power of story and the relevance of family, friends, and school for youth mobilization; discursive activism and the implications of online participation and identity, including the #YesAllWomen hashtag and its interaction with media and blogs, and the civic identities of youth online; and organizational dynamics in the digital age, with discussion of youth nonprofits, the relevance of leadership in the anti-genetically modified organisms movement, and the use of media tools and participant inclusion in youth-oriented organizations and factors influencing organizational beliefs about effectiveness.