Analysis of Social Movement
1. Background.

The impetus for this project is to make you especially familiar with one particular movement such that you can be one of the class ?experts? on the particularities of that movement as the quarter unfolds. This should be especially helpful as we work through social movement theories and seek evidence to support or refute those theories.

2. The book review.

In writing the review, students should demonstrate a careful reading of the text and consider how their specific case study might be used in order to generalize to the dynamics of social movements in general. The book review, therefore, should be not just an overview of the book, but should discuss, in as much detail as space permits, how this case study relates to the questions raised below. The paper should be written in a standard 12-pt. font with 1-inch margins all around. The review must be between 6-7 pages in length, or approximately 1500-1750 words. It goes without saying that copying or paraphrasing an existing review of the book will be considered plagiarism and treated accordingly; the same goes for collaboration between students in the course, as this is a solo (not collaborative) assignment.

3. Selecting a book.

Munson, Ziad W. 2008. The Making of Pro-Life Activists: How Social Movement Mobilization Works. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
4. Review content.

The review should begin with the bibliographic information and a brief (less than two pages) description of the content of the book. The dominant portion of the review should address the below issues. Since these are broad issues, and one could not possibly address all of these issues in a single review, I leave it up to you to choose the questions that are most relevant to the movement you are studying.

A. How did external factors influence the movement?
-For example, did the movement depend upon another group for support? What role did the state play in facilitating or repressing the movement? Did the movement arise in order to express specific grievances? Did other movements influence this movement? Were there any major historical events that shaped the movement?

B. How important were internal factors for this movement?
– For example, what types of organizational form(s) were most prevalent in the movement and what consequences did this have for the movement? How were leaders chosen in the movement and what power did they have compared to other participants? What significance did class, race, gender, sexual orientation, or other axes of difference have for this movement?

C. To what extent were culture and identity important for this movement?
– For example, were the goals of the movement challenging of the larger culture or supportive of it? What role did cultural or identity factors play in the movement?s attempts to recruit
participants? Did participants have a sense of larger purpose in their participation? Was the movement successful in framing its goals, ideals, and practices to other (outside) groups?

D. Other questions such as: What types of tactics did the movement employ (and were some more successful than others? If so, why)? What was the response of the state and/or other institutions that the movement targeted? Was the movement successful (both in terms of its self-defined goals and also in the opinion of the author)? What were the consequences of the movement?s success or failure for the internal structure of the movement?

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All reviews should describe the methodology used by the author in studying this movement. What were their sources: interviews with participants? Participant observation? Newspaper records? Archival data?