Hotbeds of Activism: Locations of Student Protest

Some colleges and universities stand out in the popular imagination as hotbeds of political activism, while others do not. In this paper, I examine the factors that account for this variation in campus activism: why student activism occurred on some campuses during the 1960s and not others. With som...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social problems (Berkeley, Calif.) Calif.), 1998-05, Vol.45 (2), p.205-220
Main Author: van Dyke, Nella
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activism
Civil rights movements
College Students
Colleges & universities
Comparative analysis
Culture
Demonstrations & protests
History
Ideology
Modeling
Political activism
Political activity
Political protests
Politics
Protest Movements
School campuses
Social Movements
Social Movements: Identity, Culture, and Communities
Social protest
Sociology
Student activism
Student movements
Student protests
Students
Subcultures
Universities
USA
Youth Movements
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Summary:Some colleges and universities stand out in the popular imagination as hotbeds of political activism, while others do not. In this paper, I examine the factors that account for this variation in campus activism: why student activism occurred on some campuses during the 1960s and not others. With some notable exceptions (e.g., Soule 1997) theoretical developments and insights in the social movement literature have not been applied to student activism. In addition, most existing studies of student protest are ahistorical. They examine protest only within one time period, failing to recognize the influence of history and culture in fostering protest activity. I use social movement theory to explore the factors that influence the location of student protest, and develop the hypothesis that a history of activism is strongly associated with student protest. I also demonstrate that locations that have protest around one issue are likely to have protest around multiple issues. I suggest that this is due to the influence of activist subcultures, which underlie movement families within a protest cycle, influencing the ideology and tactics of activist organizations. A sample of 423 colleges forms the basis for these analyses, conducted using logistic and OLS regression models.
ISSN:0037-7791
1533-8533
DOI:10.1525/sp.1998.45.2.03x0166j