Collective Action

What is collective action?

• relatively large numbers of people voluntarily engage in emergent + extra-institutional action

What are the characteristics of collective action?

• emergent

• extra-institutional

• dominant emotion

• ambiguous situation - nobody really knows what’s going on

What are mobs?

• focused, collective active destruction

What is a riot?

• widespread, indiscriminate destruction

What happens to people in a disaster?

• organize quickly

• be responsible

• act very altruistically (selfless)

What are types of collective action?

• mobs + riots

• disasters

• panic + mass hysteria

What are sub-forms of fear?

• terror - trapped in a dangerous situation

• dread - okay for now but it’s coming soon

• horror - seeing something horrifying

What is the difference between a disaster + mass hysteria?

• disaster - selfless act

• mass hysteria - selfish act

What is a fashion?

• social pattern of appearance, action, or talking favoured for a short time by many people

What is a fad/craze?

• unconventional social pattern embraced briefly but enthusiastically

• compared to fashion:

  • shorter duration

  • more specific

  • not relevant to taste

What is a craze?

• excessive and unreasonable enthusiasm for a special object

What are conditions of collective action?

• structural conduciveness

• structural strain - disagreement w/ government

• a generalized belief

• precipitating factors - catalyst

• mobilization for action

• failure of social control

What is a crowd?

• large temporary gathering of people who have a common focus + who influence one another

  • localized collectivity physically present + proximate

What is a public?

• a dispersed collectivity, not physically present/proximate

What is a casual crowd?

• loose collection of people who interact little

What is a conventional crowd?

• result of deliberate planning

What is an expressive crowd?

• at event with emotional appeal

What is an acting crowd?

• intense, single-minded purpose

What is a protesting crowd?

• strikes, boycotts, blockades, sit-ins, marches, etc

What is contagion theory of crowd action?

• turns normal people irrational - caught by imitation

What is convergence theory of crowd action?

• crowds give people a chance to do what they’ve secretly wanted to do for a long time (psychological)

What is emergent norm theory?

• requires creation of norms on the spot - dominated by the vocal members of the crowd (sociologically)

What is a rumour?

• unsubstantiated information spread informally

What is public opinion?

• collective issues about which people disagree

What is propaganda?

• deliberate use of mass + social media to influence beliefs, opinions, and actions

What is the role of media in mass actions?

• publicize events - what

• demonstrate techniques - how

• provide rationales - why