Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / The problem of this dissertation is psychological and sociological description and analysis of the appeals and activities of the John Birch Society as a movement of social protest of the radical right. The John Birch Society is one of the major organizations described in current journalistic treatments as radical right or as right-wing extremist. The Society came to public prominence in the spring of 1961 as awareness of its fairly widespread organizational accomplishments and of the more extreme opinions of its founder, Robert Welch, were brought to public attention by the press. The method included both library and field research. Library research, both before and after the field research, focused upon the provision of an adequate framework of psychological and sociological theory through which to perceive the setting, the leader, the organization and membership, and the ideology and activity of the John Birch Society. The primary data so perceived were those of many of the Birch Society publications, those provided by observers of local Birch Society conflicts in Gloucester, Little Rook, El Paso, Dallas, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Phoenix, and Wichita, and those provided by the participants on each side of these conflicts through interviews and, with many, through the administration of a questionnaire. Secondary data were provided by newspaper, newsmagazine, and personal correspondence descriptive of the leader, the organization, the membership, the ideology, and the local and national activities of the Birch Society. The conclusions of this dissertation are as follows: 1. The Birch Society functions as a fundamentalist reaction. 2. The top leadership of the Society is charismatic. 3. The organizational-leadership structure of the Society is an unstable mixture of both charismatic and rational-bureaucratic elements. 4. The stance of the Society as an aggressive sect is inherently unstable. 5. The activity and ideology of social protest represent the major appeal of the Society. 6. The conflict in which the Society engages is characteristically non-communal. 7. The ideology of the Society is substantively and formally logic-tight and, characteristically, those who affirm it are highly closed-minded. 8. Within our troubled setting, the ideology provides the social-psychological appeals of certainty, superiority, and self-righteousness and "justifies" aggression toward otherwise invulnerable objects of frustration. 9. As a fundamentalist reaction, the Society fails to serve its manifest function, none of its latent functions appear to be constructive, and some are latently dysfunctional even for its own existence. 10. The Society is well described as a movement of social protest of the radical right. These conclusions led the author to observe that the non-rational character of the Society tends to dominate and to obscure whatever fundwnental forces and issues may be in conflict. The implications of this observation, for the legitimated processes of the American democratic society, then led the author to the position that the only way to move conflicts with the Society into potentially constructive channels appears to be through insistence upon the norms of rational and communal conflict.

Historically in the United States, after-action investigations have consistently accused the intelligence community of early warning in foreign policy and national security events. However, closer inspection shows that the intelligence community does provide timely and actionable estimates-when it is directed to do so. In some instances, the root cause of failure does not lie within the intelligence community. Rather, it is due to a malfunction in the Requirements and Priorities (R&P) process, a mechanism that integrates intelligence and policy communities. The R&P provides the "mandate" for the intelligence community- it delivers a ranking of intelligence priorities, and informs resource distribution, interagency cooperation, and operational authorisations for federal intelligence agencies. The R&P process has been highlighted consistently as a systemic weakness, has undergone numerous changes, and remains a source of tribulation. Yet it is rarely addressed, and absent from after-action investigations. The impact of the R&P becomes most visible when urgent, unexpected issues arise in low priority areas. These events force a "mandate shift" - a rapid escalation of the issue to a higher priority, commanding an immediate realignment of mandate-level functions. Faults in any component of the mechanism can delay or restrict critical actions, and often as manifest as errors of intelligence collection or analysis. These "symptoms" are often misdiagnosed as the root cause, leading to accusations of intelligence failure. This research sets forth a model to observe the impact of the R&P on the outcome of foreign policy and national security events, while simultaneously investigating core functions of the intelligence and policy communities. This R&P-centric model is applied to three cases of social movement escalation: el Bogotázo (1948), the Iranian Revolution (1979), and the Rwandan Genocide (1994). The cases trace the R&P structure at the time, to examine how faults in the R&P can impact the intelligence community's ability to provide early warning, and influence the overall outcome.

In this thesis I explore the significance of the publication of Betty Friedan�s The Feminine Mystique (1963) to the emergence of the second wave Women�s Liberation Movement in the US in the late 1960s. To this end, I deploy key concepts provided through social movement theory (eg collective identity, collective action frames, social problem construction). I also incorporate Max Weber and Antonio Gramsci�s insights on the indispensable role played by leaders who demonstrate a clear and effective political will. Weber�s three part model of pure charisma is used as a general template for understanding the impact of Friedan�s text. I critique aspects of Weber�s theory of charisma, in particular his failure to appreciate that the written word can mark the initial emergence phase of charisma rather than its routinisation. I augment Weber�s insights on charismatic leadership by attending to Gramsci�s emphasis on the necessity of winning the �war of ideas� that must be waged at the level of civil society within advanced capitalist societies. I examine Gramsci�s understanding of the power available to the organic intellectual who is aligned with the interests of subaltern groups and who succeeds in revealing the hegemonic commitments of accepted �common sense�. In the latter part of this thesis, I apply these many useful concepts to my case study analysis of Betty Friedan�s The Feminine Mystique. I argue that Friedan�s accessible, middlebrow text gave birth to a new discursive politics which was critically important not only for older women, but for a younger generation of more radicalised women. I emphasise how Friedan�s text mounted a concerted attack on the discursive construction of femininity under patriarchal capitalism. I question Friedan�s diagnostic claim that the problems American women faced were adequately captured by the terminology of the trapped housewife syndrome. I conclude by arguing that social movement researchers have to date failed to appreciate the leadership potential of the charismatic author-leader who succeeds in addressing and offering a solution to a pressing social problem through the medium of a best-selling, middlebrow text.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 1983. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 728-748).

The goal of this dissertation is to investigate the impact that historical (and cultural) contexts have on the production of theories and concepts. In specific, I am interested in the relationship between historical and cultural contexts and the production of theoretical knowledge. I define historical periods in theory as modernist and an "after-modern" context, which comprises poststructuralism, postmodernism and post-Marxism. My case is the life and work of Antonio Gramsci; a "classical theorist" whose work remains salient across the social sciences and humanities. I hypothesize that in order to understand the historiography of knowledge in the social sciences, from the classical period to the present, significant points of "departure" in theory (e.g. Gramsci, Marxism, psychoanalysis, feminism) need to be viewed contextually. By extension, a better way to fully understand Gramsci's insights, and their endurance, for the study of race, sexuality, culture and politics is to situate his methodology, theories, and concepts historically. In the dissertation propose two ways to test this hypothesis: 1. I provide an historically grounded interpretation of Gramsci's political thinking (a orienting place for much of Gramsci's thought) which includes, for example, changes in his perspective about the strategic role of specific political groups, e.g. social movement organizations, in achieving political goals; 2. I embed his theoretical and conceptual framework within the theoretical discourses prevalent during his time, which would include, for example, the rise and predominance of Italian positivist criminology as a racial discourse. I also hypothesize that in this case, such an interpretation is necessary to fully and accurately understand the potential contribution of Gramsci's theoretical framework to contemporary theoretical discourses in both the social sciences and humanities-based disciplines. This dissertation is organized around the following sets of questions. My originating question, which establishes the analytical framework for the dissertation, is: What impact does historical (and cultural) contexts have on the production of theories and concepts? As it pertains to my specific case, the life and work of Antonio Gramsci, I sharpen the point by asking: In the context of the originating research question, In what ways have the historical (and cultural) contexts effected the production of theories and concepts in Gramsci's work? This dissertation represents a contribution to the sociology of ideas as well as to classical theory by providing a new lens through which to look at the early contributions of sociological knowledge. Further, each individual section?which represents explorations of specific theoretical rubrics?may lead to contributions within these distinct areas.

AIDS Saskatoon, considered as a health social movement, is the focus of this research. It uses notions of life-world, system and life-world colonization as well as the typology of politics introduced by Cohen and Arato to answer the questions:<p> Why did AIDS Saskatoon emerge?<p> Is AIDS Saskatoon a defensive or an offensive social movement?<p> The defensive movements action is directed inward to the lifeworld and civil society, while the offensive modes of movement activism directed outward to state and economic institutions. With regards to the first question, I argue AIDS Saskatoon was formed as a reaction to patterns of the colonization of the life-world of people living with HIV/AIDS. Relative to the second question AIDS Saskatoon is seen to be a creative response to the colonization process that takes an organizational form conducive to both defensive and offensive dimensions.<p> Data for this study were derived from ten qualitative interviews were conducted - five with individuals diagnosed HIV/AIDS positive, three with the AIDS Saskatoon administrative staff, and two with the founders of AIDS Saskatoon.

AIDS Saskatoon, considered as a health social movement, is the focus of this research. It uses notions of life-world, system and life-world colonization as well as the typology of politics introduced by Cohen and Arato to answer the questions:<p> Why did AIDS Saskatoon emerge?<p> Is AIDS Saskatoon a defensive or an offensive social movement?<p> The defensive movements action is directed inward to the lifeworld and civil society, while the offensive modes of movement activism directed outward to state and economic institutions. With regards to the first question, I argue AIDS Saskatoon was formed as a reaction to patterns of the colonization of the life-world of people living with HIV/AIDS. Relative to the second question AIDS Saskatoon is seen to be a creative response to the colonization process that takes an organizational form conducive to both defensive and offensive dimensions.<p> Data for this study were derived from ten qualitative interviews were conducted - five with individuals diagnosed HIV/AIDS positive, three with the AIDS Saskatoon administrative staff, and two with the founders of AIDS Saskatoon.

Denns C-uppsats i kulturantropologi utforskar fenomenet dumpster diving, vad det innebär och varför människor rotar efter mat i soptunnor. Mitt syfte är att undersöka de tankegångar människor har som är engagerade i dumpster diving och vad vi kan lära av dem. Jag har även i denna studie belyst de etiska, ekologiska och ekonomiska konsekvenserna kring det faktum att vi slänger så mycket ätbar mat och visat att dumpster diving är till viss del en lokal lösning på ett globalt problem.

Adopting ¡§Radical Actions¡¨ is the impression which Greenpeace gives to the outside world, and they are skilled at that way. When facing difference of culture, history, political, economic and society, what actions would this organization comes from west society take? China and Indonesia are the 1st the 3rd Greenhouse gases country, so this article puts them together to understand how Greenpeace faces different external environment and how it engages the environment campaign. This article figures that Greenpeace will hire local environmentalists; in China, Greenpeace is submissive to the authority, and it not only helps China become a renewable energy power, but push environmental laws and citizen environmental education. In Indonesia, Greenpeace respects local traditional culture, customs and provides the way to solve problems. It also contains its radical image to get the media attention, encouraging citizen to learn Greenpeace¡¦s actions. Because of different society situation, Greenpeace uses different methods between China and Indonesia, we can realize that not only radical actions Greenpeace takes, but adjusting their solution according to different surroundings.

American cities have a combination of policies that both provide emergency services and restrict the movements and activities of homeless people. These policies are the product of active public debates that construct narratives that explain the causes of homelessness and characterize homeless people. I identify both the policy opportunities and limits created by the way interest groups talk about homelessness by weaving together framing theory with analysis of discursive units employed in the public discussions about homelessness published in the St. Petersburg Times, in Pinellas County, Florida. This county is representative of other metropolitan regions that experienced rapid growth, gentrification, and are now seeing skyrocketing rates of foreclosures. I situate this local debate within the nationally circulated publications referring to homelessness to identify underlying assumptions that shape the outcomes in Pinellas County and set the stage for similar discussions across the United States. I examine how these narratives function in collective action frames of homelessness, the resulting opposing views of who should respond, and how the issue of homelessness should be treated given the legal division between public and private property in our capitalistic society. Frames must be considered rhetoric because they are employed to advance persuasive arguments. The various issue and collective action frames used to shape city policies each form an argument about homelessness. Discursive units are the building blocks of these arguments. Hence, I examine the place of the discursive units of thematic values, anecdotal narratives, and characterizations within these frames. I find that the city council responds to the competing interest group frames by selectively adopting different discursive units from each group in order to frame the situation of homelessness in the region as a crisis. While maintaining the use of the same thematic values and anecdotal narratives, the government is able to transcend competing characterizations of the homeless, creating space for their new policies to pass and succeed with the support of constituents from opposed interest groups.