Òyötùnjí: The Making of Africans in America examines the impact of self-identification with African culture and the impact it has on African identity within social and Black Nationalist movements. More so than the Civil Rights movement, the Black Nationalist movement has influenced the ways in which African Americans self identified as a group and as individuals. Comprised primarily of African nationalists, Òyötùnjí Village was considered the vanguard in re- introducing the African ideology into Santeria, and giving birth to what is now considered the Ifa/Yoruba tradition. As the intentional community of Òyötùnjí grew, the Ifa tradition spread as well because of its porous population. To explore the relationship between identity and social movements, this paper examines the motivation behind the formation of Òyötùnjí Village and the formation of an independent community.

This study analyzes the bicycling community of Lexington, Kentucky. Interviews and participant observation were conducted in order to better understand the structure of Lexington’s cycling community, revealing three prominent groups/types of cyclists: (1) road cyclists, (2) underground/urban cyclists, and (3) commuters. The characteristics of each group are discussed, with particular attention devoted to the underground/urban cyclists, due to their politically-minded culture. Building from prior social movement literature, the unique framing processes of the underground/urban cycling group are analyzed in order to explore the group as a new social movement. Finally, the potential for a broader cycling movement based upon interests common to all cyclists is discussed.

In 2003, the town of Craik initiated a unique renewable energy project with the dual goals of addressing both the environmental and the rural economic crisis. This Masters thesis provides an exploration of the factors that both facilitate and constrain the advancement of this project. The research focuses on the question: What are the cultural and social factors that inhibit the Craik project from meeting its environmental and economic goals? New social movement theory provides a theoretical framework for explaining contradictions within social movements, while a critical ethnographic methodology is used to uncover specific underlying contradictions that exist at Craik. This thesis analyzes the dynamics of facilitating and non-facilitating factors to make visible the deeper sources of conflict, to contribute to theoretical models of social change and understandings of community development. Furthermore, the thesis provides direction for the Craik eco-project that can further the implementation of practices that will facilitate both its economic and environmental goals. Finally, the study provides valuable insights to other communities working to facilitate similar eco-projects and influence public policy in response to global warming

In 2003, the town of Craik initiated a unique renewable energy project with the dual goals of addressing both the environmental and the rural economic crisis. This Masters thesis provides an exploration of the factors that both facilitate and constrain the advancement of this project. The research focuses on the question: What are the cultural and social factors that inhibit the Craik project from meeting its environmental and economic goals? New social movement theory provides a theoretical framework for explaining contradictions within social movements, while a critical ethnographic methodology is used to uncover specific underlying contradictions that exist at Craik. This thesis analyzes the dynamics of facilitating and non-facilitating factors to make visible the deeper sources of conflict, to contribute to theoretical models of social change and understandings of community development. Furthermore, the thesis provides direction for the Craik eco-project that can further the implementation of practices that will facilitate both its economic and environmental goals. Finally, the study provides valuable insights to other communities working to facilitate similar eco-projects and influence public policy in response to global warming

This study analyzes the framing processes of the Indignados movement in Barcelona, as an exemplar of the latest wave of protests, and argues that it expresses a new ecological-economic way out of the crisis. It finds that the movement was not just a reaction to the economic crisis and austerity policies, but that it put forward a metapolitical critique of the social imaginary and (neo)liberal representative democracy. The diagnostic frames of the movement denunciate the subjugation of politics and justice to economics, and reject the logic of economism. The prognostic frames of the movement advance a vision of socio-ecological sustainability and of "real democracy", each articulated differently by a "pragmatist" and an "autonomist" faction within the movement. It argues that frames are overarching outer boundaries that accommodate different ideologies. Ideologies can nevertheless also be put into question by antagonizing frames. Furthermore, through the lens of the Indignados critique, the distinction between materialist and post-materialist values that characterizes the New Social Movement literature is criticised, as "real democracy" is connected to social and environmental justice as well as to a critique of economism and the "imperial mode of living".

The indigenous of the Amazon region of Ecuador unite against the petroleum industry and destructive resource extraction practices in order to preserve environment and indigenous cultures. Since the 1990s, the indigenous movement of Ecuador has played out in the international arena and become a transnational movement, which includes social actors from the international legal, human rights, and environmental communities. This transnational movement exemplifies identity politics through the projection of ethnicity and essentialized signifiers of indigenousness. Indigenous actors, Ecuadoran nongovernmental organizations, international filmmakers, and US nongovernmental organizations all use ethnic identity and signifiers via documentaries and cyberspace as symbolic resources to represent the movement. This thesis explores the intersection of external actors (international community of filmmakers and NGOs) and internal actors' (the indigenous themselves and Ecuadoran NGOs) projection of ethnicity as symbolic resource. Utilizing resource mobilization theory and new social movement theory as a syncretic to understand the movement and theoretical contributions of identity and representation to explore the process of mobilization, the study explores the question of ethnic identity as symbolic resource in four documentaries and on fifteen websites. The discourse analysis of the four documentaries and content analysis of the fifteen websites illustrate that there is consistency in the message within the transnational social movement community of actors who strive to work for and on behalf of the indigenous of the Ecuadoran Amazon. / Master of Arts

Despite the high vulnerability of alpine environments to climate change, adaptation and mitigation within the winter sport industry have only recently received consideration. However, the focus has been mainly on the adaptation measures of the ski resort operators (supply side), not taking into consideration other actors (demand side) or attempts aiming for a sustainable form of winter tourism. Through a case study of Protect Our Winters (POW), an environmental group started by a professional snowboarder, this research aims at investigating the role of a new social movement, ski activism, in combating climate change. Interviews with active members of POW Austria and participant observations at events and meetings of this same organisationwere conducted and analysed to gain an overview on the matter. Results show that empirical knowledge of climate change consequences and the concern about the future of lifestyle sports such as skiing and snowboarding can motivate activist behaviour. Furthermore, the variety of outreach tools of an organisation like POW can help raise awareness and inspire to join the ski activist movement. Because the study deals with a new type of movement, further research is needed to explore the effects of this alternative climate mitigation attempt and to analyse more initiatives and organisations started by the demand side of the winter sport industry.

Contemporary activists in the United States find it increasingly difficult to negotiate socio-political constraints to build a social movement. Those looking for relatively safe and effective venues for participation in and communication of dissent face oppression by the hegemonic power of the political right and, in the case of climate activism, anti-climate-science discourse. I use the case study of the climate action movement to explore how contemporary activists use new communication media technologies (hereafter new media) to establish and strengthen a movement. Even though climate change affects the daily lives of ordinary Americans, no U.S. policy exists to mitigate carbon emissions. New media offer the potential for new, safer venues for participation in and communication about social movements. I used empirical qualitative and critical methods to analyze the communication of climate change activism in Texas, USA. I examined how Step It Up! 2007 (SIU) used new media to facilitate or constrain public participation in climate action. I used critical discourse analysis to examine information provided to citizens on the SIU website, and I attended the SIU event in San Antonio, Texas. I found SIU organizers successfully used new media to increase agitation and to shift power away from the federal government to the local grassroots level. I recommend activists use new media as a unifying tool, to provide a fragmented and apathetic citizenry with a message that can be used to affect change. I conducted a critical rhetorical analysis of Working Film’s 2007 documentary on global warming, Everything’s Cool, as a means to suggest how, and in what ways, activists use new media to build a movement. I also hosted an activist screening. I examined how new media facilitate or constrain communication of movement messages. I found activists used the documentary and open source activism as a rhetorical exercise in agitation to refigure public understanding of climate science and attitudes toward U.S. climate change policy. Everything’s Cool positioned climate activism, and participating in the movement broadly, as accessible and acceptable, helping to rhetorically constitute a new kind of citizen activist, shifting power roles to a grassroots network of local leaders.

This thesis studies the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement and what achievements it has been able to accomplish related to its objectives, in order to create a better under- standing of how new social movements work and what they can accomplish. The objectives and achievements were divided into different categories: cultural recognition, physical security, socio-economic, and other. The findings show that most of the objectives were of the physical security and socio-economic category while most of the achievements were outside of the objectives the BLM movement set and are mostly related to the cultural recognition category. The study argues that this is due to the characteristics of the BLM movement as a new social movement as well as the BLM not being specific enough in its objectives. With this knowledge there is an understanding that new social movements are very good at engaging people but could improve in their achievements.

Fatta - vilken kampanj! Den digitala samhällsutvecklingen de senaste decenniet har förändrat kommunikationslandskapet och bidragit till att engagemang för samhällsfrågor antagit nya former. Detta har skapat nya sätt för individer att ta ställning i samhällspolitiska frågor och nya möjligheter för organisationer att mobilisera och engagera. Men engagemanget i sociala medier har ifrågasatts. De senaste årens forskning kring engagemang i sociala medier visar upp en dubbelsidig och tvetydig bild av vilken betydelse engagemanget i sociala medier kan ha för en aktör. Genom att genomföra en processtudie av hur aktören Fatta lyckats skapa stort engagemang i sociala medier och växt från framgångsrik kampanj till inflytelserik organisation, ämnar denna studie bidra till en djupare förståelse för vilken betydelse engagemang i sociala medier har för aktörer som eftersträvar samhällsförändring. Det empiriska materialet utgörs av en processbeskrivning som består av datainsamling från en mängd typer av data, observationer i digitala kanaler och intervjuer med människor som har koppling till Fatta. Studien visar att Fattas förflyttning möjliggjordes av att det fanns en social rörelse som Fatta med hjälp av sociala medier lyckades kroka i, nämligen den feministiska rörelsen. Den möjliggjordes också av den identitet de lyckades skapa kring Fatta samt av den uppmärksamhet de gavs utanför sociala medier som delvis kan härledas till det starka stöd och engagemang som fanns för Fatta sociala medier. Förutom att bekräfta tidigare forskning kring att sociala medier förenklar och möjliggör mobilisering och ger möjligheter till att snabbt agera, kan sociala medier ge aktörer som verkar för samhällsförändring symbolisk makt. Genom de människor som visade sitt stöd för Fatta beviljade de så väl fysiska resurser som tillträde till maktens korridorer där de kunde påverka beslutsfattare. / <p>Stort tack till FATTA och alla informanter som med stort engagemang gjort detta arbete till ett rent nöje!</p>