The study explores collective action in Sweden between 1980 to 1995 using time-series data from the European Protest and Coercion Database. In spite of severe hardship during the crisis of the early 1990s, Swedish strike-rates declined. However, contention merely shifted from workplaces into the streets; there was indeed a protest movement against austerity, as shown by a series of large demonstrations, and some riots, between 1989 and 1993. Further analysis indicates this movement faded as it was increasingly chanelled into the electoral campaign of the labor pary; having won the 1994 election, the organised labor movement no longer had an interest in sustaining the protest movement against austerity.

This study develops and tests a theoretical model drawing on social psychological and resource-mobilization perspectives of social movement theory to explain changes in social movement participation and support for activism among Earthwatch Expedition volunteers. The social psychological perspective of social movements recognizes the role of self-efficacy and consciousness-raising for the participation in and success of social movement organizations. The resource mobilization perspective of social movements stresses rationality and the importance of funding and networks for the success of social movement organizations. Utilizing these two theoretical perspectives as my foundation, I hypothesize that participation in an Earthwatch Expedition increases volunteers' participation in social movement organizations in ways such as making monetary donations, voting with the organization's platform in mind, or attending rallies and marches. I also hypothesize that volunteers will increase their support for others who participate in these same types of activities. Earthwatch Expeditions are a form of alternative tourism in which volunteers participate in any of 126 different types of 10-14 day research-oriented expeditions that may include evaluating the health of a coral reef, studying maternal health among west African women, assessing the killer whale population off the coast of Puget Sound, or recording oral history in Dominica. I conducted pre- and post-trip surveys in June and July of 1998, resulting in 363 completed surveys. I analyzed data using multiple regression to discover relationships between pre-trip and post-trip measures of social movement participation, activism support, networks, self-efficacy, and consciousness-raising. In other words, I explored ways in which an alternative tourism experience like Earthwatch can change a person's ideas about their own social movement participation, the social movement activities of others, their perceived ability to overcome obstacles in order to implement social change, and their awareness of social issues. Results suggest that participation in an Earthwatch Expedition has a positive effect on volunteers' social movement participation, their awareness of social issues, their networks, and their ability to overcome obstacles, but little effect on activism support. / Ph. D.

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

自1990年代中起國大陸經濟發展欣欣向榮之際，城市治理議題則圍繞在國家如何平抑發展中可能的基層動亂。本研究選取中國大陸經濟發展前沿城市的上海基層社區--居民委員會選舉作為觀察主題，直接選舉的推動是否會影響社區政治中黨國的單一獨斷？學習效果(learning effects)的理論預設是，隨著選舉演練次數和民眾政治參與的增加，會引發「批判公民」(critical citizens)意識的興起。這樣的理論預設是否能在上海基層選舉中看到？ 本研究觀察2003年到2012年的居委會換屆選舉。發現近年來，社區民眾對黨國的挑戰並未因為選舉限制的不斷增強而退卻，反之，民眾會利用選舉過程來挑戰官方威權或是作為社區事務發聲的管道。社區民眾如何在嚴酷的制度環境中發起對當權者的政治挑戰？本文將從居委會選舉中的選舉競爭，分析民眾挑戰執政當權所使用的資源稟賦。最後，通過基層競選觀察獲得的啟發是，民眾權利意識的提升，使得黨國忠誠不再凌駕一切。開放直接選舉的制度效果，如現代化理論所昭示的，存在學習效應並且在中產階級社區最為明顯。 / Undergoing the dramatic development of economic and social change in China, local governments pay great strength on the issue of governance for preventing any potential contentious activities. Facing the challenges of local governance, the Chinese governments adopt “Direct elections" for reducing the tension between state and society. In Urban city, direct elections as an important political reform, have been initiated in Residential Committee. Under the CCP party-state system, the local elections have been under severe surveillance. The negative result sharply deduces citizens’ political efficacy, especially on the manner of the participating in voting and political confidence towards local governments. However, in recent years, we observed that some Residential Committees in Shanghai experienced electoral competitions. In these cases, citizens organized the campaign to challenge the authority. The main questions are below: why Chinese people challenge the local authority? And how do they mobilize the campaign? Finally, how should we evaluate these political subjects? Based on these experiences, I conclude that the social-economical development may bring positive consequences on Chinese political reform.

This Diploma Thesis focuses on the issue of reproduction of animals and the non- profit organisations and subjects working in this field. The cat and dog reproduction is a primary cause of their overpopulation in the Czech Republic which becomes an ever- increasing issue as the abandoned animal shelter network fails to provide enough capacity for local demand. The thesis is focused on the activities of such organisations and tools they use for mobilising the necessary resources as well as the issue of animal reproduction itself. The theory basis is in the general theory of resource mobilisation supported with the explanation of the civil initiatives dedicated to this phenomenon as well as the overview of the phenomenon of the animal reproduction as well. The thesis is composed of five qualitative interviews with organisations or movements that are dedicated to effective reduction of animal reproduction. The empiric part of the thesis presents selected organisations and then analyses the collected data. The financial and human resources are mostly utilised by organisations which physically treat animals and the majority of the funds is consumed by providing care for them. On the other hand, organisations dedicated to enlightenment and education are able to function as self-funded and self-organised...

本研究從廣義的社區傳播觀點出發，探討傳統社會結構限制下的社區已婚女性，如何展現她們的能動性從家庭「走出來」，並且成為社區大學和在地社區產生連結的中介角色。在已婚女性的個人能動性方面，研究者發現根據女性所擁有的資源差異，會影響她們自我定位協商的方式。其中自主性內隱的女性，使用了「以退為進」的戰術，有意識或無意識地鬆動了傳統「賢妻良母」的自我定位。而在女性發揮能動性的過程裡，她們也展現出一種默會知識樣貌──同理心和禮物經濟。這些默會知識的運用，使她們得以在家庭和社大的場域，扮演橋樑般的角色，在情感層面上建立起對班級、社大與社區的集體認同，以及可被用於即時動員的人際網絡。而她們也會以自己的知識經驗為基礎，將社大的理念轉化為她們所認可的具體行動。 / The idea of "Community Communication" is not limited to the use of community media. In a broader perspective, interpersonal communication in everyday life should also be identified as a sphere of community communication. Therefore my research focused on the interpersonal communication of four married women who took courses in Chi-Mei Community University. From their cases, the agency of married women who lived under traditional social restraints was distinctively uncovered. As long as these female students found their own way out of domestic life, they voluntarily became mediators in community communication. They helped Chi-Mei staff not only in running courses more smoothly but also in building rapport with local inhabitants successfully. All these female students identified themselves with the roles of "wives and mothers." However, based on the different resources they acquired, they developed various tactics in the re-negotiation of self-identities during the post-parental period. In one case where the husband had more power over his wife, the wife swiftly came up with strategic approaches that instead helped her gain the advantages over her husband (sometimes even without his knowing it). With this kind of wit cultivated from daily communications, while studying in Chi-Mei Community University, these married women even foster certain tacit knowledge which can be defined as "empathy" and "gift economy". By making use of tacit knowledge, these women translated the concepts advocated by Chi-Mei staff into real actions. And they were able to mobilize their family members and friends in taking these actions as well. Yet they did not associate their voluntary contributions with the abstract concepts, but attributed the actions to their sense of belongings as a community with Chi-Mei and the people whom they admired. These female students actually underestimated their importance in community mobilization. In fact, after Typhoon Morakot seriously damaged southern Taiwan in August 2009, the community networks fostered by women’s interpersonal communication played crucial roles in delivering materials to those victims in need. This was a good example of how the loosely connected networks could be activated at some critical moment while community mobilization is urgently required.