This dissertation is an account of conservative social movement activism. Conservative political projects are characterized by advocacy of market-centric state policies. Conservative social movement activism is one variety of conservative politics distinguishable by the focus on the inclusion of more voices in democratic institutions. As a subject of academic research contentious politics in general and social movements in particular have spawned far-reaching and well-developed dialogue (see edited volumes by Aminzade et al. 2001; Leitner, Peck and Sheppard 2007; McAdam, McCarthy and Zald 1996a). Social scientists from the disciplines of Political Science, Sociology, History, Anthropology and Geography all contribute a wide array of theoretical constructs and methodological applications for a truly multi-disciplinary discussion on the topic. Noticeably underrepresented in this corpus of work is attention to conservative contentious politics. What follows is a case study of Tea Party activism as a variety of conservative contentious politics. This study approaches the role of Tea Party activism during the 2010 election cycle in what is arguable the height of Tea Party influence in United States' politics. One of the locations where the influence of Tea Party activism was most evident is Tennessee. The question at the center of this project is how did Tea Party activism during the 2010 election cycle shape scalar politics in the Tennessee Republican gubernatorial primary? By applying MacKinnon's (2011) scalar politics to public speeches made by the Republican candidates for governor in Tennessee, I find that Tea Party activism effectively increased the scale of movement participants' influence in state politics. I conclude the candidates made normal the role of Tea Party activism in campaigning for public office in Tennessee. The implications of this study point to new fields of inquiry into contentious politics specific to electoral politics. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Geography in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor
of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2014. / April 4, 2014. / Contentious Politics, Electoral Politics, Social Movements / Includes bibliographical references. / Joseph Pierce, Professor Directing Dissertation; Davis Houck, University Representative; Victor Mesev, Committee Member; Christopher Uejio, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_254489 |
| Contributors | Quinton, Nicholas (authoraut), Pierce, Joseph (professor directing dissertation), Houck, Davis (university representative), Mesev, Victor (committee member), Uejio, Christopher (committee member), Department of Geography (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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