Collective Action with Uncertain Payoffs: Coordination, Public Signals, and Punishment Dilemmas

2011 ◽  
Vol 105 (4) ◽  
pp. 829-851 ◽  
Author(s):  
MEHDI SHADMEHR ◽  
DAN BERNHARDT
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Accurate Information ◽  
Public Signals ◽  
The Status ◽  
Uncertain Payoffs ◽  
Payoff Uncertainty

How can one analyze collective action in protests or revolutions when individuals are uncertain about the relative payoffs of the status quo and revolution? We model a “calculus of protest” of individuals who must either submit to the status quo or support revolt based only on personal information about their payoffs. In deciding whether to revolt, the citizen must infer both the benefit of successful revolution and the likely actions of other citizens. We characterize conditions under which payoff uncertainty overturns conventional wisdom: (a) when a citizen is too willing to revolt, he reduces the incentives of others to revolt; (b) less accurate information about the value of revolution can make revolt more likely; (c) public signals from other citizens can reduce the likelihood of revolt; (d) harsher punishment can increase the incidence of punishment; and (e) the incidence of protest can be positively correlated with that of repression.

scholarly journals Missing in (Collective) Action

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
John T. Jost ◽  
Julia Becker ◽  
Danny Osborne ◽  
Vivienne Badaan
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
System Justification ◽  
Social Identification ◽  
Moral Outrage ◽  
Perceived Injustice ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
Group Efficacy ◽  
The Status ◽  
Psychological Models

Social-psychological models of collective action emphasize three antecedents of protest: (a) anger at perceived injustice, (b) social identification, and (c) beliefs about group efficacy. These models are extremely useful but have rarely incorporated ideological factors—despite the fact that protests occur in societal contexts in which some people are motivated to defend and bolster the status quo whereas others are motivated to challenge and oppose it. We adopt a system-justification perspective to specify when individuals and groups will—and will not—experience moral outrage and whether such outrage will be directed at defenders versus critics of the status quo. We describe evidence that epistemic, existential, and relational needs for certainty, security, and affiliation undermine support for system-challenging protests by increasing system-defensive motivation. We also discuss system-based emotions and backlash against protestors and propose an integrated model of collective action that paves the way for more comprehensive research on the psychological antecedents of social change.

Upending the status quo: Power-sharing and community building in Schitt’s Creek

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-161
Author(s):  
Katharine Schaab
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Community Building ◽  
Wealth Inequality ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Rural Town ◽  
The World ◽  
The Status ◽  
Unequal Access

In the CBC sitcom Schitt’s Creek, a family adjusts to living in a small, rural town after losing their fortune. While Schitt’s Creek embraces the ‘fish out of water’ trope, the series explores a community’s efforts to build equity and empathy across difference. This article argues characters undergo a philosophical shift – from understanding power as an all-or-nothing proposition to an approach that values multiple perspectives and just collective action. Noting the severity of wealth inequality and unequal access to resources around the world, the series shows possibilities for growth and recovery when the status quo has been upended.

Investigating Postmodern Politics in the Philippines Using Reflexivity Theory

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-102
Author(s):  
Antonio P. Contreras
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Nation State ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Political Communities

A usual reading of postmodern critiques of science, progress, and the nation-state, has casted postmodernism as pessimistic, if not apolitical. In fact, it is even read as conservative, as it unintentionally enables a continuation of the status quo by its privileging of local forms of resistance, even as it is critical of grand narratives of resistance. While the privileging of micro-politics in everyday forms of resistance may enable freedom of and subversive acts by individuals, the need for more collective forms of action remains a challenge. This article offers the theory of reflexivity as a template to imagine the possibility of collective action being enabled by postmodern politics. In contrast to the relatively random, unorganized, and individualized form of micro-politics which post-modern theorists argue for, reflexivity theory allows for more organized, coordinated collective action, albeit in domains that are outside of the traditional confines of statist politics, taking advantage of postmodern venues, such as cyberspace. This essay will inquire into the applicability and implications of the theory of reflexivity in the Philippines, particularly on the transformation of random, individualized interventions in social networking sites into becoming a foundation for “cyber-collective action”, thereby enabling the creation of new political communities and citizenship in cyberspace.

scholarly journals Access to Environmental Cognitive Alternatives Predicts Pro-Environmental Activist Behavior

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua D. Wright ◽  
Michael T. Schmitt ◽  
Caroline Mei Li Mackay
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Identity ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Environmental Identity ◽  
Environmental Status ◽  
The Status ◽  
Canadian Survey ◽  
Willingness To Engage

We extend social identity models of pro-environmental collective action by expanding on the plausible role of access to cognitive alternatives to the environmental status quo (i.e., the ability of people to imagine what a sustainable relationship with nature would look like). Using a representative Canadian survey on age, gender, and ethnicity (N = 1029) we evaluate the associations between access to environmental cognitive alternatives and politicized environmental identity and willingness to engage in pro-environmental activist behavior. Additionally, we extend research using exclusively self-reported outcomes by giving participants the opportunity to write and sign a pro-environmental letter to the Canadian Minister of the Environment and Climate Change. Our results suggest that envisioning specific ways in which the status quo can be changed is associated with stronger politicized environmental identity, greater willingness to engage in pro-environmental activist behavior, and increased likelihood of writing and signing a pro-environmental letter to the Canadian Minister of the Environment and Climate Change. All methods and analyses follow our preregistration (https://osf.io/b56ry) and all materials and data are openly available (https://osf.io/24yeq/).

New Heroines in Old Skins: Fairy Tale Revisions in Young Adult Dystopian Literature

2020 ◽  
pp. 95-108
Author(s):  
Jill Coste
Keyword(s):  
Young Adult ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Young Women ◽  
Fairy Tales ◽  
Fairy Tale ◽  
Social Activism ◽  
Sleeping Beauty ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Dystopian Literature ◽  
The Status

This chapter examines three Sleeping Beauty retellings to illustrate the way dystopian scenarios complicate traditional fairy tale tropes. Dystopian literature and fairy tale retellings often feature elements of embodiment, romance, and political activism, and this chapter uses these key notions to consider how the dystopian fairy tale deploys feminist empowerment. While YA dystopian fairy tales often highlight collective action and social activism to resist the status quo, others reproduce troubling representations of passive heroines. This chapter argues that the dystopian YA fairy tale is uniquely primed to address the potential and power of contemporary young women.

Grievances and Opportunities: Religious Violence across Political Regimes

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 684-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Muchlinski
Keyword(s):  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Religious Violence ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
National Data ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
The Status ◽  
Religious Actors ◽  
Cross National

AbstractStudies of religious violence have established that when states restrict religious freedom, the probability of religious violence increases. Conventional wisdom holds that religious violence is primarily a result of religious grievances. When religious groups are denied religious freedom, they seek to revise the status quo in their favor though the use of violence. This study challenges this narrative. It finds, rather than being caused only by grievances, religious violence is also fueled by moments of opportunity. Utilizing cross-national data for the years 2008 and 2001–2005, it is found that religious violence occurs most frequently in anocratic regimes marked by weak and decaying state institutions. Hence, the current narrative is incomplete. Studies analyzing religious violence need to consider how various regimes provide or stifle the opportunity for religious actors to engage in violence as well as how those regimes fuel religious violence through restricting religious freedom and increasing religious grievances.

scholarly journals Predicting Collective Action in a Secessionist Context: Different Motives for Two Opposed Stances

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcos Dono ◽  
Monica Alzate ◽  
José-Manuel Sabucedo
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Excellent Opportunity ◽  
The Status

Engagement in collective action is essential in the scenario of a secessionist struggle. In this scenario, two groups contend for an incompatible goal and one of them is favoured by the current status quo. Therefore, this context represents an excellent opportunity to compare the motives for participation among two groups whose situation and objectives differ drastically. We examined the motivations to participate in collective action of Catalan participants in the days leading to the independence referendum held in Catalonia (Spain) on the first of October 2017 (n = 719). As hypothesized, participation predicted by different motivations for each group. Regarding participation in the referendum, Catalan identity was the only predictor among pro-independence ranks, while those against independence showed a solidarity-based motivation. This work contributes to the literature by adapting previously researched collective action motivations to the context of a secessionist contention and providing evidence of their effect. Crucially, the motivations are different between supporters and opponents of independence, highlighting the need for examining the status and the stance on the system of groups when studying collective action.

scholarly journals Personal values about change and status quo influence outsiders' appraisals of intergroup conflict

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander K Saeri ◽  
Aarti Iyer ◽  
Winnifred R Louis
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Social Dominance Orientation ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Intergroup Conflict ◽  
High Status ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
Political Ideologies ◽  
The Status ◽  
First Time

In three studies, we build on Schwartz’s (1992, 1994) work on universal values to explore the content and structure of individuals’ change and status quo values, to distinguish these values from other political ideologies and orientations, and to investigate the role of these values in shaping appraisals of intergroup conflict and collective action. In Study 1, we investigated the themes that underpin beliefs about change and the status quo. In Study 2, we created and validated separate measures to assess endorsement of change and status quo values, and show that they are distinct from related ideologies such as Social Dominance Orientation and Right-Wing Authoritarianism. Study 3 demonstrated that change values—but not status quo values—influence the contextual appraisals that outsiders make when they encounter a hypothetical group conflict for the first time. Endorsing change leads to appraisals of the conflict that are supportive of a low-status citizen protestor group, and increases collective action intentions on behalf of this group. In addition, endorsing change leads to appraisals that are not supportive of a high-status government group in conflict, and decreases collective action intentions on behalf of this group.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document