The Sociology Department at UCSB has been at the forefront of research and graduate training in social movements and collective action for more than four decades.  Richard Flacks’ foundational work on student, New Left, and labor movements established the department as a magnet for scholars and students interested in social movements, political protest, and revolution.  Our faculty are among the leading scholars in the field with strong national and international reputations and expertise in a wide range of U.S. social movements, including the civil rights, women’s, reproductive justice, LGBTQ, Black Lives Matter, environmental justice, and health movements, as well as in transnational and revolutionary movements in the Global South and Middle East.  The faculty’s empirical research and theoretical writings have made path-breaking contributions to central theoretical questions in the study of collective action, to the literature on gender and social movements, and to intersectional and Marxist approaches to social movements.  The study of social movements at UCSB thrives through a longstanding interdisciplinary workshop that regularly convenes faculty and graduate students.

Working Group Schedule (PDF)

Faculty:

• Jean Beaman
• Richard Flacks Emeritus
• John Foran
• William Robinson
• Beth Schneider Emerita
• Verta Taylor
• Howard Winant Emeritus

Relevant Links:

• American Sociological Association Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements
• American Sociological Association Section on Labor and Labor Movements
• Jo Freeman on Social Movements
• Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change
• Social Movements, Protest, and Contention Series
• Mobilization