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Abstract This paper compares political activists from four community protest organizations, formed in response to the March 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. Using survey data, newsletters, and fieldwork, we document the existence of two separate paths to protest involvement. In two communities, recruitment was less likely to occur along the lines of established social networks. Instead, utilitarian alliances grounded on shared grievances were constructed. A second distinct path accounted for activism in two larger communities where many of the activists reported previous protest experience. In these communities, existing friendship networks were utilized. Two years after the accident, significant network and ideological differences between the groups persisted. We suggest that analysts work to specify the conditions for different paths to activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study employs a resource mobilization model to explain racial differences in congregation based political activism. The fewer resources (i.e., members, income, clergy leadership, civic ties) that black congregations possess relative to white congregations largely accounts for racial differences in congregation-based lobbying and protest politics -- forms of political activism that exact relatively high resource costs upon political activists. That is, black congregations become more heavily involved than white congregations in lobbying and protest politics when they have a resource capacity similar to that of white congregations. Despite their relatively few resources, black congregations are, on average, more likely than are white congregations to involve themselves in voter registration efforts. This finding has much to do with the heightened socialpolitical expectations of African American congregants concomitant with the relatively low resource cost of voter registration programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the consequences of social movement participation for late 1960s and early 1970s activists, most of whom participated in the antiwar, student, and civil rights protests. After providing an explanatory framework for understanding how social movement participation might have continuing influence across a number of social realms, the article tests whether run-of-the-mill participation in the antiwar and student protests of the late 1960s had an impact. Social movement organizations recruit adherents who are, to some degree, ideologically aligned with the goals of the movement. However, the relationship between constituents' orientations and movement participation is not unidirectional. Social movements attempt to attract like-minded individuals, while trying to change the preferences of adherents and bystanders to more closely conform with those of the organization. A considerable body of literature has developed around the consequences of participation in social movements. After proposing a framework for explaining the consequences of activism, the article focus on four areas of social life that might be influenced by protest participation: politics, status attainment, religion, and family.

This study reports on long-range consequences of student political activism. Three groups were selected: (1) former civil rights activists, (2) student government members, and (3) apolitical undergraduates. It was hypothesized that variation in political activism would be linked with differing occupations and political orientations. Former civil rights activists are heavily concentrated in the knowledge and human service occupations and are politically radical to liberal in their attitudes and behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]