1. How many logics of collective action?
- Author
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Roy, William G. and Parker-Gwin, Rachel
- Subjects
CAPITALISM ,SOCIOLOGISTS ,SOCIAL movements ,SOCIOLOGY - Abstract
Sociologists Claus Offe and Hans Wiesenthal in a widely-cited and influential paper, theorize that capitalists and workers have inherently different logics of collective action that give capitalists a decided advantage over workers in organizing to make claims on other groups and on the state in particular. Because workers necessarily face capitalists as individuals who sell their labor power, it is difficult for them to identify their common interests and act in concert. Offe and Wiesenthal reason that capitalists, however, share unambiguous common interests that can be collectively pursued with relatively little cost to any particular capitalist. This article contrasts Offe and Wiesenthal's structural class theory with a historical view rooted in social movement theory. By the logic of collective action, we mean relationships among interests, identities, and organization found in the processes by which groups make claims on each other for rights, resources, and recognition.
- Published
- 1999
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