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By combining the latest knowledge from cultural sociology and social network theories, a hypothesis is posed regarding the association between cultural consumption and social capital mobilization. On the classic example of looking for work, an assumption was made that persons who prefer or engage in a larger number of cultural forms (the so‐called omnivores) have greater chances to find work through social contacts than through any other methods or may count on social support when looking for job, and this relationship is stronger for non‐family than for family ties. These arguments are tested with the use of survey data collected in Poland in 2017 on a locally representative sample of adult residents aged 18–75. The results support the hypotheses and additionally show that people with different cultural profiles differ in their capacity to access and mobilize social resources. While participation in both highbrow and popular culture is efficacious, not all forms of the popular one are positively related to social resources. The article is closed with some concluding remarks, limitations of the study, and guidelines for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identity capital entails the use of identity as an asset in achieving a set goal. It demonstrates a wider in-group identity spurred by social resource mobilization, identity cohesion, and social development. This article queries why identity is used as a capital to advance Biafra activism in Southeast Nigeria. Identity capital theorizes the adoption of Biafra identity as an asset to create in-group identification to foster social cohesion for the advancement of Biafra agitation. Using a secondary source of data collection and content analysis, this study reveals that Biafra identity is used to sustain Biafra activism among the Igbo in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: although the oral polio vaccine prevents virus transmission from person to person, it is crucial for poliovirus eradication. The continued use of live attenuated poliovirus poses an ongoing risk of circulating Vaccine Derived Poliovirus-2 (cVDPV2) outbreaks. This study assesses the response to the cVDPV2 outbreak in Dollo Zone, Somali Region, Ethiopia. Methods: after examining and verifying the occurrence of the outbreak, a team was established and prepared by resource mobilization, advocacy, and social mobilization. The group endorsed a four-step vaccination strategy, first the rapid response within 14-days by vaccinating a monovalent oral poliovirus-2 (mOPV2) to all under 5-year children in the Zone. The team further enhanced Supplementary Immunization Activities (SIA) for all under-five children with repeated doses of vaccines. At the same time, the team initiated community-based surveillance of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP). Results: in the rapid-response immunization, an average of 91.4% of 0-11 months old and 90.2% of 12-59 months children were vaccinated. In SIA-1, the team vaccinated an average of 88% and 97%, and in SIA-2, 94.8% and 97.6% of children 0-11 months old and 12-59 months old, respectively. The active community-based surveillance of AFP revealed the existence of the disease in a sporadic form, of which two cases were found in Bokh district. Conclusion: the response to curb the outbreak of cVDPV2 has shown a flow of actions to combat the outbreak. Strengthening and formation of response teams at different levels, resource mobilization, advocacy, and social mobilization are all essential components in maximizing the response to the outbreak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accumulating resources for mass action in francophone West Africa involves seeking financial, media, and popular backing. Many prominent social movements have succeeded in finding the necessary resources for their activism, but they often face apprehensions concerning the legitimacy and origin of their resources. Focusing on the Y'en a marre movement in Senegal, this article argues that resource mobilization presents several challenges for francophone African activists, some of which can delegitimize their struggles for social change and expose them to governmental surveillance and repression. The article primarily explores the benefit and inconvenience of traditional and social media for mass action. It examines the evolution of Senegalese youth engagement in social change and the origin of the financial resources of Y'en a marre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The period following the social mobilizations of 2011 has seen a renewed focus on the place of communication in collective action, linked to the increasing importance of digital communications. Framed in terms of personalized ‘connective action’ or the social morphology of networks, these analyses have criticized previously dominant models of ‘collective identity’, arguing that collective action needs to be understood as ‘digital networking’. These influential approaches have been significantly constructed as a response to models of communication and action evident in the rise of Independent Media Centres in the period following 1999. After considering the rise of the ‘digital networking’ paradigm linked to analyses of Indymedia, this article considers the emergence of the internet-based collaboration known as Anonymous, focusing on its origins on the 4chan manga site and its 2008 campaign against Scientology, and also considers the ‘I am the 99%’ microblog that emerged as part of the Occupy movement. The emergence of Anonymous highlights dimensions of digital culture such as the ephemeral, the importance of memes, an ethic oflulz, the mask and the grotesque. These forms of communication are discussed in the light of dominant attempts to shape digital space in terms of radical transparency, the knowable and the calculable. It is argued that these contrasting approaches may amount to opposing social models of an emerging information society, and that the analysis of contemporary conflicts and mobilizations needs to be alert to novel forms of communicative practice at work in digital cultures today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how social media acted as a catalyst for protest mobilization during the Tunisian revolution in late 2010 and early 2011. Using evidence from protests we argue that social media acted as an important resource for popular mobilization against the Ben Ali regime. Drawing on insights from “resource mobilization theory”, we show that social media (1) allowed a “digital elite” to break the national media blackout through brokering information for mainstream media; (2) provided a basis for intergroup collaboration for a large “cycle of protest”; (3) reported event magnitudes that raised the perception of success for potential free riders, and (4) provided additional “emotional mobilization” through depicting the worst atrocities associated with the regime's response to the protests. These findings are based on background talks with Tunisian bloggers and digital activists and a revealed preference survey conducted among a sample of Tunisian internet users (February–May 2012). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Much research on online activism has shown that the Internet enhances social mobilisation by lowering the costs of information, mobilisation, and participation. The Internet thus facilitates the rise of citizen self-mobilisation (CSM) – organisation of and mobilisation for collective actions by ordinary citizens unaffiliated with social and political groups. However, the rise of CSM does not render social movement organisations (SMOs) irrelevant to protest movements. Rather, many collective action campaigns in contemporary societies are constituted by the dynamic combination of CSM efforts and SMO-based mobilisation processes. This study conceptualises the complementary relationship between CSM and SMO from a resource mobilisation perspective. It then illustrates, through two environmental collective actions in Hong Kong, how Internet-based CSM and SMO-based processes may interact with each other to drive the evolution of collective action campaigns, and adds to current understanding of the impact of emerging online mobilisation phenomena on existing movement organisations and industries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study presents findings from the Resource Generator-US, a new instrument used to identify accessible resources necessary to build social capital among the urban poor. To evaluate policy assumptions about the capacity of religious congregations to fill gaps left by public programs, members (N=120) of two urban churches in a Midwestern Rust Belt city were surveyed to understand resource access, personal resource possession, and resource mobilization patterns. Findings indicated that both congregations had access to a diversity of resources. The study demonstrated that urban congregations are important repositories of resources and resources vary even in proximal congregations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this paper are to map strategies for resource mobilization of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in different sectors in heavily aid-dependent Cambodia and analyse the past and future trends of each of the evolving strategies. The data used is the product of a national survey revealing NGOs' key funding sources and trends in a 10-year period from 2006 to 2016. Foreign grants and donations are still dominant, but one out of five NGOs surveyed engage in earned-income activities, and this trend is expected to increase in the next 5 years. This study contributes to the on-going academic and development debate about the struggles non-profit organizations face and the ensuing strategies for mobilizing funding. It also raises questions about the potential effects of different strategies for resource mobilization, social and ethical dilemmas, and the trade-off between different choices of funding resulting in a diversification strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facebook-enabled resource mobilization attempts—broadcasted status updates in which people ask questions or request information, favors, or other forms of assistance from one’s network—can provide insight into social capital dynamics as they unfold on Facebook. Specifically, these requests and the responses they receive can serve as a window into how, why, and with what results individuals turn to their Friends network for help. In this study, we synthesize the existing research on resource mobilization requests via Facebook and present new analyses of survey data collected from a random sample of Facebook users who have made any post in the past 28 days (n = 573) and a sample of those who have posted a mobilization request in the past 28 days (n = 1074). To identify mobilization requests, an automated classifier trained on a hand-labeled sample of public status updates was used. Using participants’ self-reported survey data and server-level behavioral data, we examine how mobilization request behaviors relate to perceptions of bridging and bonding social capital, participants’ perceptions of Facebook’s utility regarding these requests, and related variables such as engagement in Facebook Relational Maintenance Behaviors. We find that those who post mobilization requests on Facebook report higher social capital, are more likely to try to respond to Friends’ expressed needs, and tend to see the site as a better source of information, coordination, and networked communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2009, the Collective Apostasy Campaign in Argentina has mobilized some people who are opposed to the political interference of the Catholic Church through the formal act of apostatizing. The politicization of sexual and reproductive rights, and, especially, the fight for the legalization of abortion, led to the campaign that acquired great public repercussions between 2018 and 2020. This paper analyzes 13 self-narratives of apostasy publicly available since 2009, digging into its plot, motives to apostatize, and motivation for its publicizing. Through a thematic analysis, the diverse self-narratives show similar motivations (to promote social debate on political secularization in the country), although they differ in the centrality of their personal, sociopolitical, and procedural motives to apostatize. The stories that apostates tell are resources for social mobilization as they seek an increasingly broad audience and serve the pedagogical function of sharing arguments against the political role of the Catholic Church and in favor of personal ideological coherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a pen picture about the changes of livelihood patterns to the char people, mostly living under poverty in Bangladesh. The study was conducted on the three Northern Districts such as Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat and Pabna in Bangladesh, where the Char Resources Mobilization project was provided by an international non-government organization-Concern Worldwide Bangladesh. The study used mixed method approach where quantitative data were collected from 378 households (126 from each District) using structured interview schedule. A number of qualitative data collection methods such as focus group discussion, participant observation, community mapping, case study, and key informants interview guidelines were used to collect data about the conditions of the Char people in terms of understanding its connection with their livelihoods and socio-economic consequences. This study compares the changes with influential factors with a baseline survey conducted in 2007. Findings showed that there were a number of areas such as education, income, family assets and properties, annual household income, employment, savings, improving market chain, food intake and food security, presence of governmental and non-governmental organizations' services and awareness about disaster and vulnerability and coping strategies were found positive. The study also observed some negative changes on assets base and livelihood options. The paper argues that the findings on these changes will help to formulate policy on poverty alleviation for the government and non-government authorities who implement the similar type of programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is potential for nonprofit organizations to increase effectiveness by mobilizing social media to help achieve goals. However, the sector is only just becoming aware of the possibilities for social media and lags behind other sectors in its use. We report a New Zealand initiative to enhance the capability of nonprofit organizations through action research that has implications for nonprofit organizations elsewhere. Borrowing from resource mobilization theory, we introduce the concept of resource mobilization chains to explain the requirements for and obstacles to taking advantage of social media. A survey and two in-depth case studies found that nonprofit organizations demonstrated extremely limited familiarity with and use of social media. Participants were enthusiastic about the potential of mobilizing social media to achieve organizational goals, but struggled to take concrete steps to implement their aspirations. Lack of resources was a key obstacle identified in both survey and case study research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The scale of labor and resource organization required for stele production reflects the scale of the social organization of the people involved in the process. • The scale of labor organization, time, and resource investment for stele production varies by site function. • Stelae used as burial markers required smaller-scale social energy investment compared to stele monuments built for other purposes. • The scale of social labor mobilization and resource organization for stele construction declined over time. By analyzing the materiality of stele monuments and associated material remains, this article sheds light on the scale of social labor investment and past social practices behind stelae construction in the Gedeo zone, south Ethiopia. Existing archaeological data suggest that the Gedeo stele landscapes represent one of the earliest megalithic stele traditions in Ethiopia. Diverse social and ritual practices led to the materialization and ritualization of distinct forms and sizes of stele monuments in the region at various times and scales. Investigating the stelae construction processes and the disposition of stele in a site permits one to understand some of the social practices and processes that led to the creation of the Gedeo megalithic stelae landscape, and to make inferences about the significance of the monuments. By analyzing the physical properties of stelae carving, transport, and emplacement and the distance from quarries to a stele site, the study estimates the scale of social energy investment in stelae construction. Findings indicate that the scale of labor organization, and the time and resource investment for stelae construction vary by site function and change over time. Generally, stelae used as a burial marker required smaller-scale social energy investment compared to stelae built for other purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article details how the fund-raising efforts of Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference in the wake of the 1963 Birmingham protests transformed the finances of the SCLC. Having struggled to sustain itself prior to 1963, the SCLC experienced a massive influx of donations. Contributions were sparked by outrage at police brutality in Birmingham but the impulse to give had to be systematically channeled to optimize the windfall: rallies, newspaper appeals and direct mail generated funds. Based on new archival research, this article presents an analysis of the timing of donations which shows that donations peak over a month after the media coverage of the children’s marches in Birmingham because it took time to organize the public events that encouraged giving. The article also offers the first analysis of the geographical distribution of donations, demonstrating the primacy of New York and California as sources for SCLC funds. By examining the fund-raising events in different cities, the ability of the SCLC to tap into church networks, union supporters, and Jewish American groups of sympathizers is confirmed. At the same time, it becomes clear that support is selective: not all black churches or all unions gave. The SCLC had to work hard to secure church donations and even within liberal unions such as the UAW, donations came primarily from local branches that had mainly African American members. Jewish donations tended to be from individuals rather than institutions. The article points out that the loss of administrative staff over the course of 1963 weakened efforts to professionalize fund-raising, leaving the SCLC highly reliant on individual donations triggered by headline-grabbing public clashes. The protest style of Birmingham was thus integral to the SCLC’s future approach to both the pursuit of federal action and its own financial survival. At the same time, the article links its discussion of the surge of donations to the SCLC to demonstrate that the pattern of resource mobilization evident in relation to the civil rights movement in the summer of 1963 was distinctive. It marked a level of movement development that was different from that evident earlier and the volatility of support in subsequent years suggests that the emphasis on continuity within the new scholarship of the “long civil rights movement” is mistaken. The breadth of appeal of the civil rights movement in the summer of 1963 made it different in character as well as composition from the March on Washington Movement of 1940 or the movements that supported Black Power goals in the early 1970s. While the freedom struggle was long and continues, the movement of the Sixties was distinctive and protean. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Many social movement researchers question the usefulness of political opportunity as a concept. However, others argue that it can be refined by disaggregating different opportunities for actors and outcomes to understand the underlying mechanisms that influence each. This research extends this analysis by asking "political opportunity for whom?" Looking at Canadian Aboriginal mobilization, it assesses how different opportunities influence a broad range of movement actors and organizations. Using data from a 50-year period it assesses how contemporaneous, lagged and change regression modeling of opportunities affect results. The article finds that structural opportunities around resources robustly influence a wide range of mobilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

User-led disability organizations have emerged as an important force in the non-profit sector. While much is known about the traditional disability organizations that began to proliferate in the 1950s (e.g. National Institute for the Blind), relatively less is known about the user-led organizations that emerged in the 1970s. Using a collective case study approach, phase 1 was a policy review and key informant interviews with members of user-led and traditional organizations and government. Phase 2 surveyed affiliates of user-led organizations. Phase 3 integrated the findings from phases 1 and 2. Major themes were that user-led organizations: reflected a new paradigm and gave voice to people with disabilities; had a unique role in systemic advocacy and shaping policy; that leadership is critical but in need of rejuvenation; had links with other organizations which provide a collective voice, solidarity and hope; had diverse strategies for local resource mobilization; had financial support from government which was both constrained and mobilized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "action theory" of Alain Touraine and Manuel Castells' theory of urban movements together constitute a social movement paradigm which differs significantly from both the traditional collective behavior explanation and the newer resource mobilization model. In this paper, the Touraine-Castells perspective is contrasted to the existing approaches with relation to social movement causes, characteristics, and outcomes. It is argued that the work of this "French School" represents a partial realization of Traugott's (1978) attempt to reconceptualize social movements as distinct phenomena integrally linked to the analysis of social change outside institutional channels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For over two decades, resources have been assumed to be a fundamental determinant of the course and character of social movement organizations (SMOs) and their activities. Yet surprisingly little research evaluates this taken-for-granted assumption. Using data from ethnographic fieldwork on 15 homeless SMOs in eight U.S. cities, we construct an empirically grounded typology of resources and assess the combinations of resources necessary for the viability of homeless SMOs. We then examine the sources of support for these organizations, highlighting the influence of benefactor organizations on SMO viability and tactics. Employing qualitative comparative analysis, we identify three resource configurations among the viable SMOs and find that certain resource types contributed more than others to viability. Support from benefactors also ensured viability of these organizations without moderating their tactics. We explain the implications of these findings for understanding the roles that resources and sponsorship or patronage play in the careers of SMOs and the relevance of resources, sponsorship, and organization to social movements of the poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobilization of resources is a central concern among analysts of social movements. However, little research has focused on factors that influence the types and amounts of resources collective actors are able to mobilize. In this study, data from local social movement organizations opposing drinking and driving are used to assess the roles of agency (i.e., amount of effort), strategy, organizational structure, and nature of national affiliation in the mobilization of resources. Measures of agency consistently predict mobilization of volunteer labor, revenue, and membership. Strategy seems less important: An emphasis on victim services was positively related only to mobilization of members. Organizational structure, particularly the number of task committees, was consistently related to mobilization of volunteer labor, revenue, and membership. Affiliation with a highly visible and highly legitimated national organization. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), appears to have an energizing effect on local leaders while it dampens the effects of agency, strategy, and organizational structure. These results are interpreted within the distinctive political and cultural context of the movement against drinking and driving. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on the case of the Northern League in Italy, I provide a framework for systematically relating insights from two major currents of recent research on collective action: framing processes and political opportunity structures. Cross-classifying two variables — the stability of political alignments and the opportunities for autonomous action within the polity — yields four types of political structures; each is particularly conducive to different "master frames" (antisystem, inclusion, revitalization, and realignment). This approach also improves specification of the role of organizational resources. These resources become substantially more effective if the strategies they are supposed to support are framed in a way consistent with the master frame and the opportunity structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]