Skip to main content

Dramaturgy and Social Movements: The Social Construction and Communication of Power

  • Chapter

Part of the book series: Main Trends of the Modern World ((MTMW))

Abstract

The sociology of social movements currently lacks a conceptual framework to understand collective attempts to construct and reconstruct definitions of power. This defic-iency highlights a paradox. On the one hand, movement activists devote considerable time articulating their under-standing of power relations. Movement scholars, on the other hand, have generally neglected the processes by which these meanings are developed, sustained, and transformed.

Reprinted from Sociological Inquiry, vol. 62, no. 1 (February 1992), pp. 36–55.

An earlier version of this chapter was presented at the annual meetings of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, San Francisco, August 1989. We are indebted to Nicholas Babchuk, Jay Corzine, Bill Gamson, Tom Hood, Michael G. Lacy, Michelle Miller, Helen Moore, Dave Snow, Hugh Whitt, Mayer Zald and several anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and assistance with earlier drafts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   44.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Minsky, Saul D. (1971) Rules for Radicals; A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals ( New York: Random House).

    Google Scholar 

  • Almanac Singers (1947) Talking Union (Stormking Music Inc.)

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson W. A. and R. R. Dynes (1973) “Organizational and Political Transformation of a Social Movement: A Study of the 30th of May Movement in Curacao.” Social Forces vol. 51, pp. 330–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benford, Robert D. (1987) Framing Activity, Meaning and Social Movement Participation: The Nuclear Disarmament Movement unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Texas-Austin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benford, Robert D. and Louis A. Zurcher (1990) “Instrumental and Symbolic Competition Among Social Movement Organizations.” in Peace Movement Dynamics: Sociological Views, Sam Marullo and John Lofland (eds), ( New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger, Peter L. and Thomas Luckmann (1966) The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge ( New York: Doubleday).

    Google Scholar 

  • Blumer, Herbert (1969) Symbolic Interactionism ( Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Transaction).

    Google Scholar 

  • Brissett, Dennis and Charles Edgley (1990), (eds), Life as Theatre: A Dramaturgical Source Book, 2nd ( New York: Aldine de Gruyter).

    Google Scholar 

  • Burke, Kenneth (1945) A Grammar of Motives ( Berkeley: University of California Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Burke, Kenneth (1954) Permanence and Change: An Anatomy of Purpose ( Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill).

    Google Scholar 

  • Carmichael, Stokely and Charles V. Hamilton (1967) Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in America ( New York: Vintage Books).

    Google Scholar 

  • Coser, Lewis (1956) The Function of Social Conflict ( New York: Free Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Coser, Lewis (1969) “The Visibility of Evil,” Journal of Social Issues, vol. 25, pp. 101–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dellinger, Dave (1975) More Power Than We Know: The People’s Movement Toward Democracy ( Garden City, NY: Doubleday).

    Google Scholar 

  • Edelman, Murray (1964) The Symbolic Uses of Politics ( Chicago: University of Illinois Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Edelman, Murray (1971) Politics as Symbolic Action: Mass Arousal and Acquiescence ( Chicago: Markham Publishing).

    Google Scholar 

  • Fireman, Bruce and William H. Gamson (1979) “Utilitarian Logic in the Resource Mobilization Perspective,” in Mayer N. Zald and John D. McCarthy (eds), The Dynamics of Social Movements ( Cambridge, MA: Winthrop ).

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedan, Betty (1963) The Feminine Mystique ( New York: Dell).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gamson, William A. (1968) Power and Discontent ( Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gamson, William A., Bruce Fireman and Steven Rytina (1982) Encounter With Unjust Authority ( Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gamson, William A., and Andre Modigliani (1989) “Media Discourse and Public Opinion on Nuclear Power: A Constructionist Approach.” American Journal of Sociology, vol. 95, pp. 1–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaventa, John (1980) Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley. ( New York: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerlach, Luther P. and Virginia H. Hine (1970) People, Power, Change:Movement of Social Transformation ( Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gitlin, Todd (1980) The Whole World is Watching ( Berkeley: University of California Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Glaser, Barney G. and Anselm Strauss (1967) The Discovery of Grounded Theory ( Chicago: Aldine).

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, Erving (1955) “On Face-work: An Analysis of Ritual Elements in Social Interaction.” Psychiatry, vol. 18, pp. 213–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, Erving (1959) The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life ( Garden City, NY: Doubleday).

    Google Scholar 

  • Goffman, Erving (1974) Frame Analysis. An Essay on the Organization of Experience ( Boston: Northeastern University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gramsci, Antonio (1971) Selections from the Prison Notebooks of Antonio Gramsci, edited by A. Hoare and G. N. Smith ( New York: International Publishers).

    Google Scholar 

  • Gusfield, Joseph (1981) Drinking-Driving and the Symbolic Order ( Chicago: University of Chicago Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, Peter M. (1972) “A Symbolic Interactionist Analysis of Politics.” Sociological Inquiry, vol. 42, pp. 35–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hare, A. Paul (1985) Social Interaction as Drama: Applications From Conflict Resolution ( Beverly Hills: Sage).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hochschild, Arlie Russell (1979) “Emotion Work, Feeling Rules, and Social Structure.” American Journal of Sociology, vol. 85, pp. 551–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hochschild, Arlie Russell (1983) The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feelings ( Berkeley: University of California Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Holstein, James A. and Gale Miller (1990) “Rethinking Victimization: An Interaction Approach to Victimology.” Symbolic Interaction, vol. 13, pp. 103–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, Scott A. (1991a) Constructing Collective Identity in a Peace Movement Organization unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, Scott A. (1991b) “Critical Dramaturgy and Collective Rhetoric: Cognitive and Moral Order in the Communist Manifesto.” Perspectives on Social Problems, vol. 3, pp. 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins, J. Craig and Charles Perrow (1977) “Insurgency of the Powerless: Farm Worker Movements (1946–1972).” American Sociological Review, vol. 42, pp. 249–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klapp, Orrin E. (1962) Heroes, Villains, and Fools: The Changing American Character ( Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ladd, Anthony, Thomas C. Hood and Kent D. Van Liere (1983) “Ideological Themes in the Antinuclear Movement: Consensus and Diversity.” Sociological Inquiry, vol. 53, pp. 252–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lang, Kurt and Gladys Engel Lang (1961) Collective Dynamics ( New York: Thomas Y. Crowell).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lofland, John and Lyn H. Lofland (1984) Analyzing Social Settings: A Guide to Qualitative Observation and Analysis, 2nd ed ( Belmont, CA: Wadsworth).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lofland, Lyn H. (1985) “The Social Shaping of Emotion: The Case of Grief.” Symbolic Interaction, vol. 8, pp. 171–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lukes, Steven (1974) Power: A Radical View (London: MacMillan). Lukes, Steven (1986) Power ( New York: New York University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lukes, Steven (1986) Power ( New York: New York University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Marx, Gary T. (1974) “Thoughts on a Neglected Category of Social Movement Participation: The Agent Provocateur and the Informant.”American Journal of Sociology vol. 80, pp. 402–42.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marx, Gary T. (1979) “External Efforts to Damage or Facilitate Social Movements: Some Patterns, Explanations, and Complications.” in Mayer N. Zald and John D. McCarthy (eds), The Dynamics of Social Movements ( Cambridge, MA: Winthrop ).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mauss, Armand L. (1975) Social Problems as Social Movements ( Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott).

    Google Scholar 

  • McAdam, Doug (1982) Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency, 1930–1970 ( Chicago: University of Chicago Press ).

    Google Scholar 

  • McAdam, Doug (1983) “Tactical Innovation and the Pace of Insurgency.” American Sociological Review vol. 48, pp. 735–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McAdam, Doug, John D. McCarthy and Mayer N. Zald (1988) “Social Movements,” pp. 695–737 in Neil J. Smelser (ed.), Handbook of Sociology ( Newbury Park, CA: Sage ).

    Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy, John D. and Mayer N. Zald (1973) The Trend of Social Movements in America: Professionalization and Resource Mobilization ( Morristown, NJ: General Learning Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy, John D. and Mayer N. Zald (1977) “Resource Mobilization and Social Movement: A Partial Theory.” American Journal of Sociology, vol. 82, pp. 1212–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mead, George Herbert (1934) Mind, Self, and Society ( Chicago: University of Chicago Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Meier, August and Elliot Rudwick (1973) CORE: A Study in the Civil Rights Movement, 1942–1968 ( New York: Oxford University Press ).

    Google Scholar 

  • Mills, C. Wright (1940) “Situated Actions and Vocabularies of Motive.”American Sociological Review, vol. 5, pp. 404–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mills, C. Wright (1959) The Sociological Imagination ( London: Oxford University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Molotch, Harvey (1979) “Media and Movements.” in Mayer N. Zald and John D. McCarthy (eds), The Dynamics of Social Movements ( Cambridge, MA: Winthrop ).

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, Barrington (1978) Injustice: The Social Bases of Obedience and Revolt ( White Plains, NY: Sharpe).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Oliver, Pamela (1980) “Rewards and Punishments as Selective Incentives for Collective Action: Theoretical Investigations.” American Journal of Sociology, vol. 84, pp. 1356–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olson, Mancur, Jr (1965) The Logic of Collective Action Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Piven, Frances and Richard Cloward (1977) Poor People’s Movements: Why They Succeed and How They Fail ( New York: Pantheon).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rude, George (1980) Ideology and Popular Protest ( New York: Pantheon Books).

    Google Scholar 

  • Schutz, Alfred (1962) The Problem of Socially Reality ( The Hague: Nijhoff).

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, Marvin and Stanford Lyman (1968) “Accounts.” American Sociological Review, vol. 33, pp. 46–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shott, Susan (1979) “Emotion and Social Life: A Symbolic Interactionist Analysis.” American Journal of Sociology, vol. 84, pp. 1317–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snow, David A. (1979) “A Dramaturgical Analysis of Movement Accom-modation: Building Idiosyncrasy Credit as a Movement Mobilization”

    Google Scholar 

  • Strategy. Symbolic Interaction vol. 2, pp. 23–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snow, David A., and Robert D. Benford (1988) “Ideology, Frame Resonance and Participant Mobilization.” International Social Movement Research, vol. 1, pp. 197–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snow, David H. and Robert D. Benford (1989) “Schemi Interpretativi Dominanti E Cicli Di Protesta.” [Master Frames and Cycles of Protest.] Polis: Ricerche E Studi Su Societa E Politica, vol. 3, pp. 5–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snow, David A., Robert D. Benford and Leon Anderson (1986) “Fieldwork Roles and Informational Yield: A Comparison of Alternative Settings and Roles.” Urban Life, vol. 14, pp. 377–408.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snow, David A. and Richard Machalek (1984) “The Sociology of Conversion.” Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 10, pp. 367–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snow, David A., E. Burke Rochford, Jr., Steven K. Worden and Robert D. Benford (1986) “Frame Alignment Process, Micromobilization, and Movement Participation.” American Sociological Review, vol. 51, pp. 464–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snow, David A., Louis A. Zurcher and Robert Peters (1981) “Victory Celebrations as Theater: A Dramaturgical Approach to Crowd Behavior.” Symbolic Interaction, vol. 4, pp. 21–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strauss, Anselm and Juliet Corbin (1990) Basics of Qualitative Research:Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques ( Newbury Park, CA: Sage).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tilly, Charles (1978) From Mobilization to Revolution ( Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing).

    Google Scholar 

  • Tuchman, Gaye (1978) Making News: A Study in the Construction of Reality ( New York: Free Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, Ralph H. (1969) “The Theme of Contemporary Social Movements”. British Journal of Sociology, vol. 20, pp. 390–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turner, Ralph H. and Lewis M. Killian (1987) Collective Behavior, 3rd ed ( Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall).

    Google Scholar 

  • Weber, Max (1978) Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology, translated by Guenther Roth and Claus Wittich ( Berkeley: University of California Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, Donald E. (1961) “Protest Under the Cross: The Ku Klux Klan Presents Its Case to the Public.” Southern Speech Journal, vol. 27, pp. 43–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson, John (1973) Introduction to Social Movements ( New York: Basic Books).

    Google Scholar 

  • Wrong, Dennis H. (1979) Power: Its Forms, Bases and Uses ( New York: Harper and Row).

    Google Scholar 

  • Young, T. R. and Garth Massey (1978) “The Dramaturgical Society: A Macro-Analytic Approach to Dramaturgical Analysis.” Qualitative Sociology, vol. 1, pp. 78–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zurcher, Louis A. (1982a) “Collective Behavior: From Static Psychology to Static Sociology?”, Free Inquiry in Creative Sociology, vol. 10, pp. 1–9,12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zurcher, Louis A. (1982b) “The Staging of Emotion: A Dramaturgical Analysis.” Symbolic Interaction, vol. 5, pp. 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zurcher, Louis A. (1985) “The War Game: Organizational Scripting and the Expression of Emotion.” Symbolic Interaction, vol. 8, pp. 191–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zurcher, Louis A. and David A. Snow (1981) “Collective Behavior: Social Movements.” in Morris Rosenberg and Ralph H. Turner (eds), Social Psychology: Sociological Perspectives ( New York: Basic Books ).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 1995 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Enford, R.D., Hunt, S.A. (1995). Dramaturgy and Social Movements: The Social Construction and Communication of Power. In: Lyman, S.M. (eds) Social Movements. Main Trends of the Modern World. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23747-0_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics