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Journal Article 1: Barreira, I. A. F. (2011). Social movements, culture, and politics in the work of Brazilian sociologists. Latin American Perspectives, 38(3), 150-168.

Abstract: When Brazilian society returned to democracy in the 1970s, social movements demanding recognition of basic social and political rights became the focus of sociological research. This research was informed both by the social context and by interdisciplinary theories that gave analytic centrality to social and political actors. It broadened the horizons of sociological interpretation to include political activities outside the established institutions and the collective representations that shape public actions and produced new ideas about conflict and the behavior of those involved in it.

Journal Article 2: Schwartz, M. A. (2010). Interactions between social movements and US political parties. Party Politics, 16(5), 587-607.

Abstract: Interactions between US political parties and social movements range from those that emphasize closeness to those that seek to preserve distance. Although previously unrecognized in organizational analysis, these strategies are similar to ones of bridging and buffering. Where they differ both from inter-organizational relations among firms and from among other non-profits, this is due to the importance movements attach to autonomy, manifested in their antagonistic reactions to political parties and rooted in the importance they attach to ideology.

Journal Article 3: Brilliant, E. L. (2000). Women’s gain: Fund-raising and fund allocation as an evolving social movement strategy. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 29(4), 554-570.

Abstract: Formal social movement organizations became significant phenomena in the late 20th century. This article is part of a large national study that examines the historical evolution of one such organization, the Women’s Funding Network (WFN), which is connected to an “industry” of social change funds. WFN includes over 70 women’s funds across the United States and Canada that define fund-raising and fund allocation as a strategy for empowering women and achieving social change. Using the resource mobilization framework of Zald and McCarthy, the author considers critical issues that women’s funds have faced since their emergence as a network (1985) dedicated to social movement goals. Examples from case studies, surveys, and participant observation are used to compare individual funds and to analyze the impact of increasing institutionalization on mission, structure, resource mobilization, leadership, and programmatic activities of WFN as a social movement organization.

Journal Article 4: Wiest, D., & Smith, J. (2007). Explaining participation in regional transnational social movement organizations. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 48(2-3), 137-166.

Abstract: Since the late 1980s, governments have focused intensely on formalizing political and economic relationships within regions. There has also been a concurrent rise in transnational, regional level organizing among social movement activists globally, suggesting the regionalization of “global civil society.’ However, opportunities for participation in transnational associations vary widely across countries. In this article, we examine the influence of international (both global and regional) institutional contexts, citizen participation in international society, and national level factors on varying levels of participation in regional transnational social movement organizations (TSMOs). We use negative binomial regression to examine relationships among these factors at three time points: 1980, 1990, and 2000. We find that in the early time period, citizen network connections to international society facilitated the formation of and participation in regionally organized TSMOs. Over time, however, regional and global institutional contexts were more predictive of participation in regional TSMOs than were international network ties. Our analysis also uncovered how qualitatively different forms of regionalism translated into significantly different levels of TSMO regionalization. In Europe, where the regional institutional structure is more elaborated than elsewhere in the world, the number of regional TSMOs in which citizens participated greatly outpaced that found elsewhere. Irrespective of international, institutional factors, however, state-level features remained crucial to explaining the development of regional TSMO sectors and the variable levels of participation in them. Citizens in states with restrictions on political rights and civil liberties had significantly lower participation in these organizations in 1990 and 2000. Even so, over time, citizens in states with more ties to global and regional multilateral processes found more ways to overcome this disadvantage and strengthen their participation in regional, transnational civil society.