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Journal Article 1: Cleveland, J. (2003). Does the new middle class lead today’s social movements? Critical Sociology, 29(2), 163-188.

Abstract: The conventional wisdom that today’s movements are led by a section of the ‘new middle class’ is really the old functionalist theory of (post)modernizing elites that denies class analysis. The young adult nucleus’ thesis is proposed as an alternative theory. The leading social forces in movements in affluent countries are intellectual radicals and ‘advanced elements’ from groups that experience some form of exploitation, oppression, or collective hurt.

Journal Article 2: Biggs, M., & Andrews, K. (2015). Protest campaigns and movement success: Desegregating the U.S. South in the early 1960s. American Sociological Review, 80(2), 416-443.

Abstract: Can protest bring about social change? Although scholarship on the consequences of social movements has grown dramatically, our understanding of protest influence is limited; several recent studies have failed to detect any positive effect. The researchers investigate sit-in protest by black college students in the U.S. South in 1960, which targeted segregated lunch counters. An original dataset of 334 cities enables us to assess the effect of protest while considering the factors that generate protest itself—including local movement infrastructure, supportive political environments, and favorable economic conditions.

Journal Article 3: Davis, M., Hall, J., & Meyer, M. (2003). The first year: Influences on the satisfaction, involvement, and persistence of new community volunteers. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(2), 248-260.

Abstract: This investigation tests an elaborated form of Omoto and Snyder’s volunteer process model, which explains how the helping behavior of volunteers is influenced by antecedent factors and by subjective experiences while volunteering. Two hundred thirty-eight community volunteers from nine different organizations were recruited at the time of initial orientation and completed measures of personality and motivation. They were contacted at four times during their first year of volunteering and queried regarding their emotional reactions (sympathy, distress), satisfaction, and degree to which their motivations for volunteering were being fulfilled.

Journal Article 4: Boler, M., Macdonald, A., Nitsou, C., & Harris, A. (2014). Connective labor and social media: Women’s roles in the “leaderless” occupy movement. Convergence, 20(4), 436-460.

Abstract: This article draws upon the insights of 75 Occupy activists from Toronto and across the United States interviewed as part of the 3-year study “Social Media in the Hands of Young Citizens.” This article highlights three major roles adopted by women in the so-called leaderless, horizontally structured Occupy movement—both within the offline, face-to-face General Assembly meetings held during the Occupy encampments and within the online spaces of Facebook pages, Web sites, affinity groups, and working committees. As key participants in the movement, women used social technologies such as Facebook, Twitter, and livestreaming as modes of activist engagement, developing unique roles such as that of the “Admin” (Social Media Administrator), the “Documentarian,” and the “Connector.”