1. Assignment: Pick a form of collective action under the
pandemic(homelessness
Assignment: Pick a form of collective action under the pandemic(homelessness in nyc) is
the topic, and research it. This form of collective action can be modest – a neighborhood or
community self-help initiative or protest against a local injustice – or be as big in scale as
the Black Lives Matter movement or the waves of strikes we are observing. I will share a
more comprehensive handout when we come back from the break, but for now you can
think about these questions as you identify your focus and begin researching it: *Identify
the form of collective action you are focusing on. *What was/were/are the issues that
inspired the people involved in this collective action? Did those goals change through the
process of mobilizing? *If the group behind the collective action had demands, what
were/are these demands and who were they aimed at? *What problems did the group face –
both internally, and externally – when trying to mobilize? *How did they try to resolve
those issues so as to successfully mobilize? *What was the response from those in power
and (if applicable) the media to their efforts to organize? [Think about the concept of
ideology] *To what extent have they been successful in achieving their goals? * Reflect on
how this form of collective action made the link between what C. Wright Mills calls ‘personal
troubles and public issues’. Collective Action Assignment: Like all crises, the period of the
pandemic has proven to be very fertile for forms of collective action, from protests, to
movements, to local/community self-help groups. Collective action refers to action taken
together by a group of people whose goal is to enhance their condition and achieve a
common objective. ‘Collective action applies pooled resources to shared interests. In
European social history, collective action has ranged from communal bread baking to
electoral campaigns, from idol-smashing to revolution. Much collective action actually
consists of conflict or cooperation, which imply two or more interacting parties. … Social
historians and social scientists often reserve the term “collective action” for episodes
engaging participants who do not routinely act together or who employ means of action
other than those they adopt for day-to-day interaction. Collective action in this narrow
sense resembles what other analysts call protest, rebellion, or disturbance. It differs from
other collective action in being discontinuous and contentious: not built into daily routines,
and having implications for interests of people outside the acting group as well as for the
actors’ own shared interests. When those implications are negative we can speak of conflict,
whereas when they are positive we can speak of cooperation. …Discontinuous, contentious
2. collective action always involves third parties, often poses threats to existing distributions
of power, and usually incites surveillance, intervention, and/or repression by political
authorities.’ – “Collective Action .” Encyclopedia of European Social History. .
Encyclopedia.com. 28 Mar. 2022 .
![Assignment: Pick a form of collective action under the
pandemic(homelessness
Assignment: Pick a form of collective action under the pandemic(homelessness in nyc) is
the topic, and research it. This form of collective action can be modest – a neighborhood or
community self-help initiative or protest against a local injustice – or be as big in scale as
the Black Lives Matter movement or the waves of strikes we are observing. I will share a
more comprehensive handout when we come back from the break, but for now you can
think about these questions as you identify your focus and begin researching it: *Identify
the form of collective action you are focusing on. *What was/were/are the issues that
inspired the people involved in this collective action? Did those goals change through the
process of mobilizing? *If the group behind the collective action had demands, what
were/are these demands and who were they aimed at? *What problems did the group face –
both internally, and externally – when trying to mobilize? *How did they try to resolve
those issues so as to successfully mobilize? *What was the response from those in power
and (if applicable) the media to their efforts to organize? [Think about the concept of
ideology] *To what extent have they been successful in achieving their goals? * Reflect on
how this form of collective action made the link between what C. Wright Mills calls ‘personal
troubles and public issues’. Collective Action Assignment: Like all crises, the period of the
pandemic has proven to be very fertile for forms of collective action, from protests, to
movements, to local/community self-help groups. Collective action refers to action taken
together by a group of people whose goal is to enhance their condition and achieve a
common objective. ‘Collective action applies pooled resources to shared interests. In
European social history, collective action has ranged from communal bread baking to
electoral campaigns, from idol-smashing to revolution. Much collective action actually
consists of conflict or cooperation, which imply two or more interacting parties. … Social
historians and social scientists often reserve the term “collective action” for episodes
engaging participants who do not routinely act together or who employ means of action
other than those they adopt for day-to-day interaction. Collective action in this narrow
sense resembles what other analysts call protest, rebellion, or disturbance. It differs from
other collective action in being discontinuous and contentious: not built into daily routines,
and having implications for interests of people outside the acting group as well as for the
actors’ own shared interests. When those implications are negative we can speak of conflict,
whereas when they are positive we can speak of cooperation. …Discontinuous, contentious](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/pickaformofcollectiveactionunderthe-230630081707-f3671889/85/pick-a-form-of-collective-action-under-thedocx-1-320.jpg)
