The openMovements series invites leading social scientists to share their research results and perspectives on contemporary social struggles.
Amy Goodman, award-winning journalist and host of Democracy Now! signs books at the 2010 Chicago Green Festival. Wikicommons/Chris Eaves. Some rights reserved.Social movements are sometimes thought of as discrete entities that focus on particular issues of importance to separate categories of people. If we are interested in organizing for improved wages, we might look to the labor movement, for instance. Often academic research on social movements reflects this interpretation, focusing on dynamics in relation to a particular issue movement like the women’s movement or the environmental movement.
It is increasingly difficult, however, to ignore the importance of cross-movement organizing in facilitating social change outcomes. Interest in the dynamics of collaboration, alliance-building, coordination, and networking point to intersectionalities in participants, issues, and tactics that movements have always faced.
