Animal rights activism : a moral-sociological perspective on social movements / Kerstin Jacobsson and Jonas Lindblom.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

This book develops a novel moral-sociological perspective on social movements. For the first time, Durkheim's sociology of morality is used for social movement theorizing. Nevertheless, Durkheim's approach is used as a basis for further theorization, including developing a deviance perspective on social movements. The moral-sociological framework is also useful for theorizing the role of moral reflexivity and emotion work among activists. 0This book fills a gap in existing approaches to social movements by seeing social movements as essentially moral phenomena and by conceiving of morality as a social fact, which both enables and constrains the action that activists can pursue. By doing so, it complements existing more structural, cultural or strategic action-inspired approaches to social movements. In addition, the book richly illustrates how classical sociological theory can be used in new ways to understand contemporary societies.

Cover; Table of Contents; Preface; 1. Introduction: A Moral-Sociological Perspective on Social Movements; A Sociology of Morals and the Research on Social Movements; Rethinking Concepts in the Study of Social Movements; Collective identity; Framing; Emotions; Deviance; Social status; A Moral-Sociological Study of Animal Rights Activism; Outline of the book; 2. Moral Reflexivity; Sources of Moral Reflexivity; Reflexive Performance in Activism; Moral Hierarchies; Moral Resonance; Balancing Efficacy and Purity; Conclusion; 3. Emotion Work; The Importance of Moral Emotions in Activism.

Morality and Emotions in Social MovementsTypes of Emotion Work in Animal Rights Activism; Containing; Ventilation; Ritualization; Micro-shocking; Normalization of Guilt; Conclusion; 4. Secular Religion; A Neo-Durkheimian Perspective on Secular Religion; Our Perspective in Relation to Previous Research; Elements of Secular Religion in Animal Rights Activism; Experiences of Awakening and Conversion; Dedication and Commitment; A Meaning in Suffering and Guilt; The Moral Community and the Surrounding World; Protection of the Sacred; Rituals; Conclusion; 5. Deviance-Management.

Activists as Entrepreneurial DeviantsStrategies for Managing Social Stereotypes in Activism; The Significance of Social Stereotypes; Behavioral Strategies: Passing and Confronting; Psychological Strategies: The Techniques of Neutralization and Idealization; Strategies at the Group-level: A Cohesive and Transformative Sub-culture; The Dialectics of Deviance-Management in Activism; Conclusion; 6. Summation; References; Index; List of Figures; Figure 1a -- Moral distinctions in the animal rights groups in Sweden; Figure 1b -- Moral distinctions in the Plowshares group in Sweden.

Figure 2 -- A moral-sociological perspective on social movement activism: A conceptual scheme.

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