Main course page

  • Power and Social Change

     
    eL This course is for students interested in how power is exercised by people, organizations, and the state to bring about social change. The course combines theoretical insights with practical examples and discussions to help students understand power and social change and give them tools they can apply in projects, organizations, and their everyday lives. It features classical as well as critical approaches on power, politics, policy, social movements, and organization to provide students with a more holistic understanding of the possibilities, promises, and challenges of social change.
                                            

    EMAIL

    samantha.ortiz@novasbe.pt

    TA: maximilian.hauser@novasbe.pt

    OFFICE HOURS

    By appointment
        •  Course ENROLMENT key:  2025P

    • Please be reminded that all required readings must be completed before class. These readings have been uploaded to the designated folders or provided via direct links. Ensure you review the instructions for each reading carefully, as sometimes only a specific chapter or set of pages is required, rather than the entire document.

      We strongly encourage you to explore the extra readings as well. You can access these additional readings online or through the Nova SBE Library webpage: http://library.novasbe.unl.pt/.

      Thank you for your dedication and preparation!


◄17 February - 23 February3 March - 9 March►

24 February - 2 March

  • 24 February - 2 March

    Session 4: The Costs and Perils of Organizing for Social Change

    We discuss the risks undertaken by activists and members who organize for social change and the role of personal emotions and identity in sustaining collective action efforts.

     

    Required readings:

    -       Reger, J. (2004). Organizational “emotion work” through consciousness-raising: An analysis of a feminist organization. Qualitative Sociology, 27, 205-222.

    -       A culture of care: Helping activists and their allies look after themselves. (n.d.). Retrieved September 24, 2020, from openDemocracy website: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/frontline-insights/culture-care-helping-activists-and-their-allies-look-after-themselves/

    -       Self-Care and Sustaining Activism: Infographic. (2019, January 9). Retrieved September 24, 2020, from Global Fund for Women website: https://www.globalfundforwomen.org/self-care-activism-infographic/

    -       Activist self care and wellbeing. (2020, August 24). Retrieved September 24, 2020, from Amnesty International Australia website: https://www.amnesty.org.au/self-care-well-being/

     

    Recommended readings:

    -       Hirsch, E. L. (1990). Sacrifice for the Cause: Group Processes, Recruitment, and Commitment in a Student Social Movement. American Sociological Review, 55(2), 243.

    -       Jasko, K., Szastok, M., Grzymala‐Moszczynska, J., Maj, M., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2019). Rebel with a Cause: Personal Significance from Political Activism Predicts Willingness to Self-Sacrifice. Journal of Social Issues, 75(1), 314–349.

    -       Kanter, R. M. (1968). Commitment and Social Organization: A Study of Commitment Mechanisms in Utopian Communities. American Sociological Review, 33(4), 499.

    -       Gorski, P., Lopresti-Goodman, S., & Rising, D. (2019). “Nobody’s paying me to cry”: The causes of activist burnout in United States animal rights activists. Social Movement Studies, 18(3), 364–380.

    -       Schrock, D., Holden, D., & Reid, L. (2004). Creating emotional resonance: Interpersonal emotion work and motivational framing in a transgender community. Social Problems, 51(1), 61-81.

    -       Jasper, J. M. (1998, September). The emotions of protest: Affective and reactive emotions in and around social movements. In Sociological forum (Vol. 13, pp. 397-424). Kluwer Academic Publishers-Plenum Publishers.


◄17 February - 23 February3 March - 9 March►