The Micro and Meso Levels of Activism

The Micro and Meso Levels of Activism

Interest Groups, Advocacy and Democracy Series Series Editor Darren Halpin, Australian National University, Australia The study of interest groups and their role in political life has undergone somewhat of a renaissance in recent years. Long standing scholarly themes, such as interest-groups influence, mobilization, formation, and bias, are being addressed using new and novel data sets and methods. There are also new and exciting themes, such as the role of ICTs in enabling collective action and the growth of global advocacy networks, being added. Contemporary debates about the role of commercial lobbyists and professionalized interest representation are also highly salient. Together, they draw an ever larger and broader constituency to the study of interest groups and advocacy. This series seeks to capture both new generation studies addressing long standing themes in new ways and innovative scholarship posing new and challenging questions that emerge in a rapidly changing world. The series encourages contributions from political science (but also abutting disciplines such as economics, law, history, international relations and sociology) that speak to these themes. It welcomes work undertaken at the sub-national, national and supra-national political systems, and particularly encourages comparative or longitudinal studies. The series is open to diverse methodologies and theoretical approaches. The book series will sit alongside and complement the new journal of the same name. Titles include: Darren Halpin and Grant Jordan (editors) THE SCALE OF INTEREST ORGANIZATION IN DEMOCRATIC POLITICS Data and Research Methods Daniel Stockemer THE MICRO AND MESO LEVELS OF ACTIVISM A Comparative Case Study of Attac France and Attac Germany Interest Groups, Advocacy and Democracy Series Series Standing Order ISBN 978 1 137 02871 6 (hardback) and 978 1 137 02839 6 (paperback) (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBNs quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England

The Micro and Meso Levels of Activism A Comparative Case Study of Attac France and Attac Germany Daniel Stockemer Assistant Professor, School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa, Canada

Daniel Stockemer 2013 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-1-137-26431-2 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6 10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2013 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave and Macmillan are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-44297-3 ISBN 978-1-137-26432-9 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9781137264329 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13

Contents List of Figures and Tables vi 1 Introduction 1 2 The Social Movement Scholarship: What We Know and What Is Still Unclear 14 3 The Alter-Globalization Movement and Attac 33 4 The Methods and the Interview Sample 50 5 The Trajectory of Attac France 77 6 The Trajectory of Attac Germany 100 7 Why, When, and How Much Are People Involved? 118 8 Conclusion 141 Appendix 1: The Interview and Coding Scheme for this Study 150 Appendix 2: The Organizational Structure of Attac France 157 Appendix 3: The Organizational Structure of Attac Germany 159 Appendix 4: The Interviews 161 Notes 171 References 199 Index 215 v

Figures and Tables Figures 1 The memberships of Attac France and Germany 6 2 The emergence of SMOs 19 3 The interplay between demand and supply for involvement in SMOs 29 4 Distribution of the interviewees by employment status 61 5 Educational status of my respondents 63 6 The importance of the identity motif to leaving an organization 129 7 Membership of an SMO if it loses its political leverage 134 8 Membership of an SMO if it loses its ideological appeal 135 9 Development of the membership of a politically efficient and ideologically appealing SMO if it is shattered by an internal crisis 137 10 Development of the membership of a politically relevant SMO if it is shattered by an internal crisis 138 11 Development of the membership of an ideologically appealing group if it is shattered by an internal crisis 139 Tables 1 Characteristics of the interviewees 57 2 Agents of mobilization into Attac 64 3 Activists political socialization 69 4 Average value of the three motifs for engagement for French activists 95 5 Average value of the three motifs for engagement for German activists 113 6 Typology of three ideal types of SMO and their expected membership 132 vi