Movement Infrastructure

The emergence of a movement infrastructure: The case of the opt-out movement in New York

Social movements require on-going collective action to bring challenges against the status quo. This is difficult to achieve. Movements must continually strategize, innovate new tactics, and endure resistance from dominant groups. To explore how social movements mobilize and sustain collective action, scholars have developed the concepts of social movement organizations and movement infrastructures. These structures provide support for activists as they try to secure resource, engage in collective action, and withstand retaliation. Indeed, creating a robust movement infrastructure is an important way for activists to achieve goals and influence how policies

The movement infrastructure concept extends the SMO notion to include an interconnected network of aligned SMOs, along with sympathetic organizations from other movements and non-movement organizations (Andrews, 2001; Haug, 2013; Morris, 1981). A movement infrastructure consists of a diverse array of leaders, organizations, and social connections that cross geographic and social boundaries. A movement infrastructure supports collective action over time in four key ways. First, it supports the development, diffusion, and deploying of multiple movement tactics so that activists can mount challenges in a variety of settings (Andrews, 2001; Morris, 1981). Activists can use organizations meeting places and arenas to train others in the use of innovative tactics. For example, Morris’s (1981) study of the sit-in protests during the Civil Rights Movement documents how activists used black churches throughout the South as training centers, ensuring alignment in tactics across several states. Collaboration between movements is a key mechanism for the diffusion of tactics (D. J. Wang & Soule, 2012). Through collaboration and co-participation networks, activists learn novel and potentially effective protest tactics. With the participation of many organizations, activists have an increased capacity to engage multiple mechanisms for achieving movement goals (e.g., disruptive tactics, negotiation, discursive

First, they provide low-cost ways to interact, coordinate, and share material resources, potential obviating the need for more formal and bureaucratic organizations. It can therefore support the forging of ties between likeminded SMOs and individuals. Many websites are free to develop, or very low cost, and may provide a revenue stream through advertisements. Facebook pages are free and require only basic computer literacy. Second, they can act as virtual free spaces. This can support the development and dissemination of collective action frames (Bennett & Sergerberg, 2013) and provide an arena for the sharing of strategies and success stories. Third, they allow for peripheral participation, which can lower barriers for recruitment into a movement. This may be especially important for a boycott like the opt-out movement, where success depends in part on mass participation. Mobilization is a critical challenge for movements. Social media platforms may allow for more flexible participation, giving more marginal movement actors the ability to participate at lower levels than more committed