Alienation and Activism

Abstract

Does alienation draw individuals toward social movements? Midcentury sociologists argued this to be the case, but scholars from the 1970s onward broke from this consensus. The evidentiary basis for this turn was sparse, however, with research seldom measuring different forms of alienation or addressing stages before mobilization. The current study uses four-wave panel data from the National Study of Youth and Religion (2003–13) to examine how alienation and social relationships during the transition from adolescence into young adulthood predict eventual social movement participation. The analysis finds that, while powerlessness dissuades individuals from movements, alienation in the forms of meaninglessness and social isolation is a strong predictor of participation in movements across the political spectrum (Occupy Wall Street and Tea Party Movement). Group involvement is not found to distinguish participants until stages proximal to mobilization. The study underscores the importance of early life socialization for understanding who protests.