Resisting Reagan

by Smith, Christian

• ISBN13: 9780226763354
• ISBN10: 0226763358
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1996-06-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

A comprehensive analysis of the U.S. Central America peace movement,Resisting Reaganexplains why more than one hundred thousand U.S. citizens marched in the streets, illegally housed refugees, traveled to Central American war zones, committed civil disobedience, and hounded their political representatives to contest the Reagan administration's policy of sponsoring wars in Nicaragua and El Salvador. Focusing on the movement's three most important national campaigns--Witness for Peace, Sanctuary, and the Pledge of Resistance--this book demonstrates the centrality of morality as a political motivator, highlights the importance of political opportunities in movement outcomes, and examines the social structuring of insurgent consciousness. Based on extensive surveys, interviews, and research,Resisting Reaganmakes significant contributions to our understanding of the formation of individual activist identities, of national movement dynamics, and of religious resources for political activism.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures

Acknowledgments

Acronyms

Introduction

The Sources of Central American Unrest

United States Intervention

Low-Intensity Warfare

Launching the Peace Movement

Grasping the Big Picture

The Social Structure of Moral Outrage

The Individual Activists

Negotiating Strategies and Collective Identity

Fighting Battles of Public Discourse

Facing Harassment and Repression

Problems for Protesters Closer to Home

The Movement's Demise

What Did the Movement Achieve?

Lessons for Social-Movement Theory

The Distribution and Activities of Central America Peace

Movement Organizations Notes

Bibilography

Index

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