Publication Laka-library:
Explaining the Political Outcomes of Social Movements: Anti-Nuclear Energy Mobilization in 18 OECD Countries before the Chernobyl Accident
Author | Felix Kolb |
6-09-0-00-54.pdf | |
Date | 2006 |
Classification | 6.09.0.00/54 (INTERNATIONAL RESISTANCE - GENERAL) |
Remarks | Second Draft |
Front |
From the publication:
Explaining the Political Outcomes of Social Movements: Anti-Nuclear Energy Mobiliza- tion in 18 OECD Countries before the Chernobyl Accident 1 - Second Draft - Felix Kolb 1 This research was supported by a scholarship awarded to the author by the German National Merit Foundation. I am grateful also to Jai Kwan Jung, Mundo Yang, Dieter Rucht, and Simon Teune for comments on earlier versions of this article. Direct correspondence to Felix Kolb, Die Bewegungss- tiftung, Artilleriestr. 6, D-27283 Verden, Germany. E-mail: kolb@bewegungsstiftung.de Explaining the Political Outcomes of Social Movements: Anti-Nuclear Energy Mobiliza- tion in 18 OECD Countries before the Chernobyl Accident Abstract: This article argues that we can substantially improve our ability to explain movement out- comes by not omitting independent variables and by theorizing the causal processes of politi- cal change. Based on this formula the impact of the anti-nuclear energy movement across 18 OECD countries is examined using quantitative and qualitative methods in a nested research design. Results show that the viability of movement goals, public opinion, elite conflict, and political institutional structures determined the impact on nuclear programs, but the relevance of different political opportunities were contingent on the goal pursued by the movement. Different combinations of causal mechanisms are demonstrated to have caused the reductions in nuclear program size across countries. Whether anti-nuclear mobilization succeeded in ac- tivating a causal mechanism, depended on the presence of certain opportunities, on which the political effectiveness of different tactics is dependent. INTRODUCTION When and why are social movements successful in their struggle for social and political change? When and why do they fail? These probing questions