The Rise of the Masses: Spontaneous Mobilization and Contentious Politics

Benjamin Abrams

Published by University of Chicago Press 2023

The Rise of the Masses

Spontaneous Mobilization and Contentious Politics

Benjamin Abrams

https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226826820

Overview
Contents

About this book

An insightful examination of how intersecting individual motivations and social structures mobilize spontaneous mass protests.

Between 15 and 26 million Americans participated in protests surrounding the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and others as part of the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, which is only one of the most recent examples of an immense mobilization of citizens around a cause. In The Rise of the Masses, sociologist Benjamin Abrams addresses why and how people spontaneously protest, riot, and revolt en masse. While most uprisings of such a scale require tremendous resources and organizing, this book focuses on cases where people with no connection to organized movements take to the streets, largely of their own accord. Looking to the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, and the Black Lives Uprising, as well as the historical case of the French Revolution, Abrams lays out a theory of how and why massive mobilizations arise without the large-scale planning that usually goes into staging protests.

Analyzing a breadth of historical and regional cases that provide insight into mass collective behavior, Abrams draws on first-person interviews and archival sources to argue that people organically mobilize when a movement speaks to their pre-existing dispositions and when structural and social conditions make it easier to get involved—what Abrams terms affinity-convergence theory. Shedding a light on the drivers behind large spontaneous protests, The Rise of the Masses offers a significant theory that could help predict movements to come.

Author / Editor information

Benjamin Abrams is a lecturer in sociology at University College London.

Reviews

“Skillfully drawing on and synthesizing an impressive range of theoretical perspectives, Benjamin Abrams has fashioned a highly original theory of spontaneous mass mobilization. As if that weren’t enough, he goes on to make a compelling, empirically informed case for the application of his affinity-convergence theory to four iconic mass movements, ranging from the French Revolution to the George Floyd Protests of 2020. Anyone interested in the dynamics of spontaneous mass action will want to read this book.”

— Doug McAdam, Ray Lyman Wilbur Professor of Sociology, Stanford University

“Drawing on four diverse cycles of contention. . . . Abrams shows how much of the process of mobilization can be explained as the product of affinities and convergence on the part of unorganized groups—the 'masses' in his title—while their failures can be explained as their inability to create viable and robust structures around their affinities. His book should be read by social movement specialists and by general readers concerned with the current waves of mass mobilization alike. While the book is based on immense reading and research, it is Abrams's deep thinking that I admire most. A very readable and engaging book."

— Sidney Tarrow, author of Power in Movement

“Social movements and revolutions are enormously consequential. Yet, their confounding and elusive mysteries are not fully understood. How do they burst forth, who brings them into being, and why do they fail or succeed? Do they spring from spontaneity or organization? The Rise of the Masses squarely confronts these fundamental questions through careful analysis, copious evidence, and enthralling narratives of historic movements. In so doing, Abrams illuminates how these engines of social change operate. This book is a rich fount of knowledge that should be widely read.”

— Aldon Morris, author of The Origins of the Civil Rights Movement

"This book will be important reading for those interested in explaining mobilization generally and delving into how we can better understand more spontaneous mobilizations. In addition, it would be of interest to any scholars or publics interested in the four core cases of analysis. I found the book compelling, beautifully written, and convincing."

— Catherine Corrigall-Brown, Social Forces

"Benjamin Abrams’s important book has resurrected
attention to the dramatic and provided
conceptual tools for making sense of both the
moment of apparent possibility as well as their
aftershocks. It is a must-read."

— Mobilization

"Overall, the book is one of the most exciting publications on protest movements in recent years. Abrams clearly identifies an empirical phenomenon that is increasingly occupying authors of protest research: spontaneous mass mobilization. With ACT, he renews existing approaches and brings them together in such a way that different protest mobilizations can be systematically compared. This makes the book equally interesting for readers who are aiming for such a comparative research project as well as for readers who are empirically interested in the contexts examined."

— Journal of Comparative Politics

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part 1: Theorizing Mobilization
1. What We Know about Mobilization and What We Need To Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	15
2. Affinity-Convergence Theory Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	31
Part II: The Egyptian Revolution
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	55
3. Egypt on the Eve of Revolution Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
4. The Anatomy of a Revolutionary Moment Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	71
5. The Fall and Fall of Revolutionary Egypt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	91
Part III: Occupy Wall Street
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	107
6. Globalizing The Revolution Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	111
7. Enter The Occupiers Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	123
8. The End of the Extraordinary Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
Part IV: The Black Lives Uprising
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	153
9. From Tragedy To Uprising Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	157
10. Mass Mobilization For Black Lives Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
Part V: The French Revolution, 1789
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
11. Mass Mobilization Against The Ancien Régime Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199
12. The Development Of Revolutionary Mobilization Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	229
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	247
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	289

Language: English
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 304
Illustrations
- Other: 8 halftones, 5 tables
Keywords: spontaneous mobilization; affinity-convergence theory; affinity; convergence; affinity-convergence mobilization; mobilization; Black Lives Matter; Egyptian Revolution; Occupy Wall Street; French Revolution

eBook

Published: June 9, 2023
ISBN: 9780226826820