Resisting Reagan: The U.S. Central America Peace Movement / Edition 1

by Christian Smith

Overview

A comprehensive analysis of the U.S. Central America peace movement, Resisting Reagan explains 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 Reagan makes significant contributions to our understanding of the formation of individual activist identities, of national movement dynamics, and of religious resources for political activism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226763361
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	06/15/1996
Edition description:	1
Pages:	484
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Christian Smith is the William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Sociology, director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society, and director of the Center for Social Research at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author or coauthor of numerous books, including Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers and Moral, Believing Animals: Human Personhood and Culture.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures
Acknowledgments
Acronyms
Introduction
1: The Sources of Central American Unrest
2: United States Intervention
3: Low-Intensity Warfare
4: Launching the Peace Movement
5: Grasping the Big Picture
6: The Social Structure of Moral Outrage
7: The Individual Activists
8: Negotiating Strategies and Collective Identity
9: Fighting Battles of Public Discourse
10: Facing Harassment and Repression
11: Problems for Protesters Closer to Home
12: The Movement's Demise
13: What Did the Movement Achieve?
14: Lessons for Social-Movement Theory
Appendix: The Distribution and Activities of Central America Peace
Movement Organizations
Notes
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Smith (sociology, U. of North Carolina-Chapel Hill) presents narratives to document the movement in the US for peace in Central America during the 1980s; analyzes them to isolate properties, motives, beliefs, actions, strategies, and consequences; and explores the movement's place in human social life and action. Paper edition (unseen), $19.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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