Connecting Social Movement Studies and Political Participation Research

This Section aims to bring together Panels around current issues in the study of political participation and social movements. As various scholars have noted, political participation continues to expand and social movements have an ever expanding topical and geographical impact. To continue the advancement of the study into both these important areas, this Section aims to attract a diverse range of Panels that cover the state of the art in both areas. We call for Panels which reflect both the more established core interests in the study of political participation and social movements, and more recent or emerging areas of academic enquiry. Core topics include pathways to participation, resources, contextual determinants and the study of consequences of movements and participation. Emerging topics include individualization, non-participation, and the changing role of media. This Section aims in particular to bring the literature on political participation and social movements closer together. While the two issues are clearly distinct, they are also related. Political participation often takes place within a movement context, and many key social movement activities can be classified as political participation. It is therefore quite remarkable that the literatures dealing with these issues are often so disconnected – especially when we consider what we could learn from bringing the two closer together.