Nella Van Dyke - Understanding the Tea Party Movement

Jack A. Goldstone, George Mason University, USA

Professor Hank Johnston
San Diego State University, USA

Published in conjunction with Mobilization: An International Quarterly, the premier research journal in the field, this series disseminates high quality new research and scholarship in the fields of social movements, protest, and contentious politics. The series is interdisciplinary in focus and publishes monographs and collections of essays by new and established scholars.

Dynamics of Political Violence
A Process-Oriented Perspective on Radicalization and the Escalation of Political Conflict
Edited by Lorenzo Bosi, Chares Demetriou and Stefan Malthaner

Beyond NGO-ization
The Development of Social Movements in Central and Eastern Europe
Edited by Kerstin Jacobsson and Steven Saxonberg

Violent Protest, Contentious Politics, and the Neoliberal State
Edited by Seraphim Seferiades and Hank Johnston

Student Activism and Curricular Change in Higher Education
Mikaila Mariel Lemonik Arthur

NELLA VAN DYKE
University of California, Merced, USA

DAVID S. MEYER
University of California, Irvine, USA

First published 2014 by Ashgate Publishing

Published 2016 by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright 2014 Nella Van Dyke, David S. Meyer and the contributors

Nella Van Dyke and David S. Meyer have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the editors of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:
Van Dyke, Nella.

Understanding the Tea Party movement / by Nella Van Dyke and David S. Meyer.

pages cm.(The mobilization series on social movements, protest, and culture)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4094-6522-5 (hardback)ISBN 978-1-4094-6523-2 (pbk.)1. Tea Party movement. 2. Political cultureUnited States. 3. United StatesPolitics and government. I. Meyer, David S. II. Title.

JK2391.T43V36 2014

322.440973dc23

2013041453

ISBN 9781409465225 (hbk)
ISBN 9781409465232 (pbk)

Paul Almeida, University of California, Merced

Chip Berlet, Research for Progress

Ruth Braunstein, New York University

Tina Fetner, McMaster University

Brayden G. King, Northwestern University

Jesse Klein, Florida State University

Rory McVeigh, Notre Dame University

David S. Meyer, University of California, Irvine

Amanda Pullum, University of California, Irvine

Deana A. Rohlinger, Florida State University

Abby Scher, Independent Scholar

Nella Van Dyke, University of California, Merced

When the Tea Party movement exploded onto the American scene in the spring of 2009, we could not help but be fascinated with it, given our area of research. We were struck by its rapid mobilization, by its support from Fox News, as well as by the sight of Republicans engaging in non-institutional protest. As the Chair of the American Sociological Associations Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements, one of us had the opportunity to schedule a session for the Associations annual meeting focused on the new movement. Because the movement is clearly conservative in orientation, a panel of experts on conservative social movements seemed like an excellent choice, and so I invited Paul Almeida, Tina Fetner, Rory McVeigh and David Meyer to participate. The panel, titled Social Movement Perspectives on the Town Hall/Tea Party Protests, occurred at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in Atlanta in August 2010. The panel proved to be lively and stimulating and very well attended. An audience member suggested that the two of us turn the panel into an edited volume, and so this volume was born.

We wanted the volume to cover different aspects of the movement that are relevant to social movement theory, including political opportunities and threats, resources, framing, ideological roots, and identity. We first invited our distinguished panelists to turn their conference remarks into a chapter, having been impressed by their presentations. We then solicited additional chapters from several scholars who we knew were conducting research on the movement and who we thought would provide coverage of important issues not introduced by the conference panelists. This brought us chapters by Chip Berlet and Abby Scher, Ruth Braunstein, and Deana Rohlinger and Jesse Klein. The resulting volume highlights a range of issues relevant to this movement, illustrating how they are both consistent with social movement theory yet push movement theory ahead.

We want to express our appreciation to our contributors for allowing us to include their fascinating research and theorizing in the book. We also appreciate the support of Hank Johnston, editor of Ashgates Mobilization Series on Social Movements, Protest, and Culture, and all of the assistance provided by Ashgates editorial staff.