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POLITICAL GENERATIONS, MICRO-COHORTS, AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS*
In this paper I propose a generational model of continuity and change in social movements. Building on political generation and cohort replacement theories, I offer three propositions about generational processes in social movements: (1) The collective identity of an activist cohort remains consistent over time, contributing to movement continuity; (2) cohorts construct different collective identities based on the external contexts and internal conditions of the movement at the time they enter; (3) cohort replacement contributes to change in social movements. These three generational processes interact with organizational factors and political opportunity structures to shape movement continuity and change. I illustrate these propositions by drawing on an in-depth case study of the women's movement from 1969 to 1992 in Columbus, Ohio, and I suggest key questions about generational processes in other cases.
Social movements can endure over decades and even centuries, cycling through higher and lower levels of mobilization, yet simultaneously they change character over time (Isserman 1987; McAdam 1988; Meyer 1993; Morris 1984; Rupp and Taylor 1987; Tarrow 1989, 1994; Tilly 1995; Whittier 1995). A Zen koan reminds us that we never step in the same river twice.l The task of scholars of social movements is to explain how long-lived challenges, like the river, both persist and are continually made anew.
Explanations of change and continuity in social movements fall into two general categories. First, political process approaches seek to explain both broad cycles of movement emergence, growth, and decline, and the tactical shifts that exploit political openings. They do so by emphasizing external forces such as state structure, vulnerability of political alliances to manipulation by challengers, support by elites, availability of both indigenous and external resources, and the tactical repertoires of movement actors (Gamson and Meyer 1996; McAdam 1982; Meyer 1993; Tarrow 1989, 1994; Tilly 1978, 1995). Second, organizational approaches focus on explaining continuity of social movements. Building on resource mobilization theory and population ecology, they emphasize the characteristics of organizational structure, ideology, and culture that enable movements to mobilize resources (McCarthy and Zald 1977; Morris 1984), preserve legitimacy in hostile or changing environments (Edwards and Marullo 1995; Minkoff 1993), and sustain members' commitment through abeyance periods (Isserman 1987; Taylor 1989; Weigand 1994).