UCR Research Working Group on Transnational Social Movements

“The World Social Forum Process and Transnational Social Movements”

v. 3-2-2015

Erika Gutierrez, Linda Kim and Christine Petit at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, 2005

Since 2004 the Transnational Social Movements Research Working Group at the University of California-Riverside has been studying the World Social Forum process in order to better understand the potentials for transnational social movements to engage in effect collective action in world politics. Professors Ellen Reese and Christopher Chase-Dunn of the Department of Sociology and the Institute for Research on World-Systems (IROWS) have led this effort with the help of a large number of graduate students and some undergraduates at UCR. One of the main activities has been to carry out surveys of the attendees at the 2005 World Social Forum meeting in Porto Alegre, Brazil and the 2007 World Social Forum meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, and the U.S. Social Forum meetings in Atlanta (2007 and Detroit (2010). These surveys study the transnational activist segment of global civil society as represented by the participants in these meetings. Results of the surveys are reported in working papers that are listed below.

WSF 2005: Porto Alegre

Five UCR students attended the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil January 26-31, 2005 to do participant observation and survey research on transnational social movements. They are Rebecca Giem, Erika Gutierrez, Linda Kim, Christine Petit, and Darragh White. They were accompanied by UCR Sociology Professor Ellen Reese. Pictures we took at the WSF05 are at http://www.irows.ucr.edu/research/tsmstudy/wsfpics.htm

The Research Working Group on Transnational Social Movements obtained over 600 responses to our survey at the 2005 World Social Forum to learn more about the characteristics of people that participate in the Forum and their perceptions and beliefs about the relations among the participating social movements. We want to facilitate cooperation and concerted action by helping activists to understand the interconnections between different progressive movements. The English, Spanish and Portuguese versions of the survey are at

http://www.irows.ucr.edu/research/tsmstudy/wsfsurvey.htm

WSF 2007: Nairobi

Six UCR graduate students attended the World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, January 20-24, 2007 to do participant observation and survey research on transnational social movements, especially focusing on the labor movement. They are Rebecca Giem, Erika Gutierrez, Linda Kim, Christine Petit, Toi Carter and Roy Kwon. They were accompanied by UCR Sociology Professor Christopher Chase-Dunn. Pictures we took at the WSF05 are at http://www.irows.ucr.edu/research/tsmstudy/nairobipics.htm

The Research Working Group on Transnational Social Movements obtained over 500 responses to our survey at the 2007 World Social Forum. The English, Spanish, Frence, Swahili and Portuguese versions of the survey are at

http://www.irows.ucr.edu/research/tsmstudy/wsfsurvey2.htm

USSF 2007: Atlanta

The Research Working Group on Transnational Social Movements received support from the U.C. Labor and Employment Research Fund (LERF ) to study the participation of labor union members, union leaders and labor activists in the United States Social Forum that was held in June 26-July 1 of 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia. Our LERF proposal is at: http://irows.ucr.edu/research/tsmstudy/lerfprop.htm

We observed sessions sponsored by labor groups, and other sessions and we obtained over 500 responses from attendees to our survey. Our session reports are at http://irows.ucr.edu/research/tsmstudy/sessionreportstoc.htm

Pictures that we took in Atlanta are at http://irows.ucr.edu/research/tsmstudy/ucrussfpics.htm

The Research Working Group on Transnational Social Movements obtained over 500 responses to our survey at the 2007 US Social Forum in Atlanta. The English version of the survey is at http://www.irows.ucr.edu/research/tsmstudy/ussf2007.htm

The spanish version is at http://www.irows.ucr.edu/research/tsmstudy/ussf2007spanish.htm

USSF 2010: Detroit

The Research Working Group on Transnational Social Movements received support from the UCR Program on Global Studies and the UCR Graduate Student Association for attending a research conference and doing research at the USSF10 that was held from June 22-27, 2010 in Detroit, Michigan. The program of the research conference is at http://www.irows.ucr.edu/conferences/ussf10conf/ussf10conf.htm

Pictures that we took in Detroit are at http://www.irows.ucr.edu/research/tsmstudy/ussf10/ussf10pics.htm

The Research Working Group on Transnational Social Movements obtained over 500 responses to our survey at the 2010 US Social Forum in Detroit. The English version of the survey is at http://www.irows.ucr.edu/research/tsmstudy/ussf2010.htm

The spanish version is at http://www.irows.ucr.edu/research/tsmstudy/ussf2010spanish.htm

Codebook for the USSF10 Survey

Excel Codesheet the USSF10 Survey

A Combined Data set containing results from all four surveys http://irows.ucr.edu/research/tsmstudy/data/datatoc.htm

Working papers from our project are:

IROWS Working Paper #17 Ellen Reese, Chris Chase-Dunn, Erika Gutierrez and Rebecca Giem

“Labor and other anti-systemic movements at the World Social Forum”

IROWS Working Paper #21 Chris Chase-Dunn and Ellen Reese, “Global party formation in world historical perspective”

IROWS Working Paper #25 Christine Petit “Web Contours of Social Movements”

IROWS Working Paper #26 Christine Petit, Christopher Chase-Dunn, Ellen Reese and Richard Niemeyer

“Transnational solidarity and divisions among global activists”

IROWS Working Paper #29 Ellen Reese, Mark Herkenrath, Chris Chase-Dunn, Rebecca Giem, Erika Gutierrez, Linda Kim, and Christine Petit

“Alliances and Divisions with the ‘movement of movements’: survey findings from the 2005 World Social Forum”

IROWS Working Paper #31 Ellen Reese, Mark Herkenrath, Chris Chase-Dunn, Rebecca Giem, Erika Gutierrez, Linda Kim and Christine Petit 

“North-South contradictions and bridges at the World Social Forum”

 IROWS Working Paper #36 Rebecca Álvarez, Erika Gutierrez, Linda Kim, Christine Petit, and Ellen Reese, 

The Contours of Color at the World Social Forum: Reflections on Racialized Politics,Representation, and the Global Justice Movement

 IROWS Working Paper #44 C. Chase-Dunn and M. Kaneshiro 
 “Stability and Change in the contours of Alliances Among movements in the social forum process”

              IROWS Working Paper #45  Ellen Reese, Christopher Chase-Dunn, Kadambari Anantram, Gary Coyne, Matheu Kaneshiro, Ashley N. Koda,

                    Roy Kwon, and Preeta Saxena Appendix for Surveys of World Social Forum Participants Show Influence of Place and Base in the Global Public Sphere

#48 Christopher Chase-Dunn, Matheu Kaneshiro, Richard Niemeyer, Preeta Saxena, Roy Kwon and James Love

“The New Global Left and Transnational Social Movements”

#49  Christopher Chase-Dunn and James Love, Social Movement Networks as Reflected in Web Publications

#50  Christopher Chase-Dunn, Richard Niemeyer, Preeta Saxena, Matheu Kaneshiro, James Love and Amanda Spears,

The New Global Left: Movements and Regimes

#57  Christopher Chase-Dunn and Shoon Lio “Global Class Formation and the New Global Left in World Historical Perspective”

#58 Christopher Chase-Dunn, Matheu Kaneshiro, James Love, Kirk Lawrence and Edwin Elias,

Neoliberalism, populist movements and the Pink Tide in Latin America

#64 2010 U.S. Social Forum Survey of Attendees: Preliminary Report Gary Coyne, Juliann Allison, Ellen Reese, Katja Guenther, Ian Breckenridge-Jackson,

Edwin Elias, Ali Lairy, James Love, Anthony Roberts, Natasha Rodojcic, Miryam Ruvalcaba, Elizabeth Schwarz and Christopher Chase-Dunn

#71 “The Network of movements in the U.S. social forum process: Comparing Atlanta 2007 with Detroit 2010”

                      C. Chase-Dunn and Ian Breckenridge-Jackson

#74 Diffusion of the Occupy Movement in California, C. Chase-Dunn and Michaela Curran

# 82 The World Revolution of 2011: Assembling a United Front of the New Global Left C. Chase-Dunn

#84 Articulating the Web of Transnational Social Movements,   C. Chase-Dunn, Anne-Sophie Stäbler

Ian Breckenridge-Jackson and Joel Herrera

#87 Global Indigenism and the Web of Transnational Social Movements

C. Chase-Dunn, James Fenelon, Thomas D. Hall,  Ian Breckenridge-Jackson and Joel Herrera

Published works from our project:

Christopher Chase-Dunn 2005 “Global public social science” The American Sociologist 36,3-4:121-132 (Fall/Winter).

Chase-Dunn, Christopher, Ellen Reese, Mark Herkenrath, Rebecca Giem, Erika Guttierrez, Linda Kim, and Christine Petit. 2007 [forthcoming].

“North-South Contradictions and Bridges at the World Social Forum,” in NORTH AND SOUTH IN THE WORLD POLITICAL ECONOMY,

edited by Rafael Reuveny and William R. Thompson. Blackwell.

Chase-Dunn, Christopher and Ellen Reese 2008 “Global party formation in world historical perspective” in Katarina Sehm-Patomaki and Marko Ulvila (eds.)

Global Party Formation. London: Zed Press.

Smith, Jackie, Marina Karides, et al. 2007. The World Social Forum and the Challenges of Global Democracy. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.

C. Chase-Dunn and R.E. Niemeyer 2009 “The world revolution of 20xx” Pp. 35-57 in Mathias Albert, Gesa Bluhm, Han Helmig, Andreas Leutzsch, Jochen Walter (eds.) Transnational Political Spaces. Campus Verlag: Frankfurt/New York
 C. Chase-Dunn and Terry Boswell 2009 “Semiperipheral devolopment and global democracy” PP 213-232 in Owen Worth and Phoebe Moore, Globalization and the “New” Semiperipheries, Palgrave.

Christopher Chase-Dunn and Matheu Kaneshiro 2009 “Stability and Change in the contours of Alliances Among movements in the social forum process” Pp. 119-133 in David Fasenfest (ed.) Engaging Social Justice. Leiden: Brill.

Ellen Reese, Christopher Chase-Dunn, Kadambari Anantram, Gary Coyne, Matheu Kaneshiro, Ashley N. Koda, Roy Kwon and Preeta Saxena 2008

“Research Note: Surveys of World Social Forum participants show influence of place and base in the global public sphere” Mobilization: An International Journal.

13,4:431-445. Revised version in A Handbook of the World Social Forums Editors: Jackie Smith, Scott Byrd, Ellen Reeseand Elizabeth Smythe. Paradigm Publishers

C. Chase-Dunn and Nico Pascal  2014 “Articulation in the Web of Transnational Social Movements” global-e: a global studies journal. Volume 8, Issue 3 (April)

http://global-ejournal.org/2014/04/30/vol8iss3/

Kaneshiro, Matheu, Kirk S. Lawrence and C. Chase-Dunn 2015 “Global environmentalists and their movements at the World Social Forums”

Pp. 186-205 in Jackie Smith, Scott Byrd, Ellen Reese and Elizabeth Smythe (eds.) Handbook on World Social Forum Activism.  Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers

Michaela Curran, Elizabeth A. G. Schwarz* and C Chase-Dunn 2014 “The Occupy Movement in California” in Todd A. Comer ed.

What Comes After Occupy?: The Regional Politics of Resistance. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. http://irows.ucr.edu/papers/irows74/irows74.htm

C Chase-Dunn, Alessandro Morosin and Alexis Álvarez 2014 “Social Movements and Progressive Regimes in Latin America:

World Revolutions and Semiperipheral Development” in Paul Almeida and Allen Cordero Ulate (eds.) Handbook of Social Movements across Latin America, Springer

UCR Institute for Research on World-Systems

University of California-Riverside