Political Shocks and Social Movements

This special issue of American Behavioral Scientist, “Activism After 9/11,” addresses a void in the social movement research literature and illuminates the practical implications of political shocks, or dramatic changes to international and/or national systems that fundamentally alter the processes, relationships, and expectations that drive political interactions, on social movements and democratic processes. The nine original research articles in this volume examine how political shocks shape state response and, in turn, how these responses—represented in both policy and rhetoric—affect movement trajectories, opportunities for democratic expansion, democratic participation and protest, and coalition building. The work in this issue highlights the need for social scientists and citizens alike to understand how political shocks like 9/11 affect consensus, dissent, state transparency, and democratic processes more generally.