1. Collective Behavior (Ch. 21)

2. Collective Behavior Social forces arising out of the interactions of large numbers of people and groups Looks at the broader socio-cultural environments Economic structures Stratification orders Technological systems of communication/transp ortation Family processes Demographics Value systems

3. Why participate? Felt sense of exhilaration and power of their unity in numbers “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts…” http://www.crazyfads.com

4. Examples of Collective Behavior The “wave” at a sporting eventwave Religious revivals Public religious rituals War of the Worlds broadcast (1938) War of the Worlds – Collective hysteria Windshield-pitting incident in WA (April 1954) – Mass delusion

5. Early Observations of Collective Behavior Charles Mackay (British) Observed country folks doing things completely out of the ordinary – People had a herd mentality Gustave LeBon (French) People felt anonymous in crowds, thus felt less accountable for what they do – Development of the collective mind, people are swept up by almost any suggestion

6. Early Observations of Collective Behavior Robert Park (American) Collective impulse is transmitted from one person to another in a crowd Same thing as collective mind Herbert Blumer (American Identified 5 stages of an acting crowd – Excited group moving towards a goal – Still dominates police manuals on crowd behavior

7. Blumer’s Model of an Acting Crowd Tension/unrest – Background condition of tension/unrest  people become apprehensive  vulnerable to rumors/suggestions Exciting event – Event so startling that people become preoccupied with it

8. Blumer’s Model of an Acting Crowd Milling – People standing/walking around, talking about the event – Pick up cues of the “right” way of thinking/feeling  later reinforced in the group Common object of attention – Group’s focus on a particular part of the event, which sometimes can be untrue or highly exaggerated

9. Blumer’s Model of an Acting Crowd Common impulses – Group members feel they are in agreement w/each other on what should be done – Agreement stimulated by social contagion

10. Social Movements: The Occupy Movement

11. Occupy Movement – Beliefs Solidarity – http://www.nycga.net/reso urces/principles-of- solidarity/ http://www.nycga.net/reso urces/principles-of- solidarity/ Autonomy – http://www.nycga.net/reso urces/statement-of- autonomy/ http://www.nycga.net/reso urces/statement-of- autonomy/ Occupation – http://www.nycga.net/reso urces/declaration/ http://www.nycga.net/reso urces/declaration/ Right to Occupy Space – http://occupywallst.org/art icle/everyone-has-right- occupy-space-safely/ http://occupywallst.org/art icle/everyone-has-right- occupy-space-safely/

12. Occupy Timeline 9/17/2011 – Group organized in Zucotti Park, ManhattanZucotti Park – Known as Occupy Wall Street 10/9/11 – Had Occupy locations in 95 cities across 92 countries, and 600+ communities in the U.S. 1/22/12 – OccupyTogether lists 2,818 Occupy-communities around the world OccupyTogether

13. Occupy Videos Washington DC – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6VmmKrFkaY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6VmmKrFkaY New York City – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpq-moDIkl8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpq-moDIkl8 London – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GvfRjimMT8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GvfRjimMT8

14. Occupy Videos/Hand Signs Occupy Protocol on taking care of Nature’s calls – http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=iGC2R428eO4 http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=iGC2R428eO4

15. We Are the 99% Political slogan used by Occupy protesters – Refers to vast concentration of wealth by the top 1% of income earners in U.S. – Suggest that the 99% are paying the price for the mistakes of the 1% 1% = $500,000+/yr. in yearly income

16. We Are the 99% – True or False? According to the CBO, b/w 1979-2007 – Incomes of U.S.’ top 1% grew by 275% – Incomes of U.S.’ middle 60% grew by 40% 2007 – Richest 1% of U.S. owned 34.6% of total wealth in U.S. – Next 19% owned 50.5%

17. Occupy Movement Goals Est. a Robin Hood tax – Taxes on range of financial transactions – Affect: Individual investors Banks Hedge funds Other financial institutions Attempt to raise $$$ for international development, protecting the environment, and public services

18. Occupy Movement Goals End corrupting influence of money on politics – Tighten banking industry regulations – Ban high-frequency trading – Arrest all “financial fraudsters” responsible for the 2008 crash – Form a presidential commission to investigate/prosecute corruption in politics

19. Occupy Movement Goals More/better jobs More equal distribution of income Bank reform Reduce influence of corporations on politics

20. Impacts on the U.S.? Shift in national dialogue of national debt to the economic problems many ordinary Americans face – Unemployment – Personal/college student debt – Homelessness – Income inequality Others see the movement as disruptive and a waste of time