Lexington Books
Pages: 274
•
Trim: 6½ x 9¼
978-1-4985-6897-5 • Hardback • November 2018 • $142.00 • (£109.00)
978-1-4985-6899-9 • Paperback • July 2020 • $47.99 • (£37.00)
Matthew Kearney received his PhD in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and postdoctoral training at McGill University.
Preface
Introduction
Chapter 1: Analyzing the 2010 Elections
Chapter 2: Summary History of the Wisconsin Uprising
Chapter 3: The Source of Collective Effervescence: Conceptual Foundations
Chapter 4: Totally Alive: Effervescence in the Wisconsin Uprising
Chapter 5: Internal Order and Youth Authority in the Wisconsin Uprising
Chapter 6: The Information Station
Chapter 7: Mobilization in the Wisconsin Uprising: Conceptual Foundations
Chapter 8: We Just Had To Do It: Escalating Obligation in the Wisconsin Uprising
Chapter 9: Self-Interest and Altruism: Union Concessions in the Wisconsin Uprising
Conclusion: The Social Order of Collective Action
References
At the heart of Kearney’s book is a conventional study with unconventional findings. . . It is unconventional in that its findings will shake some of the presuppositions of traditional social movement theory. The most compelling argument in this respect is the lack of a role for formal organization, and the importance of elements of order that are emergent from the social action itself. A lot of this must be put down to the insider perspective of the book: Kearney was an active player in the events as well as a social researcher of them. This enables him to move beyond the impression that this was a union-organized protest and allows him to unpack the role of formal organizations to the point at which they disappear. It also provides a rich sequential narrative of the protest events that retains elements that too often get expunged by scholarly movement analysis: the anger, the excitement, the confusion, the hope, and the ebbing away of all of these (despite the large numbers, the uprising failed to impact policy). In short, it retains a complexity to the action that surely comes from having been a part of its very unfolding.
— American Journal of Sociology
The Wisconsin uprising of 2011 was a struggle against the forces that would eventually unleash the politics of Donald Trump. In that sense, this period must be studied as a cautionary tale. But it is more than that. The vibrant protests against Governor Scott Walker's neoliberal extremism ushered in a new era of economic and social justice activism that would influence all the movements that will eventually shape a new politics and a new society. Matt Kearney recognizes all of these dynamics and his combination of on-the-ground reporting and deep scholarship makes this an essential book about a moment in history and the whole history of our times.— John Nichols, The Nation, author, Uprising: How Wisconsin Renewed The Politics Of Protest, From Madison To Wall Street