Did the New Right radicalize the women's movement? A study of change in feminist social movement organizations, 1977 to 1987.

Abstract

This dissertation explores how the women's movement survived New Right attacks through the analysis of change in feminist social movement organizations (FSMOs) from 1977 to 1987. Nine FSMOs (3 NOW chapters, 3 anti-violence organizations, and 3 reproductive rights organizations) that experienced New Right activity are examined. The process of analytical induction guided a comparative case study approach. The original proposition asserted that environmental conditions generated by the New Right would radicalize FSMOs. Transformation patterns in collective action frames, authority mechanisms, participation options, and environmental relations were examined. Results indicated that while some radicalization occurred, most long-term change was conservative. These conservative changes were not viewed as necessarily negative, in that some resulted in more innovative and stable organizations. Developments were placed within environmental context hostile to feminism and were understood as survival strategies. This research underscores the complexity of organizational change; the importance of environmental analysis in the study of change; the consequences of pursuing social change through service delivery; the connections between ideational, structural, and material factors; and the need to examine movement-countermovement interactions over extended time periods.