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Organizing resistance: Resistance and identity in student activist coalitions

Eakle, Elaina Helene
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1564676169027417

Abstract Details

2019, MA, Kent State University, College of Communication and Information / School of Communication Studies.
The organizing practices of student activist organizations are becoming increasingly relevant to organizational communication scholars as activist efforts continue to gain prevalence on college campuses. However, while student activism has been explored as an act of resistance, student organizing practices provide an opportunity to expand on such studies by identifying the intersection of resistance, activism, and identity. Further, recent developments in student activist organizing enable expansion of extant understandings of organized resistance in relation to identity. Coalition-building holds significant potential in expanding student activist organizing efforts yet produces numerous identify-related challenges. This study illuminates the role of identity and resistance in student activist coalition-building, using social identity theory (SIT) as a lens for analysis. Though identity has been considered in individual instances of resistance, scholars have yet to fully address the role identity plays in organizing around resistance, including the ways in which individual and collective identities may enable or constrain student activist organizing. Further, resistance itself may become an identity around which to organize, such as when individuals identify as resisters or activists in general, rather than specifically associating with a particular social justice cause. Drawing from the case of two student activist coalitions at a large, Midwestern university, I explore the organizing processes of student activist coalitions. Using qualitative methods including semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and document analysis, I collected data that yielded three key themes. First, while coalition-building appeared to be valuable in theory, it was dysfunctional in practice, as both coalitions had disorganized. Second, student activists faced numerous barriers in coalition-building, including constraints related to the student experience as well as institutional support. Finally, interpersonal and intergroup dynamics combined to enable and constrain organizing processes. This study offers theoretical contributions in suggesting revisions to SIT as well as expanding studies of resistance within communication. This study also offers pragmatic applications in highlighting areas in need of change for both students and higher education administrators in order to facilitate student activist organizing.
Cristin Compton, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Suzy D’Enbeau, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Ikram Toumi, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
118 p.
Communication
student activism, identity, organizational communication, resistance, qualitative methods

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Eakle, E. H. (2019). Organizing resistance: Resistance and identity in student activist coalitions [Master's thesis, Kent State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1564676169027417

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Eakle, Elaina. Organizing resistance: Resistance and identity in student activist coalitions . 2019. Kent State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1564676169027417.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Eakle, Elaina. "Organizing resistance: Resistance and identity in student activist coalitions ." Master's thesis, Kent State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1564676169027417

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

kent1564676169027417
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This open access ETD is published by Kent State University and OhioLINK.