Part I: INTRODUCTION: Theory and Research
1. Collective Events and Social Life
The Nature of Collective Events / Collective Behavior and Collective Action / Collective Action: A New Outlook / Plan of the Book
2. Perspectives on Collective Behavior and Collective Action
Perspectives on Collective Behavior / Collective Behavior Has Many Causes / Perspectives on Collective Action / Collective Action and Social Movements / Summary
3. Studying Collective Behavior and Collective Action
Using Historical Material / Using Surveys, Official Statistics and Archives / Using Experiments / Using Observation / Using Video and Film Records / Using Computer Simulation / Summary
Part II: COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR AND COLLECTIVE ACTION IN EVERYDAY LIFE
4. Rumor and Communication
The Evolution of the Rumor / Rumor and Theories of Collective Behavior / Classical Approaches to Rumor / Communication and Theories of Collective Action / Summary
5. Mass Hysteria
Unusual Events and Mass Hysteria / Empirical Focus of Mass Hysteria Studies / Explanations of Mass Hysteria / Collective Action and Unusual Events: The Enfield Monster / Summary
6. UFOs
UFOs and Collective Behavior / Explanations for UFOs / The UFO and Collective Action / UFOs as a Public Relations Problem / The UFO as a Cultural Icon / The National Security State, the New World Order, and Exopolitics / Summary
7. Fads and Fashion
Fads and Social Life / Three Kinds of Fads / Comparing Fads and Fashion / Fads and Fashion as Collective Behavior / Fads and Fashion as Collective Action / Summary
8. Sports
Sports as Collective Behavior / Spectator Violence / The Quest for Excitement vs. the Civilization Process / Sports as Collective Action / Sports as Social Movements / Summary
Part III: COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR AND COLLECTIVE ACTION: Threats to the Social Order
9. Migrations
The Irish Migration / The Freedom Flotilla / Migrations as Collective Behavior / Migrations as Collective Action / Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons / Summary
10. Individuals in Disaster
Response to Disaster / Disaster: Levels of Analysis / Panic and Disaster / Media Reporting of Disasters / Emergency Evacuations and Collective Action / Causes of Multifatality Evacuations / Altruism and Disaster / Summary
11. Organizations, Communities, and Societies in Disaster
Organizations in Disaster: The Johnstown Flood / Communities in Disaster: Rescue of Air Crash Victims / Societies in Disaster: The Midwest Flood of 1993 / Organizational Responses to Disaster / Community Responses to Disaster / Classification of Societies in Disaster / Societal Consequences of Disaster / Technological Disasters / Summary
12. Individuals and Riots
Types of Riots / Riots as Collective Behavior / Riot Participation Studies / Riots as Collective Action / Summary
13. Organizational, Community, and Societal Responses to Riots
The Watts Riot: August 11–22, 1965 / Legal Definitions of Riots / Organizations and Riots / Escalated Force and Crowd Control / Communities and Riots / Societies and Riots / Summary
14. Protest
An Example of Protracted Protest / The Protest Continuum / Protest as Collective Behavior / Protest as Collective Action / Protest as a Political Resource / The Dynamics of Protest / Summary
15. Social Movements as Collective Behavior
The Tea Party Movement / The Moral Majority / Major Political Events / Mass Hysteria Theory / Emergent-Norm Theory / Value-Added Theory / Summary
16. Social Movements as Collective Action
Economic Globalization / Poland's Solidarity Movement / Resource Mobilization Theory / Political process: The Merging of Social Movements and Conventional Politics / Summary
592 pages, $75.95 list
1-4786-0057-8
978-1-4786-0057-2
© 2014
paperback
Test Items available
eBook availability
Introduction to Collective Behavior and Collective Action
Third Edition
David Miller’s expanded third edition makes it the definitive source on collective behavior and collective action. Up-to-date and meticulously researched, this popular volume continues to provide a systematic overview of theory and research. Each topic is meaningfully linked to the appropriate theories of collective behavior (mass hysteria, emergent-norm, and value-added perspectives) and collective action (social-behavioral interactionist, resource mobilization, and perception control perspectives). Rumor, mass hysteria, fads and fashion, UFOs, sports, migrations, disasters, riots, protest, and social movements are among the topics presented in a unique side-by-side presentation of the two disciplines. In an engaging, accessible style, Miller offers detailed discussion of classic sociological studies interspersed with intriguing modern-day examples that students will enjoy reading. His thorough topical treatment effectively reduces the need for outside readings.
New to this edition:
• A new emphasis on the impact of social media, technology, and citizen journalism on social movements, including resource mobilization, rumor and communication, disaster response, and documentation of human rights abuses and political protest such as the Arab Spring, the Tea Party movement, and the Occupy movement.
• Comprehensive discussion of economic globalization, the alter-globalization movement, and transnational activism, including the strategic incapacitation approach to the policing of large global demonstrations.
• Insightful analysis and application of the latest egress-modeling and crowd-control computer simulations and qualitative data-analysis software.
• Improved graphics and new photos that enhance the author’s updated treatment, and an intriguing appendix on the social psychology of George Herbert Mead by collective behavior/collective action authority and crowd behavior expert Clark McPhail.
New to this edition:
• A new emphasis on the impact of social media, technology, and citizen journalism on social movements, including resource mobilization, rumor and communication, disaster response, and documentation of human rights abuses and political protest such as the Arab Spring, the Tea Party movement, and the Occupy movement.
• Comprehensive discussion of economic globalization, the alter-globalization movement, and transnational activism, including the strategic incapacitation approach to the policing of large global demonstrations.
• Insightful analysis and application of the latest egress-modeling and crowd-control computer simulations and qualitative data-analysis software.
• Improved graphics and new photos that enhance the author’s updated treatment, and an intriguing appendix on the social psychology of George Herbert Mead by collective behavior/collective action authority and crowd behavior expert Clark McPhail.