Understanding the multifaceted and applied nature of collective action research

Collective action is increasingly a central feature of our ever-changing society. In this year alone, the world has seen collective action in response to the cost-of-living crisis, climate change, ongoing wars, and authoritarian regimes. The uptake in collective action within society is reflected in this growing area of research.

Given the importance of this topic, some of the questions we sought to address in this conference, which took place between 29 – 31 August at Durham University in the UK, included: What insights from the field can inform our theoretical and empirical contribution and vice versa? What are the key gaps in theorising and research in collective action that need to be addressed? How can our research facilitate positive social change in an increasingly more complex and fragmented world? In what contexts is our current understanding of collective action no longer applicable and perhaps outdated? And how can we learn from and contribute to practitioners working for social change? 

By exploring these questions, the meeting aimed to 1) bring together collective action researchers to build connections and showcase the growing research on this timely and important topic, and 2) serve as a catalyst for driving forward new directions in the field of collective action research.

Submissions

We were happy to see that our community cares about this topic, and we received around 100 excellent submissions. The selection was very tough, but in the end, a diverse group of 78 researchers attended this meeting, which was the first to be held by the Collective Action Network (CAN). We chose to hold a hybrid meeting to ensure participation regardless of institutional funding, visa requirements, ability to travel and/or caring responsibilities. 

To further inclusivity and interdisciplinarity, we invited colleagues from Durham University from psychology, sociology, philosophy and geography (about 20 or so joined the conference over the course of three days). Moreover, we shared the webinar invitation with all members of the Collective Action Network (about 300), and we will share the recorded session on the network's YouTube channel to increase the visibility of our participants' fantastic talks (with their permission).

What the talks covered

The talks delivered at the meeting were both informative and inspiring, offering valuable insights that sparked productive debate and discussion. The topics covered in the presentations were grouped around 14 issues including:

●      Violent, extreme, reactionary, and confrontational collective action

●      Initiation and sustainment of collective action

●      Contact and collective action

●      Collective action and wellbeing

●      Solidarity-based collective action and allyship

●      Environmental collective action

●      LGBTQIA+ collective action

●      Morality and emotions in collective action

●      The role of inequality in collective action

●      The role of ethnic-racial-national relations in collective action

●      Applications of SICMA to strikes and professionals

●      Collective action for gender rights

●      Forms and typologies of collective action

●      Interdisciplinary lenses and teaching of collective action

The research presented covered a diverse array of topics (e.g. different forms of collective action, the antecedents and outcomes of collective action, collective action for different causes), methods (e.g. qualitative interviews, big X/Twitter data analyses, systematic reviews, experimental studies), and contexts (e.g. Turkey, Hong Kong, Chile, Lebanon, Hungary, Australia, and Nigeria).

The meeting not only featured presentations and discussions but also included a roundtable event solidarity with Palestine within and outside of academia, which included local activists and colleagues. The sharing of ideas continued with a tour of Durham Cathedral, dinner and drinks, and a visit to Newcastle. 

Expanding our network

We also did not forget social media and decided to share all the speakers' presentation topics on X/Twitter (@CANetwork). We gained more attention and followers after the CAN meeting in Durham (we have 314 followers right now). For anyone interested in joining the network please sign up here: https://forms.gle/wdhryzndAn4w5FgB8.

The organisers of the meeting would like to express thanks to the presenters, students who helped organise the conference, Durham University and funders (EASP, BPS, and SPSSI). It was a wonderful experience to bring so many diverse scholars from various career stages and host them at Durham University. We, the organisers, have learned a lot from this experience and received valuable feedback from our attendees on how to do an even better job in future.

Challenges

While the overall experience was fantastic, we also faced many challenges in bringing everything together due to financial difficulties and having to apply to multiple sources to cover the basic costs. We are happy and grateful to our sponsors for their support. Still, we want to take this opportunity to also reflect on the necessity of properly resourcing small group meetings as, unfortunately, the financial costs of holding meetings are quite high. Our attendees expressed that future meetings should take place in more affordable, easier-to-reach locations, and we hope to deliver that promise with more support from our associations. 

On behalf of the organisers, 

Dr Maja Kutlaca, Dr Özden Melis Uluğ, and Dr Helena Radke