ABSTRACT
This chapter-a meditation of sorts-takes up the idea of cross-sector social partners as movement activists. Some precedent for this line of inquiry has been established by Davis and Zald (2005), who suggest that organizations can be “the context for, the actors in, and the objects of social movements” (p. 337, emphasis added). Building on this notion, I want to make the case that there is something to be gained by conceptualizing CSSPs not just as alliances but as social movement organizations. The hope is that recasting them in this manner will offer novel theoretical insights and practical benefits that may assist higher education in better fulfilling a range of public purposes in concert with other actors. Indeed, the ultimate objective behind the exercise is to extract more social value from CSSPs, to better fit them to social purpose.
