ABSTRACT
Mass movements mobilize people who are alienated from the going system, who do not believe in the legitimacy of the established order, and who therefore are ready to engage in efforts to destroy it. The working classes have the weakest ties to the social order, not only because they receive the smallest benefits from it but also because they have the fewest opportunities to participate in it. Certain industries sharply isolate their workers from the larger society, and therefore these workers are more readily available for mass actions. In the United States, the Western Federation of Miners provided over half the membership of the anarcho-syndicalist Industrial Workers of the World at its founding convention in 1905. Workers who are socially isolated manifest the greater susceptibility to mass tendencies. This is reflected in the greater extremism of workers in mining and maritime industries, since the industries isolate their workers from the larger society.
