ABSTRACT
Activism is potentially galvanizing. While movements seek institutional change as their goal, intense participation may catalyze change in individual actors. The social movement literature is bountiful with narratives and research suggesting that the individual actors change or grow as a result of their participation. Accounts of Love Canal activism note a shift in social supports: activists were more likely to form new relationships and friendships, while nonactivists continued to rely on family relationships for social support (Edelstein 1988). Love Canal activists were also transformed in their view of their own abilities, experiencing enhanced selfworth, self-control, and personal efficacy (Edelstein 1988).
