ABSTRACT
Early socialization influences led many persisters to adopt beliefs that were in harmony with a peace action "calling". This chapter explains two dimensions of commitment—availability and opportunity—interact closely with one another. Attitudinal availability is based on the idea that a person becomes freer to pursue collective action because of a combination of beliefs and social experiences. Once the persistere developed an activist identity and sense of peace mission, situational availability was something they cultivated. Responsibilities that compete with the peace movement for an activist's time and resources reduce that person's availability for movement work. To the extent that a pressing need for action was recognized, persistere maintained or increased their availability to serve. Availability and opportunity interact to encourage persistent activism. The individual's activist identity and peace mission are reinforced by the personal investments and sacrifices required by the activist role, which also maintain that person's availability for peace activism.
