ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter, I reviewed the main theoretical approaches in SM studies in terms of their positions on the ideational aspects of social movements, namely dissident knowledge. I recognized a gap between those who tend to reduce collective cognition to the agential issues – for instance, the pragmatic aims of activists in convincing others to change their preferences and to resonate with activists’ actions – and those who try to link directly the development of collective action to the broader structural factors, such as changes in the role of the state, the value systems, or in the relations of production. However, as I have previously mentioned this gap is less relevant to certain recent integrative endeavors. In order to fill the gap and in harmony with recent calls for nonreductionist syntheses, the previous chapter was an appeal for the necessity of explaining those social mechanisms that bring about new modes of thought and solidarity through contesting identities and structural complexities. This can be facilitated by employing an adjusted version of the sociology of knowledge in SM studies.
