John D. McCarthy Award
Below are the recent recipients of the John D. McCarthy Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Scholarship of Social Movements and Collective Behavior, presented by the Center for the Study of Social Movements at the University of Notre Dame.
The 2024 McCarthy Award Winner is Dr. Donatella della Porta!
Dr. Donatella della Porta is a professor of political science, dean of the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences and Director of the PhD program in Political Science and Sociology at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Florence, where she also leads the Center on Social Movement Studies.
She received a BA at the University of Catania, a Diplôme d'Etudes Approfondies at Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France and Ph.D. at European University Institute. In 2011, she was the recipient of the Mattei Dogan Prize for distinguished achievements in the field of political sociology. In 2021, she was awarded the Forschungspreise of the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung, for life achievements as a highly prominent international scholar. She is Honorary Doctor of the universities of Lausanne, Bucharest, Goteborg, Jyvaskyla and the University of Peloponnese.
Dr. della Porta’s research topics include social movements, political violence, terrorism, corruption, the police and protest policing. She has directed the project “Mobilizing for Democracy,” studying civil society participation in democratization processes in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. She is the author or editor of 90 books, 150 journal articles and 150 contributions in edited volumes. According to Google Scholar, her work has been cited almost 55,000 times.
As the 2024 recipient of the McCarthy Award, we recognize Dr. della Porta’s influential career and her continued invaluable contribution to social movement research.
2023 McCarthy Award Winner!
The recipient of the 2023 McCarthy award is Dr. Hank Johnston! Dr. Johnston is a professor of sociology at San Diego State University, where he also coordinates the Peace Corps Prep Program and is the former Hansen Chair of Peace and Nonviolence Studies. He has an MBA from New York University, and received his PhD in sociology from the University of California, San Diego.
Dr. Johnston has authored or co-authored almost twenty books, monographs, and edited collections. He has published over twenty articles spanning journals such as Mobilization, Sociology of Religion, Sociological Perspectives, Societies, Political Studies, and more. According to Google Scholar, his work has been cited over 11,000 times. His groundbreaking book, Social Movements and Culture, has been cited over 1,100 times alone.
Dr. Johnston is the founding editor and publisher of Mobilization: An International Quarterly, which is the leading research journal on protest and social movements. He also coordinates the annual Mobilization conference at San Diego State University.
Dr. Johnston’s research analyzes cultural and interpretative dimensions of protest campaigns and social movements, especially nonviolent forms of resistance in repressive states. His current research compares nonviolent resistance in repressive contexts such as China and Eastern Europe under the communists.
2019 McCarthy Award Winner!
Suzanne’s groundbreaking work, published in numerous books and countless articles, has shaped our thinking about activist causes, such as gender equality, abortion rights, and protecting the environment. Yet her work has also consistently generated foundational insights about organizational and protest dynamics more generally, highlighting processes related to coalitions formation, transnational activism, and drawing on central insights in the social movement field--transforming them in ways that have set the agenda for those who wish to understand twenty-first century activism.The Center for the Study of Social Movements at the University of Notre Dame is very pleased to announce that the winner of the 2019 John D. McCarthy Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Scholarship of Social Movements and Collective Behavior is Suzanne Staggenborg of the University of Pittsburgh. The award not only recognizes Suzanne’s extraordinary achievements in research, but also the role that she has played in mentoring successive generations of scholars.
2018 McCarthy Award Winner!
The Center for the Study of Social Movements at the University of Notre Dame is very pleased to announce that the winner of the 2017 John D. McCarthy Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Scholarship of Social Movements and Collective Behavior is Aldon Morris of Northwestern University. The award not only recognizes Aldon’s extraordinary achievements in research, but also the role that he has played in mentoring successive generations of scholars.
Aldon’s early path-breaking analyses of the civil rights movement continue to strongly influence the way that we think about social movements and the way that we think about overcoming racial inequality. Aldon has also demonstrated remarkable intellectual breadth throughout his career, most recently showcased in his critically acclaimed book, The Scholar Denied: W.E.B DuBois and the Birth of Modern Sociology. This work goes far beyond social movement scholarship and leads us to reconsider the development of sociology as a whole.
Former Winners:
2017 - David Meyer
A Few Classic Publications:
- Meyer, D.S., 2004. Protest and political opportunities. Annual Review of Sociology., 30, pp.125-145.
- Meyer, D.S. and Whittier, N., 1994. Social movement spillover. Social problems, 41(2), pp.277-298.
- Meyer, D.S., 1990. A winter of discontent: The nuclear freeze and American politics.
2016 - Kathleen Blee
McCarthy Lecture: "The (un)happy Marriage of Far Right Studies and Social Movement Theory"
A Few Classic Publications:
- Blee, Kathleen. 2002. Inside Organized Racism: Women in the Hate Movement. University of California Press.
- Blee, Kathleen. 1991. Women in the Klan: Racism and Gender in the 1920s. University of California Press.
- Billings, Dwight B. and Kathleen M. Blee. 2000. The Road to Poverty: The Making of Wealth and Hardship in Appalachia
2015 – Sidney Tarrow
McCarthy Lecture: "Only Connect": The Relational Persuasion in Contentious Politics Research."
A Few Classic Publications:
- Tarrow, Sidney. 2005. The New Transnational Activism.
- McAdam, Doug, Sidney Tarrow, and Charles Tilly. 2001. Dynamics of Contention.
- Tarrow, Sidney. 1994. Power in Movement: Social Movements, Collective Action, and Politics.
2014 – Bert Klandermans
McCarthy Lecture: “The Virtue of Comparison: on Times, Places, Issues, and Activities.”
A Few Classic Publications:
- Klandermans, Bert. 1997. The Social Psychology of Protest. Blackwell Publishers.
- Klandermans, Bert. 1995. Social Movements and Culture. Routledge.
- Klandermans, Bert, and Dirk Oegema. 1987. "Potentials, Networks, Motivations, and Barriers: Steps Towards Participation in Social Movements." American Sociological Review 52(4): 519-531.
2013 – David Snow
McCarthy Lecture: "Social Movements, Framing Processes, and Cultural Revitalization and Fabrication."
A Few Classic Publications:
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Snow, David A., Sarah Soule, and Hanspeter Kriesi. 2004. The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements. Wiley-Blackwell.
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Snow, David A., E. Burke Rochford Jr, Steven K. Worden, and Robert D. 1986. Benford. "Frame alignment processes, micromobilization, and movement participation." American Sociological Review 51(4): 464-81.
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Snow, David A., Louis A. Zurcher Jr, and Sheldon Ekland-Olson. 1980. "Social networks and social movements: A microstructural approach to differential recruitment." American Sociological Review 45(5): 787-801.
2012 – Pamela Oliver
McCarthy Lecture: "Making Ethnicity and Class Central in Social Movement Theorizing"
A Few Classic Publications:
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Marwell, Gerald, and Pamela Oliver. 1993. The Critical Mass in Collective Action. Cambridge University Press.
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Oliver, Pamela. 1984. "'If You Don't Do It, Nobody Else Will': Active and Token Contributors to Local Collective Action." American Sociological Review 49(5): 601-610.
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Oliver, Pamela. 1980. "Rewards and Punishments as Selective Incentives for Collective Action: Theoretical Investigations." American Journal of Sociology 85(6): 1356-1375.
2011 – William Gamson
McCarthy Lecture: “From Outsiders to Insiders: The Changing Perception of Emotional Culture Among Social Movement Scholars"
A Few Classic Publications:
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Gamson, William A. 1992. Talking Politics. Cambridge University Press.
- Gamson, William A. 1975. The Strategy of Social Protest. Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press.
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Gamson, William A. 1968. Power and Discontent. Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press.
2010 – Doug McAdam
A Few Classic Publications:
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McAdam, Doug, Sidney Tarrow, and Charles Tilly. 2001. Dynamics of Contention. Cambridge University Press.
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McAdam, Doug. 1990. Freedom Summer. Oxford University Press.
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McAdam, Doug. 1982. Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency, 1930-1970. University of Chicago Press.
2009 – Mayer Zald
A Few Classic Publications:
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Zald, Mayer N., and John D. McCarthy. 1987. Social Movements in an Organizational Society. Transaction Pub.
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McCarthy, John D., and Mayer N. Zald. 1977. "Resource Mobilization and Social Movements: A Partial Theory." American Journal of Sociology 82(6): 1212-1241.
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Zald, Mayer N., and Roberta Ash. 1966. "Social Movement Organizations: Growth, Decay and Change." Social Forces 44(3): 327-341.
2008 – Verta Taylor
A Few Classic Publications:
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Taylor, Verta, and Nancy E. Whittier. 1999. "Collective Identity in Social Movement Communities: Lesbian Feminist." Pp. 169-194 in Waves of Protest: Social Movements Since the Sixties.
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Rupp, Leila J., and Verta A. Taylor. 1990. Survival in the Doldrums: The American Women's Rights Movement, 1945 to the 1960s. Ohio State University Press.
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Taylor, Verta. 1989. "Social Movement Continuity: The Women's Movement in Abeyance." American Sociological Review 54(5): 761-775.
2007 – John D. McCarthy
A Few Classic Publications:
- McCarthy, John D., Clark McPhail, and Jackie Smith. 1996. "Images of Protest: Dimensions of Selection Bias in Media Coverage of Washington Demonstrations, 1982 and 1991." American Sociological Review 61(3): 478-499.
- Zald, Mayer N., and John D. McCarthy. 1987. Social Movements in an Organizational Society. Transaction Pub.
- McCarthy, John D., and Mayer N. Zald. 1977. "Resource Mobilization and Social Movements: A Partial Theory." American Journal of Sociology 82(6): 1212-1241.
Former winners at the 2013 event, from right to left: Pam Oliver, John McCarthy, David Snow, Doug McAdam, and Verta Taylor