SOC 5800 - [Identity and Interest in Collective Action]

Fall. 4 credits.

Next offered 2014-2015.

M. Macy.

This research seminar examines the problem of collective action from alternative theoretical perspectives: one centered on shared interests, the other on common identities.  The former claims that groups are held together because the members are interdependent and thus benefit from mutual trust and cooperation in a common endeavor. Identity theorists contend that trust and cooperation may also depend on affective and normative ties among participants who share a salient demarcation (including a “shared fate”). We will explore this debate, and its possible resolution, through an examination of formal theoretical studies (including game theoretic, evolutionary, and agent-based models) as well as empirical research using experimentation and comparative case analysis. We will also examine research on informal social control (including reciprocity and reputation systems), social networks, and mobilizing strategies as mechanisms for reconciling the tension between individual self interest and collective obligations. The primary goal is to identify, formulate, and launch promising research projects, and to that end, seminar members will be expected to critically engage the literature each week and to write a final paper that advances original research (as a detailed prospectus or, where practical, as a publishable article).