Activists, Categories and Markets: Racial Diversity and Protests Against Wal-Mart Store Openings in America
Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 31: 235-253, 2010
Posted: 7 Nov 2012
Date Written: June 6, 2010
Abstract
Identity movements rely on a shared we-feeling amongst a community of participants. In turn, such shared identities are possible when movement participants can self-categorize themselves as belonging to one group. We address a debate as to whether community diversity enhances or impedes such protests, and investigate the role of racial diversity since it is a simple, accessible, and visible basis of community diversity and social categorization. We focus on American communities’ protests against Wal-Mart’s entry from 1998 until 2005 and ask whether racial diversity affects protests after accounting for a community’s sense of pride and attachment to their town. We use distance from historical monuments as a proxy of a community’s pride and attachment, and after controlling for it, we find that community’s racial homogeneity significantly increases protests against Wal-Mart.
Keywords: Walmart protest, social movement, community homogeneity, identity
JEL Classification: M10, M14
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation