i	Sociology 432: Social Movements

"Matewan"

(PN1997.M29 1987)

This is the story of a coal miners' strike in the first third of the century. It is a good case study of the causes of success and failure in social movements.

Your task is to evaluate various factors that sociological theory has said are important for movement success:

• Most important is the role of the state. For Matewan, this is especially the role of the local government. In what ways was this case unusual? How important was this for the miners' success? The role of the state and federal government is only alluded to but that is important too.

• Second, what is the importance of internal divisions, especially ethnic and racial divisions? This is perhaps the most common contemporary explanation of the failure of the American union movement. How does "Matewan" help us evaluate that explanation?

• What was the mining company's strategy?

• What was the role of culture? For Matewan, the primary cultural institution is religion and the church.