The Strategies and Contexts of Social Protest: political mediation and the impact of the Townsend Movement in California” by Amenta, Halfamann

The article “The Strategies and Contexts of Social Protest: political mediation and the impact
of the Townsend Movement in California” by Amenta, Halfamann, and Young provides insight
on how the success or failure of the strategies employed by members of a social movement is
determined, in part, by the political climate that the social movement faces. When the political
climate is favorable for the objectives of a social movement, the movement is likely to find
success even by using less assertive or “mild” tactics. When the political climate is not
favorable, then the members of that social movement will likely need to employ tactics that are
more assertive and more radical. We have read about various twentieth century US social
movements including the women suffrage movement, various labor movements, the Garvey
movement, the Townsend movement, American Socialist and Communist movements, the Civil
Rights movement and the anti-war movement and others. These movements employed a
number of strategies including publishing articles, circulating petitions, labor strikes, boycotts,
sit-ins, and mass migration to name a few.
In this essay, pick any one of the social movements we have discussed and one or two of the
strategies they used. Using the information you have from course readings, assigned videos,and class lectures about the political climate that the social movement you picked faced,
discuss whether you think the argument of the article by Amenta, Halfmann, and Young holds
true in this case or not.