Blackwell Reference Online

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Social movement leaders act and make decisions on the behalf of the movements they represent and therefore wield influence on the movement's trajectory. In this light, early scholarship addressed how leaders’ personal qualities affect the character and actions of their movements. Mills (1971) notably identified union leader characteristics as telling of the distinctions between the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations. Stepan-Norris and Zeitlin (2003) extended this line of research by documenting the differential success of communist and non-communist leaders in collective bargaining accomplishments, union democracy, and attention to minority and women's rights. Similarly, Ganz (2000) partially credited the successful unionization of California's farmworkers (1960s–1970s) to the personal biographies, networks, and repertoires of leaders in the United Farm Workers Union. Social movements provide leaders with selective incentives, and scholars have examined how they matter. McCarthy and Zald (1977) consider paid versus voluntary service as well as positions that provide career-building experience versus those that do not. Traditionally, positions that provide both salary and career experience are considered to be professional as opposed to nonprofessional leadership positions ( Staggenborg 1988 ). Students of social movements have similarly ... log in or subscribe to read full text