The analysis of popular collective action

Most models of popular collective action treat it as the behavior of single social units having unitary dispositions that explain the behavior. Since in fact it consists largely of strategic interaction among several parties, activates and builds on existing social networks, and follows a dynamic that no single-actor model can represent, available models are inadequate. Through sustained discussion of the rural conflicts of 1830 in England, this paper illustrates the critique, sketches an alternative approach centering on the analysis of repertoires of contention, and describes techniques for standardizing narratives of contention that are compatible with the alternative approach.