OWS research

(On a bus near Concord, NH): Occupy Wall Street may turn out to be a historic watershed or a footnote. Either way, it is an important research opportunity, a chance to study social movements, non-hierarchical organizations, citizens’ impact on media (and vice-versa), personal change, and many other topics in real time. Thus I am very interested in Occupy Research, a wiki page that includes a research agenda, a survey instrument, a semi-structured protocol for qualitative interviews, guides for researchers, and even a sample release form. Doing this in a “wiki” style, so that anyone is allowed to edit the instruments, is of course very much in keeping with the ethos of the movement itself. Whether it will yield interesting research is an open question. I do like the instruments and questions so far.

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About Peter

Associate Dean for Research and the Lincoln Filene Professor of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Tufts University's Tisch College of Civic Life. Concerned about civic education, civic engagement, and democratic reform in the United States and elsewhere.