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In this lecture, focusing primarily on her work, Dr. Dana Fisher provides an overview of the concepts and methods of studies on civil society and social movements using mixed methods approaches. She notes that the research focuses on organizational and institutional forms as well as forms of action. She then presents an example of studying urban environmental stewardship to exemplify the use of mixed methods in studying civil society and highlights the use of network analysis and survey methodologies. She also presents an example of studying the climate change movement and describes the survey and social media analyses used to study the connectivity and communication within social movements.
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About the Presenters
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Dr. Dana R. Fisher is the Director of the Center for Environment, Community, & Equity at American University as well as a Professor in the School of International Service. Prior to that she was a Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Maryland. During her time with SESYNC, Dana served as a mentor for postdoctoral fellow Lorien Jasny; contributing to the Sociology Immersion Series as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar; leading a synthesis project on non-state actors in environmental governance as a Principal Investigator; and taking a sabbatical from her teaching duties to...
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Dr. Dana R. Fisher is the Director of the Center for Environment, Community, & Equity at American University as well as a Professor in the School of International Service. Prior to that she was a Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Maryland. During her time with SESYNC, Dana served as a mentor for postdoctoral fellow Lorien Jasny; contributing to the Sociology Immersion Series as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar; leading a synthesis project on non-state actors in environmental governance as a Principal Investigator; and taking a sabbatical from her teaching duties to spend time at SESYNC as a Research Fellow. Dana’s research focuses on democracy, civic participation, activism, protest, and environmental policy making. Her recent studies have looked at the youth climate movement, the movement against systemic racism, and the American Resistance. She has authored over 65 peer-reviewed research papers and book chapters, and she has written 6 books, including Activism, Inc. (Stanford University Press 2006) and American Resistance (Columbia University Press 2019). Dana has also appeared on CNN, MSNBC, and PBS Newshour, and she has written for the popular press, including the Washington Post, TIME Magazine, Politico, Business Insider, and the American Prospect. She has presented her work to the U.S. National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine; federal agencies; foundations; presidential campaigns; and other political organizations. She is currently serving as a Contributing Author for Working Group 3 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Sixth Assessment Report (IPCC AR6) writing a new section about citizen engagement and civic activism. For more information, see: www.drfisher.umd.edu.
External Links: www.danarfisher.com
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Supporting Materials
Presentation slides:
Reading list:
Connolly, J.J.T., E.S. Svendsen, D. R. Fisher, and L.K. Campbell. (2015). Mixed methods analysis of urban environmental stewardship networks. In M. Ruth, ed., Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Environmental Studies. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 102-121.
https://doi.org/10.4337/9781783474646.00011