Symbolic and Instrumental Objectives for Pro-Life Direct Action

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-1996

Publication Title

Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

Volume

35

Issue

1

First page number:

65

Last page number:

70

Abstract

In this paper, we analyze the rationales of antiabortion activists, or "rescuers," in the pro-life movement in a large Midwestern city, and we attempt to explain variation in the unconventional protest activities of such people. We find no differences between rescuers with either pragmatic or purist orientations, but we find that conviction experiences help predict the number of rescuers in which an individual activist will engage. We also find that protesters who give instrumental meanings to their activism are much more likely to participate in frequent sit-ins than those who attach a primarily symbolic meaning to their protests.

Keywords

Abortion; Political activists; Pro-life movement; Protest movements

Disciplines

American Politics | Political Science | Women's Studies

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.

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