Allies Forging Collective Identity: Embodiment and Emotions on the Migrant Trail

Abstract

This article examines how embodied experience and the accompanying emotions help social movement allies to forge collective identity. The analysis is based on the Migrant Trail, an annual protest event in which allies of the border-justice movement spend a week walking seventy-five miles through the U.S.-Mexico borderlands to protest migrant deaths. Original data include four years of participant observation, interviews conducted during the 2011 Migrant Trail, and surveys conducted a year and a half after the event. Findings suggest that embodied and emotional experiences help allies overcome challenges such as social distance from beneficiaries, a lack of credibility in the movement, and no lineage of resistance. This study contributes to an understanding of collective identity formation among allies and offers an illustrative case for the important role embodiment plays in the emotions of collective action.

Are social movements truly social? The prosocial and antisocial outcomes of social movements

“…Some emerging studies have shown that social movements facilitate immersive travel or establish “movement schools” (Isaac, Jacobs, Kucinskas, & McGrath, 2020) for the express purpose of instilling participants with prosocial attitudes. For example, Adler (2019) and Russo (2014) have both published studies of U.S. immigrant rights organizations that facilitate travel immersion programs, bringing U.S. citizens face‐to‐face with the harsh realities of life on the U.S.‐Mexico border. Their studies show that people who participate in activities such as walking across hot deserts report higher levels of prosocial attitudes, specifically compassion and empathy toward immigrants.…”

“…Their studies show that people who participate in activities such as walking across hot deserts report higher levels of prosocial attitudes, specifically compassion and empathy toward immigrants. Additionally, Russo (2014) produces evidence that participants who report higher levels of empathy toward immigrants in turn engage in prosocial activities upon returning home; she writes of one participant who began volunteering at a local migrant rights organization, where she was “involved in community education, abuse documentation, etc.” (p. 74), and another participant who left an administrative position in a hospital to become “a Spanish teacher for students with disabilities” (p. 74). However, Adler (2019) cautions that increased empathy does not always translate into action, as most of the participants surveyed did not engage in any volunteer work with immigrant populations upon returning home (p. 214).…”

Representative Group Styles: How Ally Immigrant Rights Organizations Promote Immigrant Involvement

“…Social movement scholars have often minimized the importance of ally organizations, believing them to be ineffective and short-lived due to allies' often minimal personal stake in the issues being addressed (Marx and Useem 1971;Myers 2008). In recent years, however, some scholars have given ally organizations greater attention by pointing to examples of their efficacy, such as "straight" ally organizations working to advance LGBT interests (Myers 2008; for other examples see Dixon et al 2013;Russo 2014). Furthermore, campaigns like Black Lives Matter are reviving questions about whether and how allies should be involved in such movements Roediger 2016).…”

“…Furthermore, campaigns like Black Lives Matter are reviving questions about whether and how allies should be involved in such movements Roediger 2016). Some scholars underscore the importance of understanding ally organizations because of their prevalence, potential for coalition-building, and occasional efficacy (Dixon et al 2013;Myers 2008;Russo 2014). Others highlight how organizations that span social divides, such as ally organizations, can increase marginalized groups' access to elites and help generate the cultural and social capital needed to challenge existing systems of power (Bystydzienski and Schacht 2001;Rose 2000).…”

Post-gay, Political, and Pieced Together: Queer Expectations of Straight Allies

“…The existing work on allies presumes that they are an asset to movements, and for that reason they have remained of sociological interest. McCarthy and Zald (1977) theorized that allies were important for resource mobilization of social movements, and recent work has echoed the significant role of allies throughout U.S. history (Russo 2014). Movement scholars have also recognized the importance of allies in identity-based movements such as whites in the Black Civil Rights movement (e.g., Brown 2002) and men in feminist movements (e.g., Messner, Greenberg, and Peretz 2015).…”