David A. Snow
Encyclopedia
David A. Snow is a Chancellor's Professor of Sociology
at the University of California, Irvine
. His research focuses on social movements and protests.
Snow is best known for his research on homelessness and for being one of the originators of the "framing perspective on social movements". The framing perspective focuses attention on the signifying work or meaning construction engaged in by movement adherents (e.g., leaders, activists, and rank-and-file participants) and other actors (e.g., adversaries, institutional elites, media, counter movements) relevant to the interests of movements and the challenges they mount in pursuit of those interests. Snow's work problematizes the meanings associated with relevant events, activities, places, and actors, suggesting that those meanings are typically contestable and negotiable and thus open to debate and differential interpretation. From this vantage point, mobilizing grievances are seen neither as naturally occurring sentiments nor as arising automatically from specifiable material conditions, but as the result of interactively-based interpretation or signifying work.
from the University of California, Los Angeles
in 1976. Snow has taught at Southern Methodist University
, University of Texas, Austin, University of Arizona
, and most recently at UC Irvine.
At UC Irvine, Snow has been the co-director for Center for Citizen Peace Building. Snow has served as the vice president of the American Sociological Association
(2010–2011) and as the president of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction and the Pacific Sociological Association.
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
at the University of California, Irvine
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine , founded in 1965, is one of the ten campuses of the University of California, located in Irvine, California, USA...
. His research focuses on social movements and protests.
Snow is best known for his research on homelessness and for being one of the originators of the "framing perspective on social movements". The framing perspective focuses attention on the signifying work or meaning construction engaged in by movement adherents (e.g., leaders, activists, and rank-and-file participants) and other actors (e.g., adversaries, institutional elites, media, counter movements) relevant to the interests of movements and the challenges they mount in pursuit of those interests. Snow's work problematizes the meanings associated with relevant events, activities, places, and actors, suggesting that those meanings are typically contestable and negotiable and thus open to debate and differential interpretation. From this vantage point, mobilizing grievances are seen neither as naturally occurring sentiments nor as arising automatically from specifiable material conditions, but as the result of interactively-based interpretation or signifying work.
Education, Teaching, and Service
Born in Saginaw Michigan, Snow received his Ph.D. in sociologySociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
from the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
in 1976. Snow has taught at Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University
Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...
, University of Texas, Austin, University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
, and most recently at UC Irvine.
At UC Irvine, Snow has been the co-director for Center for Citizen Peace Building. Snow has served as the vice president of the American Sociological Association
American Sociological Association
The American Sociological Association , founded in 1905 as the American Sociological Society , is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology by serving sociologists in their work and promoting their contributions to serve society.The ASA holds its...
(2010–2011) and as the president of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction and the Pacific Sociological Association.
Selected Books
- D. A. Snow and L. Anderson. 1993. Down on Their Luck: A Study of Homeless Street People. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
- D. A. Snow and S. A. Soule. 2010. A Primer on Social Movements. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
- D. A. Snow, S. Soule, H. Kriesi (eds.) 2004. The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers.
- D. A. Snow, D. della Porta, B. Klandermans. D. McAdam (eds.). Forthcoming. Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements. London: Wiley-Blackwell.
Articles or Chapters
- Snow, D.A., L. Zurcher, and S. Ekland-Olson. (1980) "Social Networks and Social Movements: A Microstructural Approach to Differential Recruitment." American Sociological Review 45 : 787-801.
- Snow, D. A., Rochford, Jr., B., Worden, S. K. and Benford, R. D.(1986) Frame Alignment Processes, Micromobilization, and Movement Participation. American Sociological Review, 51, 464-481.
- Snow, D. A. and Benford, R.D. (1992) Master Frames and Cycles of Protest. In A. D. Morris and C. M. Mueller (eds.), Frontiers in Social Movement Theory. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT, pp. 133–155.
- Snow, D. A. (2004) Framing Processes, Ideology, and Discursive Fields. In: Snow, D.A., Soule, S.A. & Kriesi, H. (eds.) The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements. Blackwell Publishing, Oxford, pp. 380–412.