Edwin Amenta

Amenta and Francesca Polletta will study the ways in which social movements have transformed culture and everyday life. Drawing from interviews, public polls, and media coverage of social movements such as the civil rights movement, gay and lesbian activism, movements around abortion, and anti-tax and anti-welfare movements, they will examine movements’ impact on public opinion, institutions such as medicine and higher education, and the cultural assumptions guiding policymakers. They will also investigate how these movements have shaped Americans’ conceptions of inequality today, and why certain social movements have had greater cultural impact than others.