Why Transnational Organizations?
This study builds upon a strong tradition in the study of social movements that treats formal social movement organizations (SMOs) as important components to social movement mobilization. While clearly not the only actors in social movements, SMOs serve as social infrastructures that routinize communication and coordination among activists, facilitate resource mobilization and the development of shared identities and activist cultures, and provide sites where activists can learn important skills (see, e.g., McCarthy 1996; Zald and McCarthy 1987; Gamson 1990; Gamson and Schmeidler 1984). Moreover, transnational organizations are indicators of global integration, as they represent collections of various transnational interactions among individuals and groups. By bringing together people from different countries for the purpose of advancing common aims through coordinated if not collective action, TSMOs help further globalization as they attempt to shape its course. Data Source: The main
