Resisting Reagan: the U.S. Central America peace movement

494 Pages·1996·35.422 MB·English

by  Reagan, Ronald;Smith, Christian

Resisting Reogon

THE U. S. CEN'I'~L
AMERIC)l PE.ACE
MOVEMENT
CHRISTIAN
SMITH
TheUniversityofChicago Press
Chicago and London
CHRISTIAN SMITH isassistantprofessorofsociologyattheUniversityofNorthCar
olina,ChapelHill,andtheauthorofThe EmergenceofLiberationTheology, alsopub
lishedbytheUniversityofChicagoPress.
TheUniversityofChicagoPress,Chicago60637
TheUniversityofChicagoPress,Ltd.,London
©1996byTheUniversityofChicago
Allrightsreserved.Published1996
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
0504030200999796 12345
ISBN:0-226-76335-8(cloth)
ISBN:0-226-76336-6(paper)
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Smith,Christian(ChristianStephen),1960-
ResistingReagan:theU.S.CentralAmericapeacemovement/
ChristianSmith.
p. em.
Includesbibliographicalreferences(p. )andindex
1.CentralAmerica-Relations-UnitedStates. 2.UnitedStates
Relations-CentralAmerica. 3.CentralAmerica-Politicsand
government-1979- 4.Peacemovements-UnitedStates-History.
5. Peacemovements-CentralAmerica-History. 6.Religionand
politics-UnitedStates-History. I.Title.
F1436.8.U6S65 1996
303.48"2730728-dc20 96-3141
CIP
MapbyJohnSanderson,HorizonDesign,Wakefield,Mass.
@> ThepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirementsoftheAmerican
National Standardfor Information Sciences-PermanenceofPaper for Printed Library
Materials,ANSIZ39.48-1984.
ForZachary,
whomI lovewith mywhole heart.

ListofTablesandFigures ix
Acknowledgments XI
Acronyms xiii
Introduction xv
portone Setting the Context
1. THE SOURCES OF CENTRAL AMERICAN UNREST 3
2. UNITED STATES INTERVENTION 18
J. Low-INTENSITY WARFARE 33
DOrillO The Movement Emerges
-'. LAUNCHING THE PEACE MOVEMENT 59
.
~ GRASPING THE BIG PICTURE 87
6. THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF MORAL OUTRAGE 133
'I. THE INDIVIDUAL ACTIVISTS 169
portthree Maintaining the Struggle
B. NEGOTIATING STRATEGIES AND COLLECTIVE IDENTITY 211
,. FIGHTING BATTLES OF PUBLIC DISCOURSE 231
10. FACING HARASSMENT AND REPRESSION 280
11. PROBLEMS FOR PROTESTERS CLOSER TO HOME 325
12. THE MOVEMENT'S DEMISE 348
porifour Assessing the Movement
1J. WHAT DID THE MOVEMENT ACHIEVE? 365
1-'. LESSONS FOR SOCIAL-MoVEMENT THEORY 378
'Iii CONTENTS
Appendix:TheDistributionandActivitiesofCentralAmericaPeace
MovementOrganizations 387
Notes 393
Bibliography 419
Index 453
Illustrationsfollowpage208.
Tables and ligures
lobles
1.1 PerCapitaBasicFoodCropland (Hectares) 10
1.2 MalnutritioninCentralAmerica 10
7.1 ComparisonofCentralAmericaPeaceActivistsandAllAdultAmeri
cans, 1985 171
7.2 OccupationalRatioofCentralAmericaPeaceMovementActivistto
AllAmericans, 1985 173
7.3 PriorSocialMovementInvolvementbyCentralAmericanPeace
Activists (%) 175
7.4 CentralAmericaPeaceActivists'PriorProtestExperience(%) 175
7.5 PersonalandOrganizationalvs. ImpersonalSourcesofActivists'
IntroductiontoSanctuaryandWFP(%) 181
7.6 RelationalLinkstoCentralAmericanActivism (0/0) 182
7.7 TypesofSanctuaryGroups, 1987 185
7.8 RelationshipOfferingWitnessfor PeaceDelegatesFirstorSecond
StrongestSupporterandOpposer(%) 187
7.9 FrequencyofCommunicationofWitnessforPeaceDelegateswith
StrongestSupporterandOpposer(%) 188
7.10 SupportandOppositionforWitnessforPeaceActivismfrom theTwo
MostImportantPeopleinRespondents' PoliticalReferenceGroup
(0/0) 188
7.11 RespondentsCalculatingthe CostsandBenefitsofActivism (0/0) 191
7.12 ExpectedCostsofCentralAmericaActivism (%) 191
7.13 CorrelationCoefficientsforFactorsAffectingDifferentialLevelsof
CentralAmericaActivism 194
9.1 Soviet-AggressionFrame 241
9.2 Fragile-DemocraciesFrame 242
9.3 Another-VietnamFrame 244
9.4 Botching-DemocracyFrame 245
9.5 Wayward-AmericaFrame 247
9.6 Imperial-AmericaFrame 248
A.l Stateswith GreatNumberofCentralAmericaOrganizations 389