Graduation Year

2005

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Granting Department

Political Science

Major Professor

Mark Amen, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Harry Vanden, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Kevin Archer, Ph.D.

Keywords

Content analysis, Protest, Network, Indymedia, Transnational

Abstract

This thesis tests the hypothesis that increasing public awareness of the anti-globalization movement fuels its growth. The independent variable in this thesis is public awareness of the anti-globalization movement and is operationalized/measured using a database of anti-globalization protest events covered by the global media created by Dr. Bruce Podobnik. The dependent variable in this thesis is the growth of the anti-globalization movement and is measured through a content analysis of anti-globalization related postings to an anti-corporate transnational advocacy network known as the Independent Media Center in 2002. It purports to measure such growth in two dimensions, action and discourse, using 11 different classifications of growth. The results of a bivariate linear regression conclude that it is not possible to disprove the null hypothesis that no relationship exists between the two variables as operationalized and measured herein and the central hypothesis is left unproven. Consequently, this thesis ends in an examination of its methodological construction with specific focus on the conceptualization and measures of the variables adopted and calls for future research utilizing more effective concepts and measures of the variables to test the hypothesis.

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