A Dramaturgical Analysis Of Movement Accommodation: Building Idiosyncrasy Credit As A Movement Mobilization Strategy*

Addressed in this paper are two problems that have received little empirical attention in the social movement literature: the problem of outward-reaching strategies and tactics and the problem of movement adaptation and accommodation to its environment of operation. The paper sheds some empirical and theoretical light on these two problems by examining how a contemporary religious movement in America has strategically sought to establish a viable, accommodative relationship with the larger society by attempting to render itself respectable and legitimate in the public eye. The findings suggest that movement accommodation might be best understood as an outward-reaching strategy aimed at securing “idiosyncrasy credit”—which is conceptualized as a movement-related resource that has the property of allowing a certain amount of idiosyncratic behavior or nonconformity.