Resource Mobilization

Science communicators sometimes want to draw attention to an issue, change public opinion, or provoke (or simply to understand) social action. Resource mobilization is the idea, borrowed from sociology, that such action can only take place when an individual or group has money, friends, knowledge, or other materials that can be used to make something happen. Society is full of potential resources—economic, social, and cultural—although these are not necessarily evenly distributed. In addition, not everyone has the ability or knowledge to use resources effectively. Resource mobilization provides a theoretical framework for studying how social movements, government agencies, and the mass media are able to create, maintain, and challenge social structures, and it can be a helpful concept for science communicators who want to better understand ...