MONDAY NIGHT LECTURE SERIES | DOING NOTHING/NOTHING DOING | SPRING 2026

The Strategic Logic of Doing Nothing: Conceptualizing Inaction in Social Movements

Social movements are frequently defined by a bias towards action. In practice, though, political mobilization sees ebbs and flows, often depending on the perceived need for action, available resources, or on external constraints and levels of repression. Aside from these internal and external constraints, can “doing nothing” ever be a strategy in and of itself? When is lack of political mobilization a symptom of committed non-participation or withdrawal from the political system? This talk considers a variety of movements, forms of “nothing doing” and manifestations of silent citizenship, in order to develop a typology of non-mobilization that can help us distinguish between inaction as a symptom of externally imposed constraints, organizational weakness, and intentional strategy. The talk will also reflect on what a strategic logic of doing nothing can look like, drawing from diverse examples of disengagement and noncooperation.

Doing Nothing/Nothing Doing
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