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Neil J. Smelser is a University of California, Berkeley sociologist who studied collective behavior. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University in 1952. From 1952 to 1954, he was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University where he studied philosophy, politics and economics. He earned his Ph.D in sociology from Harvard in 1958, and was also a junior fellow of the Society of Fellows. At the young age of 24, He co-authored "Economy and Society" with Talcott Parsons. He was the fifth director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences from 1994 to 2001. He retired from the University of California in 1994 and is now an emeritus University Professor.

His 'value added theory' (or strain theory) argued that six things were necessary for a social movement to emerge:

• Structural conduciveness - things that make or allow certain behaviors possible (e.g. spatial proximity)
• Structural strain - something (inequality, injustice) must strain society
• Generalized belief - explanation; participants have to come to an understanding of what the problem is
• Precipitating factors - spark to ignite the flame
• Mobilization for action - people need to become organized
• Failure of social control - how the authorities react (or don't)

Citation

Swedberg, Richard, "Economics and Sociology: Redefining Their Boundaries: Conversations with Economists and Sociologists", Princeton University Press 1990.

External links

• Emeritus Faculty profile