John David Skrentny

The social movement for African-American civil rights is one of most studied and celebrated social phenomena of the twentieth tury. One factor in explaining the movement's successes, howeve usually given little if any explicit attention by civil rights scholars, has not been explained adequately.

Using historical analysis of the inclusiveness of Labor Department affirmative action regulations for African‐Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, Latinos, women, and white ethnics, this article shows that understanding variations in social movement success requires understanding policy‐elite perceptions of the meanings of social movements and the groups they represent. Variation in perceived meanings along dimensions of definition, morality, or threat helps explain the speed of group inclusion, the amount of mobilization needed, and possiblity for failure.