Geographical Location and Patterns of Participation

Jaleh Jalili, Rice University
David Cunningham, Washington University in St. Louis

This paper explores the relation between socio-spatial context and regressive activism by studying Ku Klux Klan membership in Natchez, Mississippi in the 1960s. Using a list of KKK members in Natchez, and utilizing Natchez City Directory in 1965 to find residential and work place of these Klan members, we map and analyze location-based network structures. Through an analysis of the location of KKK members and factory workers in Natchez, the paper explores whether and how geographical location interacts with patterns of mobilization in neighborhoods and workplaces. Comparing those Klan members who are also factory workers with those who are not, and studying their relational location in neighborhood contexts, the paper investigates how workplace and residential environments interact and impact (regressive) collective behavior. Using a historical case, the paper contributes to the study of regressive movements, participation patterns, and use of spatial approaches in studying social phenomena.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 36. Geographies of Politics, Conflict, and Segregation