Trust is of great importance for processes of social mobilization: when activists or groups engage in potentially risky and controversial collective actions for a common goal, they rely on their comrades-in-arms and allies. So far, however, there is no research showing which types of trust influence the emergence and development of social movements. Trust is not simply an independent variable that influences mobilization, but is built, stabilized, weakened or even destroyed in the course of collective struggles.
The current special volume “Trust and Social Movements” of the International Journal of Comparative Sociology explores the complex relationship between different types of trust and the dynamics of social movements. It is edited by Dr. Irene Weipert-Fenner (Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, ConTrust) and Prof. Dr. Jonas Wolff (Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, ConTrust), together with Prof. Dr. Federico Rossi (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Spain) and Dr. Nadine Sika (The American University in Cairo, Egypt).
To the Special Issue and the introduction in Open Access: Here…