Transnational mobilization, like more traditional forms of mobilization, requires resources. And, it is through the provision and acquisition of resources that many transnational alliances are formed. On the one hand, the funding, training, and technology that flows across transnational ties is absolutely essential to resource-poor actors who would have difficulty mobilizing in the absence of such assistance. On the other hand, such alliances often indicate relationships of dependency, wherein recipient groups may find themselves out of necessity adopting the priorities, or at least the rhetoric, of the groups from which they seek funding.

One component of the Project on Transnational Contention involves the collection of data that will enable us to more systematically assess how resources are distributed across organizations within social movement sectors. Specifically, we are collecting information pertaining the types and proportions of groups that provide resources, receive resources, or are denied resources, subsequently finding themselves marginalized with reference to the organizational networks that connect cores to peripheries. We are particularly interested in the relationships between resource flows and access to international institutions.

The data are being collected from multiple sources, including the annual reports of foundations, directories of organizations active within specific movement sectors, reports and archives of international institutions, and the Yearbook of International Organizations, which has informed the research of several leading scholars who are currently researching transnational contention. Many of these sources are housed within Cornell University’s libraries.

For more information on the project’s data collection initiative, contact the project’s research coordinator, Evelyn Bush at  ebush@fordham.edu.