From Legitimation to Exercising Structural Power

Abstract Two major anti-sweatshop groups—United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) and SweatFree Communities—pursued similar goals in different social arenas: college campuses and city governments. This article examines their shared strategy of gradual escalation, demonstrating how social movements must balance coercion and consent to effectively pressure authorities. Both groups aimed to enforce pro-labor rights codes for apparel industry partners, using distinct yet escalating strategies. USAS employed extra-institutional tactics like sit-ins and hunger strikes, while SweatFree Communities leveraged electoral politics. Both began with awareness-raising efforts, such as teach-ins and film screenings, before escalating to coercive tactics—protests and sit-ins for USAS and mobilizing key voting blocs for SweatFree Communities. Despite operating in different arenas, both groups followed a pattern of building legitimacy before applying structural power.