UO political science professor Joe Lowndes appeared on the MSNBC show “Nerding Out” this week.  

Lowndes joined host Dorian Warren and two other panelists to talk about the role of social movements, especially black social movements, in political campaigns. Lowndes says social movements face an uphill battle with having influence in big campaigns because of the two-party system.

“These parties are controlled from the top down,” he tells Warren. “They are large, corporate entities, which makes it so that if you don’t have a strong lobbying firm behind you, if you don’t have corporate money, if you don’t have private money then the only thing you can do is to push from the outside.”

Lowndes took part in three segments discussing different aspects of social movements in political campaigns. To view them, see “Movements in mainstream politics,” “How should politicians address racial justice?” and “Are race and class struggles separate?”

Joe Lowndes is an Oregon expert in race, conservatism, social movements and elections. Learn more about Lowndes and find more UO experts on the Media Relations website.