social movements

Examples of social movements in the following topics:

• Social Movements

  • Sociologists draw distinctions between social movements and social movement organizations (SMOs).
  • A social movement organization is a formally organized component of a social movement.
  • Thus, promoting veganism would be considered the social movement, while PETA would be considered a particular SMO (social movement organization) working within the broader social movement.
  • It is interesting to note that social movements can spawn counter movements.
  • Discover the difference between social movements and social movement organizations, as well as the four areas social movements operate within

• Introduction

  • Social movements are any broad social alliances of people who are connected through their shared interest in blocking or affecting social change.
  • Social movements do not have to be formally organized.
  • A distinction is drawn between social movements and social movement organizations (SMOs).
  • A social movement organization is a formally organized component of a social movement.
  • It is also interesting to note that social movements can spawn counter movements.

• Examples of Social Movements

• Types of Social Movements

  • Aberle described four types of social movements based upon two characteristics: (1) who is the movement attempting to change and (2) how much change is being advocated.
  • Social movements can be aimed at change on an individual level (e.g., AA) or change on a broader, group or even societal level (e.g., anti-globalization).
  • Social movements can also advocate for minor changes (e.g., tougher restrictions on drunk driving; see MADD) or radical changes (e.g., prohibition).

• New Social Movement theories

• The Stages of Social Movements

  • For Tilly, social movements are a major vehicle for ordinary people's participation in public politics.
  • He specifically distinguishes social movements from political parties and advocacy groups.
  • Social movements are not eternal.
  • In fact, one of the difficulties in studying social movements is that movement success is often ill-defined because the goals of a movement can change.
  • Discuss the process and purpose of social movements, defined by Blumer, Mauss and Tilly

• New Social Movements

  • The term new social movements (NSMs) is a theory of social movements that attempts to explain the plethora of new movements that have come up in various western societies roughly since the mid-1960s (i.e. in a post-industrial economy), which are claimed to depart significantly from the conventional social movement paradigm .
  • Secondly, these movements are significantly different from previous social movements of the industrial economy.
  • The most noticeable feature of new social movements is that they are primarily social and cultural and only secondarily, if at all, political.
  • Hence, new social movements are understood as "new," because they are first and foremost social, unlike older movements which mostly have an economic basis.
  • The term new social movements (NSMs) is a theory of social movements that attempts to explain the plethora of new movements that have come up in various western societies roughly since the mid-1960s (i.e. in a post-industrial economy), which are claimed to depart significantly from the conventional social movement paradigm.

• Resource Mobilization Approach

  • The resource-mobilization approach is a theory that seeks to explain the emergence of social movements.
  • Resource-Mobilization Theory emphasizes the importance of resources in social movement development and success.
  • Resource mobilization theory also divides social movements according to their position among other social movements.
  • social movement entrepreneurs and protest organizations are the catalysts which transform collective discontent into social movements; social movement organizations form the backbone of social movements
  • Use the resource-mobilization theory to explain some of the successful social movements in history, such as the Civil Rights Movement

• Types of Social Movements

  • Social movements occur when large groups of individuals or organizations work for or against change in social and/or political matters.
  • Social movements can be aimed at change on an individual level, e.g.
  • Other categories have been used to distinguish between types of social movements.
  • Violent movements resort to violence when seeking social change.
  • Discuss the criteria that form the basis of classification of social movements

• Stages in Social Movements

  • Blumer, Mauss, and Tilly, have described different stages social movements often pass through.
  • Movements emerge for a variety of reasons (see the theories below), coalesce, and generally bureaucratize.
  • Whether these paths will result in movement decline or not varies from movement to movement.
  • In fact, one of the difficulties in studying social movements is that movement success is often ill-defined because movement goals can change.
  • This makes the actual stages the movement has passed through difficult to discern.