Social movements are
broad alliances of people who are connected through their shared interest in social change
. … Therefore, it may represent only one part of a particular social movement. For instance, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) advocates for vegan lifestyles along with its other aims.
A social movement is a
loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal
, typically a social or political one. This may be to carry out, resist or undo a social change. … They represent a method of social change from the bottom within nations.
Types of Social Movements
Reform movements seek to change something specific about the social structure. Examples include
antinuclear groups
, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), the Dreamers movement for immigration reform, and the Human Rights Campaign’s advocacy for Marriage Equality.
A social movement requires
sustained collective action over time
. Such action is often directed against the state and takes the form of demanding changes in state policy or practice. Spontaneous, disorganised protest cannot be called a social movement either. … They may change over the course of a social movement’s life.
Social Movement Organization (SMO) –
Greenpeace
; Sierra Club; Audubon Society; Nature Conservancy; World Wildlife Federation; Friends of Earth; Natural Resources Defense Council; Earth Now!; Earth Liberation Front; …
- 5 Types of Social Movements. Reform movements, Revolutionary movements, Religious movements, Alternative movements, Resistance movements,
- Reform Movements. …
- Revolutionary Movements. …
- Religious Movements. …
- Alternative Movements. …
- Resistance Movements. …
- Reform Movement Example. …
- Revolutionary Movement Example.
- agitation.
- resource mobilization.
- organization.
- institutionalization.
- decline/death.
Aberle’s Four Types of Social Movements: Based on who a movement is trying to change and how much change a movement is advocating, Aberle identified four types of social movements:
redemptive, reformative, revolutionary and alternative
. Other categories have been used to distinguish between types of social movements.
Scope: A movement can be either
reform or radical
. A reform movement advocates changing some norms or laws while a radical movement is dedicated to changing value systems in some fundamental way.
Social movements role in society is not necessarily to achieve an agenda or solely change laws. Social movement’s role is
to allow people the opportunity to come together, speak their mind, and make people aware of an issue that is close to their heart
.
- Collective Action: Social movement undoubtedly involves collective action. …
- Oriented Towards Social Change: A Social movement is generally oriented towards bringing about social change. …
- Ideology Behind the Movement: …
- Organizational Framework: …
- The Techniques and Results:
(ii) Old movement functioned within the frame of political parties: The old social movements functioned within the frame of political parties. … So the ‘new’ social movements
were not about changing the distribution of power in society
but about quality-of-life issues such as having a clean environment.
Social movements strive for social change.
Objectives, ideology, leadership, programmes and organisation
are the major components of social movements. They are the spirit of democracy and dynamics of society.
Sociologists have looked at social movements and offered several theories to explain how they develop. Three of those theories –
deprivation theory, mass-society theory and structure strain theory
– will be discussed in this lesson.
- Introduction.
- Peasant movements.
- Tribal movements.
- Dalit movements.
- Backward caste/class movements.
- Women’s movements.
- Industrial working class movements.
- Students’ movements.
- Physical Environment:
- Demographic (biological) Factor:
- Cultural Factor:
- Ideational Factor:
- Economic Factor:
- Political Factor:
