• New social movement theory argues that
new social movements, such as anti-war,
environmental, civil rights and feminist
movements, are distinct from other
traditional social movements such as labor
movements. Traditional social movements
tend to be engaged in class conflict while
new social movements are engaged in
political and social conflict. Traditional
social movements tend to focus on
economic concerns and inequalities.
• Members of new social movements are
most often from a segment of society
referred to as the new middle class. New
social movement encourage-age members
to engage in lifestyle changes, tend to
have supporters rather than members and
are characterized as loosely organized
networks. These movements differ from
protest groups or movements as they
often desire to see change on a global
scale as opposed to the single issues
taken on by protest groups.
The 'new social movements' today are what most mobilise people in pursuit of common concerns. Far more than 'classical' class movements, the social movements motivate
• The 'new social movements' today are
what most mobilise people in pursuit of
common concerns. Far more than
'classical' class movements, the social
movements motivate and mobilise
hundreds of millions of people in all parts
of the world-mostly outside established
political and social institutions that people
find inadequate to serve their needs. This
paper discusses the character of these
social movements, their strengths and
limitations.
• Social movements intersect with
environmental changes, technological
innovations, and other external factors to
create social change. There are a myriad
of catalysts that create social movements,
and the reasons that people join are as
varied as the participants themselves.
Sociologists look at both the macro- and
microanalytical reasons that social
movements occur, take root, and
ultimately succeed or fail.
• Social movements are purposeful,
organized groups, either with the goal of
pushing toward change, giving political
voice to those without it, or gathering for
some other common purpose.
Social Movement is a
• challenge to
– authorities, power-holders, OR
– cultural beliefs and practices
– (NOTE: others would say “actions to promote or resist
social change”)
• that is
–
–
–
–
collective (multiple people)
organized (coordinated, at least to some degree)
sustained (lasts a while, not just one outburst) and
non-institutional (the most problematic part of a
standard definition – outside the “normal” structures
or routines of society. More about this shortly.)
Nine Theses on Social
Movements
Andre Gunder Frank
Marta Fuentes
--
(1) The 'new' social movements are not new, even if they have some new features, and the 'classical' ones are relatively new and perhaps temporary;
• (1) The 'new' social movements are not
new, even if they have some new
features, and the 'classical' ones are
relatively new and perhaps temporary;
• (2) Social movements display much
variety and changeability, but have in
common individual mobilisation
through a sense of morality and
(in)justice and social power through
social mobilisation against deprivation
and for survival and identity;
• (3) The strength and importance of
social movements is cyclical and
related to long political-economic and
(perhaps associated) ideological
cycles. When the conditions that give
rise to the movements change (through
the action of the movements
themselves and/or more usually due to
changing circumstances), the
movements tend to disappear.
• (4) It is important to distinguish the
class composition of social
movements, which are mostly middle
class in the west, popular/working
class in the south, and some of each in
the east;
• (5) There are many different kinds of
social movements. The majority seek
more autonomy rather than state
power, and the latter tend to negate
themselves as social movements;
6) Although most social movements are
more defensive than offensive and tend
to be temporary, they are important
(today and tomorrow perhaps the most
important) agents of social
transformation;
• (7) In particular, social movements
appear as the agents and reinterpreters of 'delinking' from
contemporary capitalism and 'transition
to socialism';
(8) Some social movements are likely to
overlap in membership or be more
com-patible and permit coalition with
others, and some are likely to conflict
and com-pete with others. It may be
useful to inquire into these relations;
• (9) However, since social movements,
like street theatre, write their own
scripts-if any-as they go along, any
prescrip-tion of agendas or strategies,
let alone tactics, by outsiders-not to
mention intellectuals-is likely to be
irrelevant at best and
counterproductive at worst
Ten elements
Fundamental Elements
1. A vision and a frame
2. An authentic base in key
constituencies
3. A commitment to the long-haul
10 Elements:
Implementation Tools
4. An underlying and viable economic
model,
5. A vision of government and
governance,
6. A scaffold of solid research
7. A pragmatic policy package
10 Elements:
Scale
8. A recognition of the need for scale
9. A strategy for scaling up
10. A willingness to network with other
movements.
Three Key Warnings
• Don’t think you’re the social movement
• Don’t be afraid of confronting power
• Don’t let urgency set the agenda
Three Key Directions
• Provide operational and long-term
funding to build success
• Support network to network building to
sustain success
• Develop metrics of movements to 3.
measure success
Choosing Sides, Choosing Theory
• There is a broad tendency to use different
theories for movements we agree with and those
we disagree with
• Our own movements
– Respond to core principles of justice, morality and
characterized by clear thinking.
– Principal focus on identifying the most effective forms
of action
• Opponents
– Irrational, deluded even motivated by evil
– OR cynical, hiding their true motives
– Principal focus on explaining how people could think
such things, or on exposing the “true” sources of the
movement
• Theories are rooted in cases and
standpoints
Deprivation Theory
• argues that social movements have their
foundations among people who feel
deprived of some good(s) or resource(s).
According to this approach, individuals
who are lacking some good, service, or
comfort are more likely to organize a
social movement to improve (or defend)
their conditions (Morrison 1978).
Mass-Society Theory
argues that social movements are made
up of individuals in large societies who feel
insignificant or socially detached. Social
movements, according to this theory,
provide a sense of empowerment and
belonging that the movement members
would otherwise not have (Kornhauser
1959). In fact, the key to joining the
movement was having a friend or
associate who was a member of the
Structural-Strain Theory
• proposes six factors that encourage social
movement development (Smelser 1962):
• (a) structural conduciveness - people
come to believe their society has problems
• (b) structural strain - people experience
deprivation
• (c) growth and spread of a solution - a
solution to the problems people are
experiencing is proposed and spreads
• (d) precipitating factors - discontent
Structural-Strain Theory
• (d) precipitating factors - discontent
usually requires a catalyst (often a specific
event) to turn it into a social movement
• (e) lack of social control - the entity that is
to be changed must be at least somewhat
open to the change; if the social
movement is quickly and powerfully
repressed, it may never materialize
• (f) mobilization - this is the actual
organizing and active component of the
movement; people do what needs to be
done
Resource-Mobilization Theory
• emphasizes the importance of resources
in social movement development and
success. Resources are understood here
to include: knowledge, money, media,
labor, solidarity, legitimacy, and internal
and external support from power elite. The
theory argues that social movements
develop when individuals with grievances
are able to mobilize sufficient resources to
take action.
Political Process Theory
• is similar to resource mobilization in many
regards, but tends to emphasize a
different component of social structure that
is important for social movement
development: political opportunities.
Political process theory argues that there
are three vital components for movement
formation: insurgent consciousness,
organizational strength, and political
opportunities.
Collective Behaviour / Collective
Action Theories (1950s)
• Since most of the action taken by on or behalf of
groups of individual is taken through
organizations, it will be helpful to consider
organization in a general or theoretical way. The
logical place to begin any systematic study of
organization is their purpose as some
organization may fail to fulfill the interest of
members and other may be enticed into serving
only the ends of the leadership. But
organizations perish if they fail to fulfill the
interest of their members.
Relative Deprivation Theory
(1960s)
• The doctrine of relative deprivation
sustained by American scholars (Gurr
1970) has led some projects on agitation
and mass movements. Relative
deprivation is described as player‟s
recognition of inconsistency between their
value desires and their environment‟s
manifest value potentialities. Value
prospects are the goods and conditions of
life to which people suppose they are fairly
entitled.
Value-Added Theory (1960s)
• The value-added theory of collective
behaviour determines whether or not
collective behavior will occur. The theory
argues that a specific combination of
determinants facilitates and promotes
collective outcomes and behaviors. The
determinants of collective behavior form a
value-added process. Value-added
processes, refer to processes in which
additional value is created at a particular
stage of development
Frame Analysis Theory
(1960s)
• Social movement framing theory attempts
to understand the way in which social
movements and social movement actors
create and use meaning, or how events
and ideas are framed. This meaning work
has become a keyway in which social
movements are understood and analyzed.
• Culture Theory Culture theory builds
upon both the political process and
resource-mobilization theories. It
emphasizes the importance of movement
culture.
Aberle’s types
Total Change
Partial Change
Individual
Change
Redemptive
(religious sects)
Alterative
(personal
improvement)
Social Change
Transformative
(revolutionary,
millennial)
Reformative
(specific issues)