essay on social movements and social change

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Chapter 21. Social Movements and Social Change

Learning objectives, 21.1. collective behaviour.

• Describe different forms of collective behaviour
• Differentiate between types of crowds
• Discuss emergent norm, value-added, and assembling perspective analyses of collective behaviour

21.2. Social Movements

• Demonstrate awareness of social movements on a state, national, and global level
• Distinguish between different types of social movements
• Identify stages of social movements
• Discuss theoretical perspectives on social movements, like resource mobilization, framing, and new social movement theory

21.3. Social Change

• Explain how technology, social institutions, population, and the environment can bring about social change
• Discuss the importance of modernization in relation to social change

Introduction to Social Movements and Social Change

In January 2011, Egypt erupted in protests against the stifling rule of longtime President Hosni Mubarak. The protests were sparked in part by the revolution in Tunisia, and, in turn, they inspired demonstrations throughout the Middle East in Libya, Syria, and beyond. This wave of protest movements travelled across national borders and seemed to spread like wildfire. There have been countless causes and factors in play in these protests and revolutions, but many have noted the internet-savvy youth of these countries. Some believe that the adoption of social technology—from Facebook pages to cell phone cameras—that helped to organize and document the movement contributed directly to the wave of protests called Arab Spring. The combination of deep unrest and disruptive technologies meant these social movements were ready to rise up and seek change.

What do Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the anti-globalization movement, and the Tea Party have in common? Not much, you might think. But although they may be left-wing or right-wing, radical or conservative, highly organized or very diffused, they are all examples of social movements.

Social movements are purposeful, organized groups striving to work toward a common goal. These groups might be attempting to create change (Occupy Wall Street, Arab Spring), to resist change (anti-globalization movement), or to provide a political voice to those otherwise disenfranchised (civil rights movements). Social movements create social change.

Consider the effect of the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This disaster exemplifies how a change in the environment, coupled with the use of technology to fix that change, combined with anti-oil sentiment in social movements and social institutions, led to changes in offshore oil drilling policies. Subsequently, in an effort to support the Gulf Coast’s rebuilding efforts, changes occurred. From grassroots marketing campaigns that promote consumption of local seafood to municipal governments needing to coordinate with federal cleanups, organizations develop and shift to meet the changing needs of the society. Just as we saw with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, social movements have, throughout history, influenced societal shifts. Sociology looks at these moments through the lenses of three major perspectives.

The functionalist perspective looks at the big picture, focusing on the way that all aspects of society are integral to the continued health and viability of the whole. A functionalist might focus on why social movements develop, why they continue to exist, and what social purposes they serve. On one hand, social movements emerge when there is a dysfunction in the relationship between systems. The union movement developed in the 19th century when the economy no longer functioned to distribute wealth and resources in a manner that provided adequate sustenance for workers and their families. On the other hand, when studying social movements themselves, functionalists observe that movements must change their goals as initial aims are met or they risk dissolution. Several organizations associated with the anti-polio industry folded after the creation of an effective vaccine that made the disease virtually disappear. Can you think of another social movement whose goals were met? What about one whose goals have changed over time?

The critical perspective focuses on the creation and reproduction of inequality. Someone applying the conflict perspective would likely be interested in how social movements are generated through systematic inequality, and how social change is constant, speedy, and unavoidable. In fact, the conflict that this perspective sees as inherent in social relations drives social change. For example, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in the United States in 1908. Partly created in response to the horrific lynchings occurring in the southern United States, the organization fought to secure the constitutional rights guaranteed in the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, which established an end to slavery, equal protection under the law, and universal male suffrage (NAACP 2011). While those goals have been achieved, the organization remains active today, continuing to fight against inequalities in civil rights and to remedy discriminatory practices.

The symbolic interaction perspective studies the day-to-day interaction of social movements, the meanings individuals attach to involvement in such movements, and the individual experience of social change. An interactionist studying social movements might address social movement norms and tactics as well as individual motivations. For example, social movements might be generated through a feeling of deprivation or discontent, but people might actually join social movements for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with the cause. They might want to feel important, or they know someone in the movement they want to support, or they just want to be a part of something. Have you ever been motivated to show up for a rally or sign a petition because your friends invited you? Would you have been as likely to get involved otherwise?

Making Connections: Sociology in the Real World

People sitting in a café in a touristy corner of Rome might expect the usual sights and sounds of a busy city. They might be more surprised when, as they sip their espressos, hundreds of young people start streaming into the picturesque square clutching pillows, and when someone gives a signal, they start pummelling each other in a massive free-for-all pillow fight. Spectators might lean forward, coffee forgotten, as feathers fly and more and more people join in. All around the square, others hang out of their windows or stop on the street, transfixed, to watch. After several minutes, the spectacle is over. With cheers and the occasional high-five, the crowd disperses, leaving only destroyed pillows and clouds of fluff in its wake.

This is a flash mob , a large group of people who gather together in a spontaneous activity that lasts a limited amount of time before returning to their regular routines. Technology plays a big role in the creation of a flash mob: select people are texted or emailed, and the message spreads virally until a crowd has grown. But while technology might explain the “how” of flash mobs, it does not explain the “why.” Flash mobs often are captured on video and shared on the internet; frequently they go viral and become well known. So what leads people to want to flock somewhere for a massive pillow fight? Or for a choreographed dance? Or to freeze in place? Why is this appealing? In large part, it is as simple as the reason humans have bonded together around fires for storytelling, or danced together, or joined a community holiday celebration. Humans seek connections and shared experiences. And a flash mob, pillows included, provides a way to make that happen.

Forms of Collective Behaviour

Flash mobs are examples of collective behaviour , non-institutionalized activity in which several people voluntarily engage. Other examples of collective behaviour can include anything from a group of commuters travelling home from work to the trend toward adopting the Justin Bieber hair flip. In short, it can be any group behaviour that is not mandated or regulated by an institution. There are four primary forms of collective behaviour: the crowd, the mass, the public, and social movements.

It takes a fairly large number of people in close proximity to form a crowd (Lofland 1993). Examples include a group of people attending a Neil Young concert, attending Canada Day festivities, or joining a worship service. Turner and Killian (1993) identified four types of crowds. Casual crowds consist of people who are in the same place at the same time, but who are not really interacting, such as people standing in line at the post office. Conventional crowds are those who come together for a scheduled event, like a religious service or rock concert. Expressive crowds are people who join together to express emotion, often at funerals, weddings, or the like. The final type, acting crowds , focus on a specific goal or action, such as a protest movement or riot.

In addition to the different types of crowds, collective groups can also be identified in two other ways (Lofland 1993). A mass is a relatively large and dispersed number of people with a common interest, whose members are largely unknown to one another and who are incapable of acting together in a concerted way to achieve objectives. In this sense, the audience of the television show  Game of Thrones or of any mass medium (TV, radio, film, books) is a mass. A public , on the other hand, is an unorganized, relatively diffused group of people who share ideas on an issue, such as social conservatives. While these two types of crowds are similar, they are not the same. To distinguish between them, remember that members of a mass share interests whereas members of a public share ideas.

Theoretical Perspectives on Collective Behaviour

Early collective behaviour theories (Blumer 1969; Le Bon 1895) focused on the irrationality of crowds. Le Bon saw the tendency for crowds to break into riots or anti-Semitic pogroms as a product of the properties of crowds themselves: anonymity, contagion, and suggestibility. On their own, each individual would not be capable of acting in this manner, but as anonymous members of a crowd they were easily swept up in dynamics that carried them away. Eventually, those theorists who viewed crowds as uncontrolled groups of irrational people were supplanted by theorists who viewed the behaviour of some crowds as the rational behaviour of logical beings.

Emergent-Norm Perspective

Sociologists Ralph Turner and Lewis Killian (1993) built on earlier sociological ideas and developed what is known as emergent norm theory. They believe that the norms experienced by people in a crowd may be disparate and fluctuating. They emphasize the importance of these norms in shaping crowd behaviour, especially those norms that shift quickly in response to changing external factors. Emergent norm theory asserts that, in this circumstance, people perceive and respond to the crowd situation with their particular (individual) set of norms, which may change as the crowd experience evolves. This focus on the individual component of interaction reflects a symbolic interactionist perspective.

For Turner and Killian, the process begins when individuals suddenly find themselves in a new situation, or when an existing situation suddenly becomes strange or unfamiliar. For example, think about human behaviour during Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans was decimated and people were trapped without supplies or a way to evacuate. In these extraordinary circumstances, what outsiders saw as “looting” was defined by those involved as seeking needed supplies for survival. Normally, individuals would not wade into a corner gas station and take canned goods without paying, but given that they were suddenly in a greatly changed situation, they established a norm that they felt was reasonable.

Once individuals find themselves in a situation ungoverned by previously established norms, they interact in small groups to develop new guidelines on how to behave. According to the emergent-norm perspective, crowds are not viewed as irrational, impulsive, uncontrolled groups. Instead, norms develop and are accepted as they fit the situation. While this theory offers insight into why norms develop, it leaves undefined the nature of norms, how they come to be accepted by the crowd, and how they spread through the crowd.

Value-Added Theory

Neil Smelser’s (1962) meticulous categorization of crowd behaviour, called value-added theory , is a perspective within the functionalist tradition based on the idea that several conditions must be in place for collective behaviour to occur. Each condition adds to the likelihood that collective behaviour will occur.

The first condition is structural conduciveness , which describes when people are aware of the problem and have the opportunity to gather, ideally in an open area. Structural strain , the second condition, refers to people’s expectations about the situation at hand being unmet, causing tension and strain. The next condition is the growth and spread of a generalized belief , wherein a problem is clearly identified and attributed to a person or group.

Fourth, precipitating factors spur collective behaviour; this is the emergence of a dramatic event. The fifth condition is mobilization for action , when leaders emerge to direct a crowd to action. The final condition relates to action by the agents of social control. Called social control , it is the only way to end the collective behaviour episode (Smelser 1962).

Let us consider a hypothetical example of these conditions. In structure conduciveness (awareness and opportunity), a group of students gathers on the campus quad. Structural strain emerges when they feel stress concerning their high tuition costs. If the crowd decides that the latest tuition hike is the fault of the chancellor, and that he or she will lower tuition if they protest, then growth and spread of a generalized belief has occurred. A precipitation factor arises when campus security appears to disperse the crowd, using pepper spray to do so. When the student body president sits down and passively resists attempts to stop the protest, this represents mobilization of action. Finally, when local police arrive and direct students back to their dorms, we have seen agents of social control in action.

While value-added theory addresses the complexity of collective behaviour, it also assumes that such behaviour is inherently negative or disruptive. In contrast, collective behaviour can be non-disruptive, such as when people flood to a place where a leader or public figure has died to express condolences or leave tokens of remembrance. People also forge momentary alliances with strangers in response to natural disasters.

Assembling Perspective

Interactionist sociologist Clark McPhail (1991) developed the  assembling perspective , another system for understanding collective behaviour that credited individuals in crowds as rational beings. Unlike previous theories, this theory refocuses attention from collective behaviour to collective action. Remember that collective behaviour is a non-institutionalized gathering, whereas collective action is based on a shared interest. McPhail’s theory focused primarily on the processes associated with crowd behaviour, plus the life cycle of gatherings. He identified several instances of convergent or collective behaviour, as shown on the chart below.

As useful as this is for understanding the components of how crowds come together, many sociologists criticize its lack of attention on the large cultural context of the described behaviours, instead focusing on individual actions.

Social movements are purposeful, organized groups striving to work toward a common social goal. While most of us learned about social movements in history classes, we tend to take for granted the fundamental changes they caused —and we may be completely unfamiliar with the trend toward global social movement. But from the anti-tobacco movement that has worked to outlaw smoking in public buildings and raise the cost of cigarettes, to uprisings throughout the Arab world, contemporary movements create social change on a global scale.

Levels of Social Movements

Movements happen in our towns, in our nation, and around the world. The following examples of social movements range from local to global. No doubt you can think of others on all of these levels, especially since modern technology has allowed us a near-constant stream of information about the quest for social change around the world.

Winnipeg’s inner city is well known for its poor aboriginal population, low levels of income and education, and concerns about drugs, gangs, and violence. Not surprisingly, it has been home to a number of social movements and grassroots community organizations over time (Silver 2008). Currently, the Winnipeg Boldness Project is a social movement focused on providing investment in early childhood care in the Point Douglas community to try to break endemic cycles of poverty. Statistics show that 40 percent of Point Douglas children are not ready for school by age five and one in six are apprehended by child protection agencies. Through programs that support families and invest in early childhood development, children could be prepared for school and not be forced into the position of having to catch up to their peers  (Roussin, Gill, and Young 2014). The organization seeks to “create new conditions to dramatically transform the well-being of young children in Point Douglas” (Winnipeg Boldness Project 2014).

At the other end of the political spectrum from the Winnipeg Boldness Project is the legacy of the numerous conservative and extreme right social movements of the 1980s and 1990s that advocated the independence of western Canada from the rest of the country. The Western Canada Concept, Western Independence Party, Confederation of Regions Party, and Western Block were all registered political parties representing social movements of western alienation. The National Energy Program of 1980 was one of the key catalysts for this movement because it was seen as a way of securing cheap oil and gas resources for central Canada at the expense of Alberta. However, the seeds of western alienation developed much earlier with the sense that Canadian federal politics was dominated by the interests of Quebec and Ontario. One of the more infamous leaders of the Western Canada Concept was Doug Christie who made a name for himself as the lawyer who defended the Holocaust-deniers Jim Keegstra and Ernst Zundel in well-publicized trials. Part of the program of the Western Canada Concept, aside from western independence, was to end non-European immigration to Canada and preserve Christian and European culture. In addition to these extreme-right concerns, however, were many elements of democratic reform and fiscal conservativism, such as mandatory balanced-budget legislation and provisions for referenda and recall (Western Canada Concept N.d.), which later became central to the Reform Party. The Reform Party was western based but did not seek western independence. Rather it sought to transform itself into a national political party eventually forming the Canadian Alliance Party with other conservative factions. The Canadian Alliance merged with the Progressive Conservative Party to form the Conservative Party of Canada.

A prominent national social movement in recent years is Idle No More. A group of aboriginal women organized an event in Saskatchewan in November 2012 to protest the Conservative government’s C-45 omnibus bill. The contentious features of the bill that concerned aboriginal people were the government’s lack of consultation with them in provisions that changed the Indian Act, the Navigation Protection Act, and the Environmental Assessment Act. A month later Idle No More held a national day of action and Chief Theresa Spence of the Attawapiskat First Nation began a 43-day hunger strike on an island in the Ottawa River near Parliament Hill. The hunger strike galvanized national public attention on aboriginal issues, and numerous protest events such as flash mobs and temporary blockades were organized around the country. One of Chief Spence’s demands was that a meeting be set up with the prime minister and the Governor General to discuss aboriginal issues. The inclusion of the Governor General—the Queen’s representative in Canada—proved to be the sticking point in arranging this meeting, but was central to Idle No More’s claims that aboriginal sovereignty and treaty negotiations were matters whose origins preceded the establishment of the Canadian state. Chief Spence ended her hunger strike with the signing of a 13-point declaration that demanded commitments from the government to review Bills C-45 and C-38, ensure aboriginal consultation on government legislation, initiate an enquiry into missing aboriginal women, and improve treaty negotiations, aboriginal housing, and education, among other commitments (CBC 2013a;  2013b).

Comparisons between Idle No More and the recent Occupy Movement emphasized the diffuse, grassroots natures of the movements and their non-hierarchical structures. Idle No More emerged outside, and in some respects in opposition to, the Assembly of First Nations. It was more focused than the Occupy Movement in the sense that it developed in response to particular legislation (Bill C-45), but as it grew it became both broader in its concerns and more radical in its demands for aboriginal sovereignty and self-determination. It was also seen to have the same organizational problems as the Occupy movement in that the goals of the movement were left more or less open, the leadership remained decentralized, and no formal decision-making structures were established. Some members of the Idle No More movement were satisfied with the 13-point declaration, while others sought more radical solutions of self-determination outside the traditional pattern of negotiating with the federal government. It is not clear that Idle No More, as a social movement, will move toward a more conventional social-movement structure or whether it will dissipate and be replaced by other aboriginal movements (CBC 2013c; Gollom 2013). Taiaiake Alfred’s post-mortem of the movement was that “the limits to Idle No More are clear, and many people are beginning to realize that the kind of movement we have been conducting under the banner of Idle No More is not sufficient in itself to decolonize this country or even to make meaningful change in the lives of people” (2013).

Despite their successes in bringing forth change on controversial topics, social movements are not always about volatile politicized issues. For example, the global movement called Slow Food focuses on how we eat as means of addressing contemporary quality-of-life issues. Slow Food, with the slogan “Good, Clean, Fair Food,” is a global grassroots movement claiming supporters in 150 countries. The movement links community and environmental issues back to the question of what is on our plates and where it came from. Founded in 1989 in response to the increasing existence of fast food in communities that used to treasure their culinary traditions, Slow Food works to raise awareness of food choices (Slow Food 2011). With more than 100,000 members in 1,300 local chapters, Slow Food is a movement that crosses political, age, and regional lines.

Types of Social Movements

We know that social movements can occur on the local, national, or even global stage. Are there other patterns or classifications that can help us understand them? Sociologist David Aberle (1966) addresses this question, developing categories that distinguish among social movements based on what they want to change and how much change they want. Reform movements seek to change something specific about the social structure. Examples include anti-nuclear groups, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), and the National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC). Revolutionary movements seek to completely change every aspect of society. These would include Cuban 26th of July Movement (under Fidel Castro), the 1960s counterculture movement, as well as anarchist collectives. Redemptive movements are “meaning seeking,” and their goal is to provoke inner change or spiritual growth in individuals. Organizations pushing these movements might include Alcoholics Anynymous, New Age, or Christian fundamentalist groups. Alternative movements are focused on self-improvement and limited, specific changes to individual beliefs and behaviour. These include groups like the Slow Food movement, Planned Parenthood, and barefoot jogging advocates. Resistance movements seek to prevent or undo change to the social structure. The Ku Klux Klan and pro-life movements fall into this category.

Stages of Social Movements

Later sociologists studied the life cycle of social movements—how they emerge, grow, and in some cases, die out. Blumer (1969) and Tilly (1978) outline a four-stage process. In the preliminary stage , people become aware of an issue and leaders emerge. This is followed by the coalescence stage when people join together and organize in order to publicize the issue and raise awareness. In the institutionalization stage , the movement no longer requires grassroots volunteerism: it is an established organization, typically peopled with a paid staff. When people fall away, adopt a new movement, the movement successfully brings about the change it sought, or people no longer take the issue seriously, the movement falls into the decline stage . Each social movement discussed earlier belongs in one of these four stages. Where would you put them on the list?

Making Connections: the Big Pictures

Social media and social change: a match made in heaven.

Chances are you have been asked to tweet, friend, like, or donate online for a cause. Maybe you were one of the many people who, in 2010, helped raise over $3 million in relief efforts for Haiti through cell phone text donations. Or maybe you follow political candidates on Twitter and retweet their messages to your followers. Perhaps you have “liked” a local nonprofit on Facebook, prompted by one of your neighbours or friends liking it too. Nowadays, woven throughout our social media activities, are social movements. After all, social movements start by activating people.

Referring to the ideal type stages discussed above, you can see that social media has the potential to dramatically transform how people get involved. Look at the first stage, the preliminary stage : people become aware of an issue and leaders emerge. Imagine how social media speeds up this step. Suddenly, a shrewd user of Twitter can alert thousands of followers about an emerging cause or an issue on his or her mind. Issue awareness can spread at the speed of a click, with thousands of people across the globe becoming informed at the same time. In a similar vein, those who are savvy and engaged with social media emerge as leaders. Suddenly, you do not need to be a powerful public speaker. You do not even need to leave your house. You can build an audience through social media without ever meeting the people you are inspiring.

At the next stage, the coalescence stage , social media also is transformative. Coalescence is the point when people join together to publicize the issue and get organized. U.S. President Obama’s 2008 campaign became a case study in organizing through social media. Using Twitter and other online tools, the campaign engaged volunteers who had typically not bothered with politics, and empowered those who were more active to generate still more activity. It is no coincidence that Obama’s earlier work experience included grassroots community organizing. What is the difference between this type of campaign and the work that political activists did in neighbourhoods in earlier decades? The ability to organize without regard to geographical boundaries becomes possible using social media. In 2009, when student protests erupted in Tehran, social media was considered so important to the organizing effort that the U.S. State Department actually asked Twitter to suspend scheduled maintenance so that a vital tool would not be disabled during the demonstrations.

So what is the real impact of this technology on the world? Did Twitter bring down Mubarak in Egypt? Author Malcolm Gladwell (2010) does not think so. In an article in New Yorker magazine, Gladwell tackles what he considers the myth that social media gets people more engaged. He points out that most of the tweets relating to the Iran protests were in English and sent from Western accounts (instead of people on the ground). Rather than increasing engagement, he contends that social media only increases participation; after all, the cost of participation is so much lower than the cost of engagement. Instead of risking being arrested, shot with rubber bullets, or sprayed with fire hoses, social media activists can click “like” or retweet a message from the comfort and safety of their desk (Gladwell 2010).

Sociologists have identified high-risk activism, such as the civil rights movement, as a “strong-tie” phenomenon, meaning that people are far more likely to stay engaged and not run home to safety if they have close friends who are also engaged. The people who dropped out of the movement––who went home after the danger got too great––did not display any less ideological commitment. They lacked the strong-tie connection to other people who were staying. Social media, by its very makeup, is “weak-tie” (McAdam and Paulsen 1993). People follow or friend people they have never met. While these online acquaintances are a source of information and inspiration, the lack of engaged personal contact limits the level of risk we will take on their behalf.

Theoretical Perspectives on Social Movements

Most theories of social movements are called collective action theories, indicating the purposeful nature of this form of collective behaviour. The following three theories are but a few of the many classic and modern theories developed by social scientists. Resource mobilization theory focuses on the purposive, organizational strategies that social movements need to engage in to successfully mobilize support, compete with other social movements and opponents, and present political claims and grievances to the state. Framing theory focuses on the way social movements make appeals to potential supporters by framing or presenting their issues in a way that aligns with commonly held values, beliefs, and commonsense attitudes. New social movement theory focuses on the unique qualities that define the “newness” of postmaterialist social movements like the Green, feminist, and peace movements.

Resource Mobilization

Social movements will always be a part of society as long as there are aggrieved populations whose needs and interests are not being satisfied. However, grievances do not become social movements unless social movement actors are able to create viable organizations, mobilize resources, and attract large-scale followings. As people will always weigh their options and make rational choices about which movements to follow, social movements necessarily form under finite competitive conditions: competition for attention, financing, commitment, organizational skills, etc. Not only will social movements compete for our attention with many other concerns—from the basic (our jobs or our need to feed ourselves) to the broad (video games, sports, or television), but they also compete with each other. For any individual, it may be a simple matter to decide you want to spend your time and money on animal shelters and Conservative Party politics versus homeless shelters and the New Democratic Party. The question is, however, which animal shelter or which Conservative candidate? To be successful, social movements must develop the organizational capacity to mobilize resources (money, people, and skills) and compete with other organizations to reach their goals.

McCarthy and Zald (1977) conceptualize resource mobilization theory as a way to explain a movement’s success in terms of its ability to acquire resources and mobilize individuals to achieve goals and take advantage of political opportunities. For example, PETA, a social movement organization, is in competition with Greenpeace and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), two other social movement organizations. Taken together, along with all other social movement organizations working on animals rights issues, these similar organizations constitute a social movement industry . Multiple social movement industries in a society, though they may have widely different constituencies and goals, constitute a society’s social movement sector . Every social movement organization (a single social movement group) within the social movement sector is competing for your attention, your time, and your resources. The chart in Figure 21.9 shows the relationship between these components.

Framing/Frame Analysis

The sudden emergence of social movements that have not had time to mobilize resources, or vice versa, the failure of well-funded groups to achieve effective collective action, calls into question the emphasis on resource mobilization as an adequate explanation for the formation of social movements. Over the past several decades, sociologists have developed the concept of frames to explain how individuals identify and understand social events and which norms they should follow in any given situation (Benford and Snow 2000; Goffman 1974; Snow et al. 1986). A frame is a way in which experience is organized conceptually. Imagine entering a restaurant. Your “frame” immediately provides you with a behaviour template. It probably does not occur to you to wear pajamas to a fine dining establishment, throw food at other patrons, or spit your drink onto the table. However, eating food at a sleepover pizza party provides you with an entirely different behaviour template. It might be perfectly acceptable to eat in your pajamas, and maybe even throw popcorn at others or guzzle drinks from cans. Similarly, social movements must actively engage in realigning collective social frames so that the movements’ interests, ideas, values, and goals become congruent with those of potential members. The movements’ goals have to make sense to people to draw new recruits into their organizations.

Successful social movements use three kinds of frames (Snow and Benford 1988) to further their goals. The first type, diagnostic framing , states the social movement problem in a clear, easily understood way. When applying diagnostic frames, there are no shades of grey: instead, there is the belief that what “they” do is wrong and this is how “we” will fix it. The anti-gay marriage movement is an example of diagnostic framing with its uncompromising insistence that marriage is only between a man and a woman. Any other concept of marriage is framed as sinful or immoral. Prognostic framing , the second type, offers a solution and states how it will be implemented. When looking at the issue of pollution as framed by the environmental movement, for example, prognostic frames would include direct legal sanctions and the enforcement of strict government regulations or the imposition of carbon taxes or cap-and-trade mechanisms to make environmental damage more costly. As you can see, there may be many competing prognostic frames even within social movements adhering to similar diagnostic frames. Finally, motivational framing is the call to action: what should you do once you agree with the diagnostic frame and believe in the prognostic frame? These frames are action-oriented. In the aboriginal justice movement, a call to action might encourage you to join a blockade on contested aboriginal treaty land or contact your local MP to express your viewpoint that aboriginal treaty rights be honoured.

With so many similar diagnostic frames, some groups find it best to join together to maximize their impact. When social movements link their goals to the goals of other social movements and merge into a single group, a frame alignment process (Snow et al. 1986) occurs—an ongoing and intentional means of recruiting a diversity of participants to the movement. For example, Carroll and Ratner (1996) argue that using a social justice frame makes it possible for a diverse group of social movements—union movements, environmental movements, aboriginal justice movements, gay rights movements,  anti-poverty movements, etc.—to form effective coalitions even if their specific goals do not typically align.

This frame alignment process involves four aspects: bridging, amplification, extension, and transformation. Bridging describes a “bridge” that connects uninvolved individuals and unorganized or ineffective groups with social movements that, though structurally unconnected, nonetheless share similar interests or goals. These organizations join together creating a new, stronger social movement organization. Can you think of examples of different organizations with a similar goal that have banded together?

In the amplification model, organizations seek to expand their core ideas to gain a wider, more universal appeal. By expanding their ideas to include a broader range, they can mobilize more people for their cause. For example, the Slow Food movement extends its arguments in support of local food to encompass reduced energy consumption and reduced pollution, plus reduced obesity from eating more healthfully, and other benefits.

In extension , social movements agree to mutually promote each other, even when the two social movement organization’s goals do not necessarily relate to each other’s immediate goals. This often occurs when organizations are sympathetic to each others’ causes, even if they are not directly aligned, such as women’s equal rights and the civil rights movement.

Transformation involves a complete revision of goals. Once a movement has succeeded, it risks losing relevance. If it wants to remain active, the movement has to change with the transformation or risk becoming obsolete. For instance, when the women’s suffrage movement gained women the right to vote, they turned their attention to equal rights and campaigning to elect women. In short, it is an evolution to the existing diagnostic or prognostic frames generally involving a total conversion of movement.

New Social Movement Theory

New social movement theory  emerged in the 1970s to explain the proliferation of postindustrial, quality-of-life movements that are difficult to analyze using traditional social movement theories (Melucci 1989). Rather than being based on the grievances of particular groups striving to influence political outcomes or redistribute material resources, new social movements (NSMs) like the peace and disarmament, environmental, and feminist movements focus on goals of autonomy, identity, self-realization, and quality-of-life issues. As the German Green Party slogan of the 1980s suggests—“We are neither right nor left, but ahead”—the appeal of the new social movements also tends to cut across traditional class, party politics, and socioeconomic affiliations to politicize aspects of everyday life traditionally seen as outside politics. Moreover, the movements themselves are more flexible, diverse, shifting, and informal in participation and membership than the older social movements, often preferring to adopt nonhierarchical modes of organization and unconventional means of political engagement (such as direct action).

Melucci (1994) argues that the commonality that designates these diverse social movements as “new” is the way in which they respond to systematic encroachments on the lifeworld , the shared inter-subjective meanings and common understandings that form the backdrop of our daily existence and communication. The dimensions of existence that were formally considered private (e.g., the body, sexuality, interpersonal affective relations), subjective (e.g., desire, motivation, and cognitive or emotional processes), or common (e.g., nature, urban spaces, language, information, and communicational resources) are increasingly subject to social control, manipulation, commodification, and administration. However, as Melucci (1994) argues,

These are precisely the areas where individuals and groups lay claim to their autonomy, where they conduct their search for identity…and construct the meaning of what they are and what they do (pp. 101-102).

Collective behaviour and social movements are just two of the forces driving social change , which is the change in society created through social movements as well as external factors like environmental shifts or technological innovations. Essentially, any disruptive shift in the status quo, be it intentional or random, human-caused or natural, can lead to social change. Below are some of the likely causes.

Causes of Social Change

Changes to technology, social institutions, population, and the environment, alone or in some combination, create change. Below, we will discuss how these act as agents of social change and we’ll examine real-world examples. We will focus on four agents of change recognized by social scientists: technology, social institutions, population, and the environment.

Some would say that improving technology has made our lives easier. Imagine what your day would be like without the internet, the automobile, or electricity. In The World Is Flat , Thomas Friedman (2005) argues that technology is a driving force behind globalization, while the other forces of social change (social institutions, population, environment) play comparatively minor roles. He suggests that we can view globalization as occurring in three distinct periods. First, globalization was driven by military expansion, powered by horsepower and windpower. The countries best able to take advantage of these power sources expanded the most, exerting control over the politics of the globe from the late 15th century to around the year 1800. The second shorter period, from approximately 1800 CE to 2000 CE, consisted of a globalizing economy. Steam and rail power were the guiding forces of social change and globalization in this period. Finally, Friedman brings us to the post-millennial era. In this period of globalization, change is driven by technology, particularly the internet (Friedman 2005).

But also consider that technology can create change in the other three forces social scientists link to social change. Advances in medical technology allow otherwise infertile women to bear children, indirectly leading to an increase in population. Advances in agricultural technology have allowed us to genetically alter and patent food products, changing our environment in innumerable ways. From the way we educate children in the classroom to the way we grow the food we eat, technology has impacted all aspects of modern life.

Of course there are drawbacks. The increasing gap between the technological haves and have-nots––sometimes called the digital divide ––occurs both locally and globally. Further, there are added security risks: the loss of privacy, the risk of total system failure (like the Y2K panic at the turn of the millennium), and the added vulnerability created by technological dependence. Think about the technology that goes into keeping nuclear power plants running safely and securely. What happens if an earthquake or other disaster, as in the case of Japan’s Fukushima plant, causes the technology to malfunction, not to mention the possibility of a systematic attack to our nation’s relatively vulnerable technological infrastructure?

Social Institutions

Each change in a single social institution leads to changes in all social institutions. For example, the industrialization of society meant that there was no longer a need for large families to produce enough manual labour to run a farm. Further, new job opportunities were in close proximity to urban centres where living space was at a premium. The result is that the average family size shrunk significantly.

This same shift toward industrial corporate entities also changed the way we view government involvement in the private sector, created the global economy, provided new political platforms, and even spurred new religions and new forms of religious worship like Scientology. It has also informed the way we educate our children: originally schools were set up to accommodate an agricultural calendar so children could be home to work the fields in the summer, and even today, teaching models are largely based on preparing students for industrial jobs, despite that being an outdated need. As this example illustrates, a shift in one area, such as industrialization, means an interconnected impact across social institutions.

Population composition is changing at every level of society. Births increase in one nation and decrease in another. Some families delay childbirth while others start bringing children into their fold early. Population changes can be due to random external forces, like an epidemic, or shifts in other social institutions, as described above. But regardless of why and how it happens, population trends have a tremendous interrelated impact on all other aspects of society.

In Canada, we are experiencing an increase in our senior population as baby boomers begin to retire, which will in turn change the way many of our social institutions are organized. For example, there is an increased demand for housing in warmer climates, a massive shift in the need for elder care and assisted-living facilities, and growing awareness of elder abuse. There is concern about labour shortages as boomers retire, not to mention the knowledge gap as the most senior and accomplished leaders in different sectors start to leave. Further, as this large generation leaves the workforce, the loss of tax income and pressure on pension and retirement plans means that the financial stability of the country is threatened.

Globally, often the countries with the highest fertility rates are least able to absorb and attend to the needs of a growing population. Family planning is a large step in ensuring that families are not burdened with more children than they can care for. On a macro level, the increased population, particularly in the poorest parts of the globe, also leads to increased stress on the planet’s resources.

The Environment

Turning to human ecology, we know that individuals and the environment affect each other. As human populations move into more vulnerable areas, we see an increase in the number of people affected by natural disasters, and we see that human interaction with the environment increases the impact of those disasters. Part of this is simply the numbers: the more people there are on the planet, the more likely it is that people will be impacted by a natural disaster.

But it goes beyond that. We face a combination of too many people and the increased demands these numbers make on the Earth. As a population, we have brought water tables to dangerously low levels, built up fragile shorelines to increase development, and irrigated massive crop fields with water brought in from far away. How can we be surprised when homes along coastlines are battered and droughts threaten whole towns? The year 2011 holds the unwelcome distinction of being a record year for billion-dollar weather disasters, with about a dozen falling into that category. From twisters and floods to snowstorms and droughts, the planet is making our problems abundantly clear (CBS News 2011). These events have birthed social movements and are bringing about social change as the public becomes educated about these issues.

Our Dystopian Future: From A Brave New World to The Hunger Games

Humans have long been interested in science fiction and space travel, and many of us are eager to see the invention of jet packs and flying cars. But part of this futuristic fiction trend is much darker and less optimistic. In 1932, when Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World was published, there was a cultural trend toward seeing the future as golden and full of opportunity. In his novel set in 2540, there is a more frightening future. Since then, there has been an ongoing stream of dystopian novels, or books set in the future after some kind of apocalypse has occurred and when a totalitarian and restrictive government has taken over. These books have been gaining in popularity recently, especially among young adult readers. And while the adult versions of these books often have a grim or dismal ending, the youth-geared versions usually end with some promise of hope.

So what is it about our modern times that makes looking forward so fearsome? Take the example of author Suzanne Collins’s hugely popular Hunger Games trilogy for young adults. The futuristic setting isn’t given a date, and the locale is Panem, a transformed version of North America with 12 districts ruled by a cruel and dictatorial capitol. The capitol punishes the districts for their long-ago attempt at rebellion by forcing an annual Hunger Game, where two children from each district are thrown into a created world where they must fight to the death. Connotations of gladiator games and video games come together in this world, where the government can kill people for their amusement, and the technological wonders never cease. From meals that appear at the touch of a button to mutated government-built creatures that track and kill, the future world of Hunger Games is a mix of modernization fantasy and nightmare.

When thinking about modernization theory and how it is viewed today by both functionalists and conflict theorists, it is interesting to look at this world of fiction that is so popular. When you think of the future, do you view it as a wonderful place, full of opportunity? Or as a horrifying dictatorship sublimating the individual to the good of the state? Do you view modernization as something to look forward to or something to avoid? And which media has influenced your view?

• Modernization

Modernization describes the processes that increase the amount of specialization and differentiation of structure in societies resulting in the move from an undeveloped society to developed, technologically driven society (Irwin 1975). By this definition, the level of modernity within a society is judged by the sophistication of its technology, particularly as it relates to infrastructure, industry, and the like. However, it is important to note the inherent ethnocentric bias of such assessment. Why do we assume that those living in semi-peripheral and peripheral nations would find it so wonderful to become more like the core nations? Is modernization always positive?

One contradiction of all kinds of technology is that they often promise time-saving benefits, but somehow fail to deliver. How many times have you ground your teeth in frustration at an internet site that refused to load or at a dropped call on your cell phone? Despite time-saving devices such as dishwashers, washing machines, and, now, remote control vacuum cleaners, the average amount of time spent on housework is the same today as it was 50 years ago. And the dubious benefits of 24/7 email and immediate information have simply increased the amount of time employees are expected to be responsive and available. While once businesses had to travel at the speed of the Canadian postal system, sending something off and waiting until it was received before the next stage, today the immediacy of information transfer means there are no such breaks.

Further, the internet bought us information, but at a cost. The morass of information means that there is as much poor information available as trustworthy sources. There is a delicate line to walk when core nations seek to bring the assumed benefits of modernization to more traditional cultures. For one, there are obvious pro-capitalist biases that go into such attempts, and it is short-sighted for Western governments and social scientists to assume all other countries aspire to follow in their footsteps. Additionally, there can be a kind of neo-liberal defence of rural cultures, ignoring the often crushing poverty and diseases that exist in peripheral nations and focusing only on a nostalgic mythology of the happy peasant. It takes a very careful hand to understand both the need for cultural identity and preservation as well as the hopes for future growth.

acting crowds crowds of people who are focused on a specific action or goal

alternative movements social movements that limit themselves to self-improvement changes in individuals

assembling perspective a theory that credits individuals in crowds as behaving as rational thinkers and views crowds as engaging in purposeful behaviour and collective action

casual crowds people who share close proximity without really interacting

collective behaviour a non-institutionalized activity in which several people voluntarily engage

conventional crowds people who come together for a regularly scheduled event

crowd a fairly large number of people sharing close proximity

diagnostic framing when the social problem is stated in a clear, easily understood manner

digital divide the increasing gap between the technological haves and have-nots

emergent norm theory a perspective that emphasizes the importance of social norms in crowd behaviour

expressive crowds crowds that share opportunities to express emotions

flash mob a large group of people who gather together in a spontaneous activity that lasts a limited amount of time

frame a way in which experience is organized conceptually

frame alignment process using bridging, amplification, extension, and transformation as an ongoing and intentional means of recruiting participants to a movement

lifeworld the shared inter-subjective meanings and common understandings that form the backdrop of our daily existence and communication

mass a relatively large group with a common interest, even if the group members may not be in close proximity

modernization the process that increases the amount of specialization and differentiation of structure in societies

motivational framing a call to action

new social movement theory theory that attempts to explain the proliferation of postindustrial and postmodern movements that are difficult to understand using traditional social movement theories

prognostic framing when social movements state a clear solution and a means of implementation

public an unorganized, relatively diffuse group of people who share ideas

redemptive movements movements that work to promote inner change or spiritual growth in individuals

reform movements movements that seek to change something specific about the social structure

resistance movements movements that seek to prevent or undo change to the social structure

resource mobilization theory theory that explains social movements’ success in terms of their ability to acquire resources and mobilize individuals

revolutionary movements movements that seek to completely change every aspect of society

social change the change in a society created through social movements as well as through external factors like environmental shifts or technological innovations

social movement a purposeful organized group hoping to work toward a common social goal

social movement industry the collection of the social movement organizations that are striving toward similar goal

social movement organization a single social movement group

social movement sector the multiple social movement industries in a society, even if they have widely varying constituents and goals

value-added theory a functionalist perspective theory that posits that several preconditions must be in place for collective behaviour to occur

Section Summary

21.1. Collective Behaviour Collective behaviour is non-institutionalized activity in which many people voluntarily engage. There are four different forms of collective behaviour: crowd, mass, public, and social movement. There are three main theories of collective behaviour. The first, the emergent-norm perspective, emphasizes the importance of social norms in crowd behaviour. The next, the value-added theory, is a functionalist perspective that states that several preconditions must be in place for collective behaviour to occur. Finally the assembling perspective focuses on collective action rather than collective behaviour, addressing the processes associated with crowd behaviour and the life cycle of various categories of gatherings.

21.2. Social Movements 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 movements intersect with environmental changes, technological innovations, and other external factors to create social change. There are myriad 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.

21.3. Social Change There are numerous and varied causes of social change. Four common causes, as recognized by social scientists, are technology, social institutions, population, and the environment. All four of these areas can impact when and how society changes. They are all interrelated: a change in one area can lead to changes throughout. Modernization is a typical result of social change. Modernization refers to the process of increased differentiation and specialization within a society, particularly around its industry and infrastructure. While this assumes that more modern societies are better, there has been significant pushback on this western-centric view that all peripheral and semi-peripheral countries should develop according to the model of North America and western Europe.

Section Quiz

21.1. Collective Behaviour 1. Which of the following organizations is not an example of a social movement?

• National Football League
• National Action Committee on the Status of Women

2. Sociologists using critical perspective might study what?

• How social movements develop
• What social purposes a movement serves
• What motivates inequitably treated people to join a movement
• What individuals hope to gain from taking part in a social movement

3. Which of the following is an example of collective behaviour?

• A soldier questioning orders
• A group of people interested in hearing an author speak
• A class going on a field trip
• Going shopping with a friend

4. The protesters at the Egypt uprising rally were ________________.

• A casual crowd
• A conventional crowd
• An acting crowd

5. According to emergent-norm theory, crowds are _________________.

• Irrational and impulsive
• Often misinterpreted and misdirected
• Able to develop their own definition of the situation
• Prone to criminal behaviour

6. A boy throwing rocks during a demonstration might be an example of ___________.

• Structural conduciveness
• Structural strain
• Precipitating factors
• Mobilization for action

21.2. Social Movements 7. If we divide social movements according to their competitive position among all social movements in a society, we are using the __________ theory to understand social movements.

• New social movement
• Resource mobilization
• Value-added

8. While PETA is a social movement organization, taken together, the animal rights social movement organizations PETA, ALF, and Greenpeace are a __________.

• Social movement industry
• Social movement sector
• Social movement party
• Social industry

9. Social movements are __________________.

• Disruptive and chaotic challenges to the government
• Ineffective mass movements
• The collective action of individuals working together in an attempt to establish new norms beliefs, or values
• The singular activities of a collection of groups working to challenge the status quo

10. When the League of Women Voters successfully achieved its goal of women being allowed to vote, they had to undergo frame __________, a means of completely changing their goals to ensure continuing relevance.

• Amplification
• Transformation

11. If a movement claims that the best way to reverse climate change is to reduce carbon emissions by outlawing privately owned cars, “outlawing cars” is the ________.

• Prognostic framing
• Diagnostic framing
• Motivational framing
• Frame transformation

21.3. Social Change 12. Children in peripheral nations have little to no daily access to computers and the internet, while children in core nations are constantly exposed to this technology. This is an example of ______________.

• The digital divide
• Human ecology
• Modernization theory
• Dependency theory

13. When sociologists think about technology as an agent of social change, which of the following is not an example?

• Population growth
• Medical advances
• The internet
• Genetically engineered food

14. China is undergoing a shift in industry, increasing labour specialization and the amount of differentiation present in the social structure. This exemplifies __________.

• Critical perspective

15. Core nations that work to propel peripheral nations toward modernization need to be aware of ______________.

• Preserving peripheral nation cultural identity
• Preparing for pitfalls that come with modernization
• Avoiding self-serving, normative assumptions about modernization
• All of the above

16. In addition to social movements, social change is also caused by technology, social institutions, population, and ______ .

• The environment
• Social structure
• New social movements

Short Answer

21.1. Collective Behaviour

• Discuss the differences between a mass and a crowd. What is an example of each? What sets them apart? What do they share in common?
• Can you think of a time when your behaviour in a crowd was dictated by the circumstances? Give an example of emergent-norm perspective, using your own experience.
• Discuss the differences between an acting crowd and a collective crowd. Give examples of each.
• Imagine you are at a rally protesting nuclear energy use. Walk us through the hypothetical rally using the value-added theory, imagining it meets all the stages.

21.2. Social Movements

• Think about a social movement industry dealing with a cause that is important to you. How do the different social movement organizations of this industry seek to engage you? Which techniques do you respond to? Why?
• Do you think social media is an important tool in creating social change? Why or why not? Defend your opinion.
• Describe a social movement in the decline stage. What is its issue? Why has it reached this stage?

21.3. Social Change

• Consider one of the classical social movements of the 20th century, from the 1960s civil rights in the United States to Gandhi’s nonviolent protests in India. How would technology have changed it? Would change have come more quickly or more slowly? Defend your opinion.
• Discuss the digital divide in the context of modernization. Is there a real concern that poorer communities are lacking in technology? Why or why not?
• Do you think that modernization is good or bad? Explain, using examples.

21. Introduction to Social Movements and Social Change NAACP. 2011. “100 Years of History.” Retrieved December 21, 2011 ( http://www.naacp.org/pages/naacp-history ).

21.1. Collective Behaviour Blumer, Herbert. 1969. “Collective Behavior.” Pp. 67–121 in Principles of Sociology , edited by A.M. Lee. New York: Barnes and Noble.

Le Bon, Gustave. 1960 [1895]. The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind . New York: Viking Press.

Lofland, John. 1993. “Collective Behavior: The Elementary Forms.” Pp. 70–75 in Collective Behavior and Social Movements , edited by Russel Curtis and Benigno Aguirre. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

McPhail, Clark. 1991. The Myth of the Madding Crowd . New York: Aldine de Gruyter.

Smelser, Neil J. 1963. Theory of Collective Behavior . New York: Free Press.

Turner, Ralph and Lewis M. Killian. 1993. Collective Behavior . 4th ed. Englewood Cliffs, N. J., Prentice Hall.

21.2. Social Movements Aberle, David. 1966. The Peyote Religion among the Navaho . Chicago: Aldine.

Alfred, Taiaiake. 2013. “Idle No More: The Indigenous Peoples’ Movement.” Idlenomore.tumblr.com. January 27. Retrieved August 13, 2014, from http://idlenomore.tumblr.com/post/41651870376/taiaiake-alfred-idle-no-more-and-indigenous-nationhood

Benford, Robert, and David Snow. 2000. “Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and Assessment.” Annual Review of Sociology 26:611–639.

Blumer, Herbert. 1969. “Collective Behavior.” Pp. 67–121 in Principles of Sociology , edited by A.M. Lee. New York: Barnes and Noble.

Carroll, William and Robert Ratner. 1996. “Master Frames and Counter-Hegemony: Political Sensibilities in Contemporary Social Movements.” Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology. 33: 407-435.

CBC. 2013a.  “9 questions about Idle No More.” CBC News. January 5. Retrieved August 13, 2014, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/9-questions-about-idle-no-more-1.1301843

CBC. 2013b. “Chief Theresa Spence to end hunger strike today.” CBC News. January 23. Retrieved August 13, 2014, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/chief-theresa-spence-to-end-hunger-strike-today-1.1341571

CBC. 2013c. “Idle No More Anniversary Sees Divisions Emerging.” Huffington Post. November 10. Retrieved August 13, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/11/10/idle-no-more-anniversary_n_4250345.html?utm_hp_ref=idle-no-more

Gladwell, Malcolm. 2010. “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted.” The New Yorker, October 4. Retrieved December 23, 2011 ( http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=all ).

Goffman, Erving. 1974. Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Gollom, Mark. 2013. “Is Idle No More the new Occupy Wall Street?” CBC News. January 8. Retrieved August 13, 2014, from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/is-idle-no-more-the-new-occupy-wall-street-1.1397642

McAdam, Doug and Ronnelle Paulsen. 1993. “Specifying the Relationship between Social Ties and Activism.” American Journal of Sociology 99:640–667.

McCarthy, John D. and Mayer N. Zald. 1977. “Resource Mobilization and Social Movements: A Partial Theory.” American Journal of Sociology 82:1212–1241.

Melucci, Alberto. 1989. Nomads of the Present. Philadelphia: Temple University Press

Melucci, Alberto. 1994. “A Strange Kind of Newness: What’s “New” in New Social Movements?” Pp. 101-130 in Enrique Larana, Hank Johnston, and Joseph Gusfield (eds). New Social Movements . Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Roussin, Diane,  Ian Gill and Ric Young. 2014. “A big, bold plan: project aims to transform downtrodden Winnipeg neighbourhood.” Winnipeg Free Press. March 29. Retrieved August 10, 2014, from http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/a-big-bold-plan-253010241.html

Silver, Jim. 2008. The Inner Cities of Saskatoon and Winnipeg: A New and Distinctive Form  of Development. Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. January. Retrieved August 10, 2014, from http://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/Manitoba_Pubs/2008/Inner_Cities_of_Saskatoon_and_Winnipeg.pdf

Slow Food. 2011. “Slow Food International: Good, Clean, and Fair Food.” Retrieved December 28, 2011 ( http://www.slowfood.com ).

Snow, David, E. Burke Rochford, Jr., Steven , and Robert Benford. 1986. “Frame Alignment Processes, Micromobilization, and Movement Participation.” American Sociological Review 51:464–481.

Snow, David A. and Robert D. Benford 1988. “Ideology, Frame Resonance, and Participant Mobilization.” I nternational Social Movement Research 1:197–217.

Tilly, Charles. 1978. From Mobilization to Revolution. New York: Mcgraw-Hill College.

Western Canada Concept. N.d. “Western Canada  Concept.” Retrieved August 10, 2014, from http://www.westcan.org/

Winnipeg Boldness Project. 2014. “Boldness.” Winnipeg Boldness Project .  Retrieved August 10, 2014, from http://winnipegboldness.ca/

21.3. Social Change CBS News. 2011. “Record Year for Billion Dollar Disasters.” CBS News , Dec 11. Retrieved December 26, 2011 ( http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57339130/record-year-for-billion-dollar-disasters ).

Freidman, Thomas. 2005. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century . New York, NY: Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux.

Irwin, Patrick. 1975. “An Operational Definition of Societal Modernization.” Economic Development and Cultural Change 23:595–613.

Miller, Laura. 2010. “Fresh Hell: What’s Behind the Boom in Dystopian Fiction for Young Readers?” The New Yorker. June 14. Retrieved December 26, 2011 ( http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2010/06/14/100614crat_atlarge_miller ).

Image Attributions

Figure 21.2.  Flash Mob Pillow Fight by Mattw1s0n ( https://www.flickr.com/photos/piccadillywilson/330935065/in/photostream/ ) used under CC BY 2.0 ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ )

Figure 21.5 Flag of western Canada by Harley King ( http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag_of_Western_Canada.png ) used under CC BY SA 3.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en )

Figure 21.6.  #IdleNoMore by AK Rockefeller ( https://www.flickr.com/photos/akrockefeller/8380053710/ ) used under CC BY SA 2.0 ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ )

Figure 21.10. (a) Annie Kenney and Christabel Pankhurst ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Annie_Kenney_and_Christabel_Pankhurst.jpg ) is in public domain

Figure 21.11. The Hunger Games by Carissa Rogers ( https://www.flickr.com/photos/goodncrazy/4350445408/ ) used under CC BY 2.0 license ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ )

Solutions to Section Quiz

1. A  |  2. C  |  3. B  |  4. D  |  5. C  |  6. C  |  7. C  |  8. A  |  9. C  |  10. D  |  11. A  |  12. A  |  13. A  |  14. C  |  15. D  |  16. A

Introduction to Sociology - 1st Canadian Edition Copyright © 2014 by William Little and Ron McGivern is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Introduction to Social Movements and Social Change

Chapter outline.

When considering social movements, the images that come to mind are often the most dramatic and dynamic: the Boston Tea Party, Martin Luther King's speech at the 1963 March on Washington, anti-war protesters putting flowers in soldiers' rifles, and Gloria Richardson brushing away a bayonet in Cambridge, Maryland. Or perhaps more violent visuals: burning buildings in Watts, protestors fighting with police, or a lone citizen facing a line of tanks in Tiananmen Square.

But social movement occurs every day, often without any pictures or fanfare, by people of all backgrounds and ages. Organizing an awareness event, volunteering at a shelter, donating to a cause, speaking at a school board meeting, running for office, or writing an article are all ways that people participate in or promote social movements. Some people drive social change by educating themselves through books or trainings. Others find one person to help at a time.

Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a unique movement that defied some of the theoretical and practical expectations regarding social movements. OWS is set apart by its lack of a single message, its leaderless organization, and its target—financial institutions instead of the government. OWS baffled much of the public, and certainly the media, leading many to ask, "Who are they, and what do they want?"

On July 13, 2011, the organization Adbusters posted on its blog, "Are you ready for a Tahrir moment? On September 17th, flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades and occupy Wall Street" (Castells 2012).

The "Tahrir moment" was a reference to the 2010 political uprising that began in Tunisia and spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa, including Egypt’s Tahrir Square in Cairo. Although OWS was a reaction to the continuing financial chaos that resulted from the 2008 market meltdown and not a political movement, the Arab Spring was its catalyst.

Manuel Castells (2012) notes that the years leading up to the Occupy movement had witnessed a dizzying increase in the disparity of wealth in the United States, stemming back to the 1980s. The top 1 percent in the nation had secured 58 percent of the economic growth in the period for themselves, while real hourly wages for the average worker had increased by only 2 percent. The wealth of the top 5 percent had increased by 42 percent. The average pay of a CEO was at that time 350 times that of the average worker, compared to less than 50 times in 1983 (AFL-CIO 2014). The country’s leading financial institutions, to many clearly to blame for the crisis and dubbed "too big to fail," were in trouble after many poorly qualified borrowers defaulted on their mortgage loans when the loans’ interest rates rose. The banks were eventually "bailed" out by the government with $700 billion of taxpayer money. According to many reports, that same year top executives and traders received large bonuses.

On September 17, 2011, an anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, the occupation began. About one thousand protestors descended upon Wall Street, and up to 20,000 people moved into Zuccotti Park, only two blocks away, where they began building a village of tents and organizing a system of communication. The protest soon began spreading throughout the nation, and its members started calling themselves "the 99 percent." More than a thousand cities and towns had Occupy demonstrations.

What did they want? Castells has dubbed OWS "A non-demand movement: The process is the message." Using Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and live-stream video, the protesters conveyed a multifold message with a long list of reforms and social change, including the need to address the rising disparity of wealth, the influence of money on election outcomes, the notion of "corporate personhood," a corporatized political system (to be replaced by "direct democracy”), political favoring of the rich, and rising student debt.

What did they accomplish? Despite headlines at the time softly mocking OWS for lack of cohesion and lack of clear messaging, the movement is credited with bringing attention to income inequality and the seemingly preferential treatment of financial institutions accused of wrongdoing. Recall from the chapter on Crime and Deviance that many financial crimes are not prosecuted, and their perpetrators rarely face jail time. It is likely that the general population is more sensitive to those issues than they were before the Occupy and related movements made them more visible.

What is the long-term impact? Has the United States changed the way it manages inequality? Certainly not. As discussed in several chapters, income inequality has generally increased. But is a major shift in our future?

The late James C. Davies suggested in his 1962 paper, "Toward a Theory of Revolution" that major change depends upon the mood of the people, and that it is extremely unlikely those in absolute poverty will be able to overturn a government, simply because the government has infinitely more power.

Instead, a shift is more possible when those with more power become involved. When formerly prosperous people begin to have unmet needs and unmet expectations, they become more disturbed: their mood changes. Eventually an intolerable point is reached, and revolution occurs. Thus, change comes not from the very bottom of the social hierarchy, but from somewhere in the middle (Davies 1962). For example, the Arab Spring was driven by mostly young, educated people whose promise and expectations were thwarted by corrupt autocratic governments. OWS too came not from the bottom but from people in the middle, who exploited the power of social media to enhance communication.

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The perfect social movement - is there a recipe? This expert explains

Ringing the changes ... what makes some social movements so successful? Image:  Unsplash/Duncan Shaffer

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Hyojin park.

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• Social movements can create a huge impact in the world and can bring about vital changes.
• But what makes some of these movements so successful, and how were they able to succeed?
• Hahrie Han is a professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University and author of several books on social movements. Here's what she thinks.

Social movements are behind the most powerful changes around the world. From voting rights, to political upheavals and the fight for racial equality – social movements can change mindsets, enact laws and shift policies. But only if they succeed.

So what are the features of a movement that can hold the attention of leaders and involve millions of participants?

This episode of our YouTube show Experts Explain delves into how to make a social movement succeed. To do so, we spoke to Hahrie Han, Professor of Political Science at Johns Hopkins University and author of four books about social change.

Han is also Inaugural Director of SNF Agora Institute, using data and research to realise the promise of democracy all over the world; and a Schwab Foundation for Social Enterpreneurship Awardee.

“One of the trends that we're seeing in social movements in the 21st century is this funny paradox between participation being possible but not being as powerful.”

Hahrie Han was speaking to video producers Kateryna Gordiychuk and HyoJin Park at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos in May.

Kateryna Gordiychuk: How do you define a successful social movement?

Hahrie Han: A successful social movement does several things. It makes the participation of ordinary people possible, so that people can participate. It makes it probable, so that people want to participate. And then it makes it powerful, right? It creates a scaffolding or a vehicle through which people can realise their own power. And one of the trends that we're seeing in social movements in the 21st century is this funny paradox between participation being possible but not being as powerful.

Right now we live in an era where it's easier than ever before for people to get involved. I can send out one tweet or a viral hashtag. I can get hundreds of thousands or even millions of people out into the streets. But when you talk to the people who are on the front lines, on the one hand, they feel like it's easier than ever before to get people involved. But on the other hand, it's harder than ever to make it feel like their participation actually matters.

“We live in an attention economy. But attention doesn't necessarily mean that you can actually make the change that you want.”

Kateryna: There have been social movements in the past that have succeeded. But what makes a successful social movement prosper as opposed to the social movements that will get forgotten over time?

Hahrie: First, a lot of social movements mistake attention for power. We live in an attention economy. But attention doesn't necessarily mean that you can actually make the change that you want.

The second thing is a lot of social movements mistake mobilising for organising. So mobilising is about trying to essentially harness people's outrage. And because of all the tools that we have with new technologies, it's easier than ever before to phrase just the right ask to get lots of millions of people who are really angry about something to come out and take action. Organising, on the other hand, is about actually transforming people's capabilities to turn people who are just outraged into the people who are actually working with each other to create the kind of flexibility and strategic capacity they need to make the change that they want.

The third thing that we find is that the most powerful movements are not the movements that have the best strategy at time one. They're the movements that at time two are able to react in real-time with flexibility to the challenges that come their way.

There's never been a social movement in the history of the world that has said, “Hey, we want it to happen” and everyone is like, “Great, it's going to happen, right?” Instead, what happens is that a social movement agitates for change and then they get pushback. And the real thing that differentiates a successful movement from an unsuccessful movement is how do they react when they get that pushback?

“As an organizer, I have to try to think, ‘What choices can I make today that are going to help me build that successful movement in the future?’”

Kateryna: Have you ever seen a social movement with real power? Where attention was translated into power so well that the movement achieved something specific, like a policy or legislation?

Hahrie: The classic iconic movement that people talk about a lot is the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. One of the core pieces of that was the Montgomery Bus Boycott, where the Black community in Montgomery, Alabama, boycotted buses to protest segregation on buses.

What people forget, a lot of times, when we tell that story of the Montgomery bus boycott, is that it lasted for over a year. For over 365 days, the Black community had to be able to hold together its entire community so that none of them would take the bus. These are people who were trying to get their families to the doctor. They were trying to get groceries. They still had to get to their jobs. They still had to get children to school. And in this climate, people were really pushing back against them. How many social movements do we have in the 21st century that could sustain a boycott for 380 days? There aren't many right now.

Kateryna: Let's say something happens inside the movement that forces all the participants of the movement to change course completely…

Hahrie: As an organiser, I don't know what challenges are going to come my way in three months, six months, one year, five years down the road. And so I have to try to think, ‘What choices can I make today that are going to help me build that successful movement in the future?’

So much of it, we find from our research, has to do with the extent to which you build an interconnected set of relationships among the people in your base. So if the people are only connected through the movement, through an email address or through a hashtag or something like that, then when you need to pivot, when you have to turn that ‘giant yacht’ in a different direction, then it's really hard to bring all those people along.

But if people are connected to each other in a set of horizontal networked relationships, then when you have to pivot, it's a lot easier to have the kind of complex conversations that you need in order to bring a team of people along with you. And in fact, that's where technology plays a huge role in allowing us to build those kinds of relationships at scale. But the key is you have to have those relationships in place.

“Most successful movements are simultaneously bold and pragmatic. They simultaneously negotiate but also hold big ideas.”

Kateryna: So there needs to be a kind of a more deep bond between the participants to kind of keep going, even with the pivot?

Hahrie: A lot of times people will ask me, ‘If I want to join a movement, how do I know if this is a movement that's likely to be successful or not?’ And the answer that I always give is, ‘If you feel like you're an interchangeable cog in a machine, you probably are.’

It's impossible for the leaders at the centre of the movement to be in relationship with everyone, of course. But what it means is that they're connected with other people who actually will notice, ‘Hey, Hahrie didn't show up for this meeting.’ It's not just that we're missing one person, it’s that this specific person didn't show up because we needed them.

Kateryna: We could argue that right now we're in the middle of a huge global movement for climate change. Young people are so determined to push for a social movement to protect the planet. And sometimes they feel that older generations are not listening to them. How can everybody come to the table for dialogue?

Hahrie: All the research that I've seen about social movements indicates that the most successful movements are simultaneously bold and pragmatic. They simultaneously negotiate but also hold big ideas. And I think that it's incumbent on both the young people and the older generation to figure out how we can create a table where we can negotiate together about realising this shared purpose?

In order to make systemic change, you have to have multistakeholder partnerships at stake. A lot of systemic changes that we see bring private partners, civil society partners, governmental partners together to be able to realise and maximise the tools that they're using at their disposal to make the change that they want.

HyoJin Park: In the case of a social movement, can the end justify the means?

Hahrie: The research does not show that there is any unitary strategy that makes movements work.

So I think sometimes when people say, ‘Oh, if I sit at this table, then I'm giving up, I'm sacrificing some of my ideals. Or the fact that I'm entering into conversation with this strange bedfellow means that I'm losing some of the purity of what I'm trying to achieve.’ And what we find is that there aren't clear black and white lines that are going to tell you when you can form this coalition or when you can’t and when you should sit at a table when you can't.

But the key thing is, are you accountable to an actual base of people? And do you make those decisions about sitting at these tables in constant conversation with the people who need the change the most?

Having both the inside and outside strategy is absolutely a key part of the movement. So I don't mean to suggest, at all, that movements shouldn't sit at those tables. They just have to be really clear about what their source of power is when they're sitting at those tables.

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Department of History

Social change and social movements.

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14.5: Social Movements

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Learning Objectives

• List the major types of social movements.
• Explain the micro and macro factors that lead to the rise of social movements.
• Describe the stages of the life cycle of social movements.

Social movements in the United States and other nations have been great forces for social change. At the same time, governments and other opponents have often tried to thwart the movements’ efforts. To understand how and why social change happens, we have to understand why movements begin, how they succeed and fail, and what impact they may have.

Understanding Social Movements

To begin this understanding, we first need to understand what social movements are. A social movement may be defined as an organized effort by a large number of people to bring about or impede social change. Defined in this way, social movements might sound similar to special-interest groups, and they do have some things in common. But a major difference between social movements and special-interest groups lies in the nature of their actions. Special-interest groups normally work within the system via conventional political activities such as lobbying and election campaigning. In contrast, social movements often work outside the system by engaging in various kinds of protest, including demonstrations, picket lines, sit-ins, and sometimes outright violence.

Figure 14.17

Social movements are organized efforts by large numbers of people to bring about or impede social change. Often they try to do so by engaging in various kinds of protest, such as the march depicted here.

© Thinkstock

Conceived in this way, the efforts of social movements amount to “politics by other means,” with these “other means” made necessary because movements lack the resources and access to the political system that interest groups typically enjoy (D. A. Snow & Soule, 2009).Snow, D. A., & Soule, S. A. (2009). A primer on social movements . New York, NY: W. W. Norton.

Types of Social Movements

Sociologists identify several types of social movements according to the nature and extent of the change they seek. This typology helps us understand the differences among the many kinds of social movements that existed in the past and continue to exist today (D. A. Snow & Soule, 2009).Snow, D. A., & Soule, S. A. (2009). A primer on social movements . New York, NY: W. W. Norton.

One of the most common and important types of social movements is the reform movement, which seeks limited, though still significant, changes in some aspect of a nation’s political, economic, or social systems. It does not try to overthrow the existing government but rather works to improve conditions within the existing regime. Some of the most important social movements in U.S. history have been reform movements. These include the abolitionist movement preceding the Civil War, the woman suffrage movement that followed the Civil War, the labor movement, the Southern civil rights movement, the Vietnam antiwar movement, the contemporary women’s movement, the gay rights movement, and the environmental movement.

A revolutionary movement goes one large step further than a reform movement in seeking to overthrow the existing government and to bring about a new one and even a new way of life. Revolutionary movements were common in the past and were responsible for the world’s great revolutions in Russia, China, and several other nations. Reform and revolutionary movements are often referred to as political movements because the changes they seek are political in nature.

Another type of political movement is the reactionary movement, so named because it tries to block social change or to reverse social changes that have already been achieved. The antiabortion movement is a contemporary example of a reactionary movement, as it arose after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized most abortions in Roe v. Wade (1973) and seeks to limit or eliminate the legality of abortion.

Figure 14.18

One type of social movement is the self-help movement. As its name implies, the goal of a self-help movement is to help people improve their personal lives. These tokens are used at meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous, which is an example of a group involved in a self-help movement.

Source: Photo courtesy of Chris Yarzab, http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisyarzab/4687962584 .

Two other types of movements are self-help movements and religious movements. As their name implies, self-help movements involve people trying to improve aspects of their personal lives; examples of self-help groups include Alcoholics Anonymous and Weight Watchers. Religious movements aim to reinforce religious beliefs among their members and to convert other people to these beliefs. Early Christianity was certainly a momentous religious movement, and other groups that are part of a more general religious movement today include the various religious cults discussed in Chapter 12. Sometimes self-help and religious movements are difficult to distinguish from each other because some self-help groups emphasize religious faith as a vehicle for achieving personal transformation.

The Origins of Social Movements

To understand how and why social movements begin, we need answers to two related questions. First, what are the social, economic, and political conditions that give rise to social movements? They do not arise in a vacuum, and certain macro problems in society must exist for movements to begin. Second, once social movements do begin, why are some individuals more likely than others to take part in them? Answers to this question usually focus on personality and other micro factors. We will start with these micro factors and then turn to the macro conditions that make movements possible in the first place.

Micro Factors: Emphasis on the Individual

Over the years social scientists have tried to explain why some individuals are more likely than others to join social movements. Their explanations center on several factors.

The Question of Irrationality

One issue is whether social movement involvement is rational or irrational . Early thinkers such as Gustave LeBon (1841–1931), a French intellectual, thought that social movement involvement and, more generally, crowd behavior were the product of irrational impulses . Writing in the wake of the French Revolution of 1789, these thinkers worried that social order was breaking down. LeBon in particular blamed crowds for turning normally rational individuals into irrational and emotional actors who are virtually hypnotized by the crowd’s mind-set. American sociologists early in the 20th century adopted LeBon’s view. In so doing, they viewed social movement participation as more expressive , or emotional, than instrumental , or directed at achieving specific goals (Rule, 1988).Rule, J. B. (1988). Theories of civil violence . Berkeley: University of California Press.

Just after the mid-20th century, Ralph H. Turner and Lewis M. Killian (1957)Turner, R. H., & Killian, L. M. (1957). Collective behavior . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. presented their emergent norm view of collective behavior, which downplayed the irrationality emphasized in earlier formulations. According to Turner and Killian, when people start interacting in collective behavior, they are not sure initially how they are supposed to behave. As they discuss their potential behavior and other related matters, norms governing their behavior emerge, and social order and rationality then guide behavior. Adopting this view, most sociologists today feel that people taking part in social movements are indeed acting rationally and instrumentally, not just expressively. Although they have emotions, that does not mean their behavior is any less rational or political (D. A. Snow & Soule, 2009).Snow, D. A., & Soule, S. A. (2009). A primer on social movements . New York, NY: W. W. Norton.

Relative Deprivation

Another important line of thought has centered on relative deprivation, or the feeling by individuals that they are deprived relative to some other group or to some ideal state they have not reached. This view was popularized by James C. Davies (1962)Davies, J. C. (1962). Toward a theory of revolution. American Sociological Review, 27 , 5–19. and Ted Robert Gurr (1970),Gurr, T. R. (1970). Why men rebel . Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. both of whom built upon the earlier work of social psychologists who had studied frustration and aggression. When a deprived group perceives that social conditions are improving, wrote Davies, they become hopeful that their lives are getting better. But if these conditions stop improving, they become frustrated and more apt to turn to protest, collective violence, and other social movement activity. Both Davies and Gurr emphasized that people’s feelings of being relatively deprived were more important for their involvement in collective behavior than their level of actual deprivation.

Relative deprivation theory was initially very popular, but scholars later pointed out that frustration often does not lead to protest, as people can instead blame themselves for the deprivation they feel and thus not protest (Gurney & Tierney, 1982).Gurney, J. N., & Tierney, K. J. (1982). Relative deprivation and social movements: A critical look at twenty years of theory and research. Sociological Quarterly, 23 , 33–47. Scholars who favor the theory point out that people will ordinarily not take part in social movements unless they feel deprived, even if many who do feel deprived do not take part (Snow & Oliver, 1995).Snow, D. E., & Oliver, P. E. (1995). Social movements and collective behavior: Social psychological dimensions and considerations. In K. S. Cook, G. A. Fine, & J. S. House (Eds.), Sociological perspectives on social psychology (pp. 571–599). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Social Isolation Versus Social Attachments

A final micro issue has been whether the individuals participating in social movements are isolated from society or very much a part of it. Are they loners, or are they involved in social networks of friends, coworkers, and others? In his influential book The Politics of Mass Society , William Kornhauser (1959)Kornhauser, W. (1959). The politics of mass society . New York, NY: Free Press.wrote that because modern societies are impersonal with weak social ties, individuals who are loners become involved in social movements to provide them the friendships and social bonding they otherwise lack. Kornhauser’s mass society theory was popular for a time, but much research finds that the people who join social movements are in fact very much a part of society instead of loners. They have many friends and belong to several organizations, and these friendship and organizational ties help “pull” them into social movements.

Macro Factors: Emphasis on Social Structure

Structural explanations of social movements try to understand why social movements are more likely to arise in some historical periods and locations than in others. In effect, they try to show how certain social, economic, and political conditions give rise to social movements. We discuss some of these explanations here.

Smelser’s Structural-Strain Theory

One of the most popular and influential structural explanations is Neil Smelser’s (1963)Smelser, N. J. (1963). Theory of collective behavior . New York, NY: Free Press. structural-strain theory. Smelser wrote that social movements and other collective behavior occur when several conditions are present. One of these conditions is structural strain , which refers to problems in society that cause people to be angry and frustrated. Without such structural strain, people would not have any reason to protest, and social movements do not arise. Another condition is generalized beliefs , which are people’s reasons for why conditions are so bad and their solutions to improve them. If people decide that the conditions they dislike are their own fault, they will decide not to protest. Similarly, if they decide that protest will not improve these conditions, they again will not protest. A third condition is the existence of precipitating factors , or sudden events that ignite collective behavior. In the 1960s, for example, several urban riots started when police were rumored to have unjustly arrested or beaten someone. Although conditions in inner cities were widely perceived as unfair and even oppressive, it took this type of police behavior to ignite people to riot.

Figure 14.19

During the 1960s, several urban riots began when police were rumored to have unjustly arrested or beaten someone.

Source: Photo courtesy of Anna Tesar, http://www.flickr.com/photos/spanner/3029425939 .

Smelser’s theory became very popular because it pointed to several factors that must hold true before social movements and other forms of collective behavior occur. At the same time, collective behavior does not always occur when his factors do hold true. The theory has also been criticized for being a bit vague; for example, it does not say how much strain a society must have for collective behavior to take place (Rule, 1988).Rule, J. B. (1988). Theories of civil violence . Berkeley: University of California Press.

Resource Mobilization Theory

Resource mobilization theory is a general name given to several related views of social movements that arose in the 1970s (McCarthy & Zald, 1977; Oberschall, 1973; Tilly, 1978).McCarthy, J. D., & Zald, M. N. (1977). Resource mobilization and social movements: A partial theory. American Journal of Sociology, 82 , 1212–1241; Oberschall, A. (1973). Social conflict and social movements . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall; Tilly, C. (1978). From mobilization to revolution . Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. This theory assumes that social movement activity is a rational response to unsatisfactory conditions in society. Because these conditions always exist, so does discontent with them. Despite such constant discontent, people protest only rarely. If this is so, these conditions and associated discontent cannot easily explain why people turn to social movements. What is crucial instead are efforts by social movement leaders to mobilize the resources—most notably, time, money, and energy—of the population and to direct them into effective political action. Also important are political opportunities for action that arise when, say, a government weakens because of an economic or foreign crisis (D. A. Snow & Soule, 2009).Snow, D. A., & Soule, S. A. (2009). A primer on social movements . New York, NY: W. W. Norton.

Resource mobilization theory has been very influential since its inception in the 1970s. However, critics say it underestimates the importance of harsh social conditions and discontent for the rise of social movement activity. Conditions can and do worsen, and when they do so, they prompt people to engage in collective behavior. As just one example, cuts in higher education spending and steep increases in tuition prompted students to protest on campuses in California and several other states in late 2009 and early 2010 (Rosenhall, 2010).Rosenhall, L. (2010, February 28). Education protests on tap this week in California. The Sacramento Bee , p. 1A. Critics also say that resource mobilization theory neglects the importance of emotions in social movement activity by depicting social movement actors as cold, calculated, and unemotional (Goodwin, Jasper, & Polletta, 2004).Goodwin, J., Jasper, J. M., & Polletta, F. (2004). Emotional dimensions of social movements. In D. A. Snow, S. A. Soule, & H. Kriesi (Eds.), The Blackwell companion to social movements (pp. 413–432). Malden, MA: Blackwell. This picture is simply not true, critics say, and they further argue that social movement actors can be both emotional and rational at the same time, just as people are in many other kinds of pursuits.

The Life Cycle of Social Movements

Although the many past and present social movements around the world differ from each other in many ways, they all generally go through a life cycle marked by several stages that have long been recognized (Blumer, 1969).Blumer, H. (1969). Collective behavior. In A. M. Lee (Ed.), Principles of sociology (pp. 165–221). New York, NY: Barnes and Noble.

Stage 1 is emergence . This stage is obviously when social movements begin for one or more of the reasons indicated in the previous section. Stage 2 is coalescence . At this stage a movement and its leaders must decide how they will recruit new members and they must determine the strategies they will use to achieve their goals. They also may use the news media to win favorable publicity and to convince the public of the justness of their cause. Stage 3 is institutionalization or bureaucratization . As a movement grows, it often tends to become bureaucratized, as paid leaders and a paid staff replace the volunteers that began the movement. It also means that clear lines of authority develop, as they do in any bureaucracy. More attention is also devoted to fund-raising. As movement organizations bureaucratize, they may well reduce their effectiveness by turning from the disruptive activities that succeeded in the movement’s earlier stages to more conventional activity by working within the system instead of outside it (Piven & Cloward, 1979).Piven, F. F., & Cloward, R. A. (1979). Poor people’s movements: Why they succeed, how they fail . New York, NY: Vintage Books. At the same time, if movements do not bureaucratize to at least some degree, they may lose their focus and not have enough money to keep on going.

Figure 14.20

Political repression sometimes leads a social movement to decline or end altogether. The mass slaughter by Chinese troops of students in Tiananmen Square in June 1989 ended a wave of student protests in that nation.

Source: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:200401-beijing-tianan-square-overview.jpg.

Stage 4 is the decline of a social movement. Social movements eventually decline for one or more of many reasons. Sometimes they achieve their goals and naturally cease because there is no more reason to continue. More often, however, they decline because they fail. Both the lack of money and loss of enthusiasm among a movement’s members may lead to a movement’s decline, and so might factionalism , or strong divisions of opinion within a movement. The government may also “co-opt” a movement by granting it small, mostly symbolic concessions that reduce people’s discontent but leave the conditions that originally motivated their activism largely intact. As noted earlier, movements also may decline because of government repression.

How Social Movements Make a Difference

By definition, social movements often operate outside of the political system by engaging in protest. Their rallies, demonstrations, sit-ins, and silent vigils are often difficult to ignore. With the aid of news media coverage, these events often throw much attention on the problem or grievance at the center of the protest and bring pressure to bear on the government agencies, corporations, or other targets of the protest.

As noted earlier, there are many examples of profound changes brought about by social movements throughout U.S. history (Amenta, Caren, Chiarello, & Sue, 2010; Meyer, 2007; Piven, 2006).Amenta, E., Caren, N., Chiarello, E., & Sue, Y. (2010). The political consequences of social movements. Annual Review of Sociology, 36, 287–307; Meyer, D. S. (2007). The politics of protest: Social movements in America . New York, NY: Oxford University Press; Piven, F. F. (2006). Challenging authority: How ordinary people change America . Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. The abolitionist movement called attention to the evils of slavery and increased public abhorrence for that “peculiar institution.” The woman suffrage movement after the Civil War eventually won women the right to vote with the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920. The labor movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries established the minimum wage, the 40-hour workweek, and the right to strike. The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s ended legal segregation in the South, while the Vietnam antiwar movement of the 1960s and 1970s helped increase public opposition to that war and bring it to a close. The contemporary women’s movement has won many rights in social institutions throughout American society, while the gay rights movement has done the same for gays and lesbians. Another contemporary movement is the environmental movement, which has helped win legislation and other policies that have reduced air, water, and ground pollution.

Although it seems obvious that social movements have made a considerable difference, social movement scholars until recently have paid much more attention to the origins of social movements than to their consequences (Giugni, 2008).Giugni, M. (2008). Political, biographical, and cultural consequences of social movements. Sociology Compass, 2 , 1582–1600. Recent work has begun to fill in this gap and has focused on the consequences of social movements for the political system ( political consequences ), for various aspects of the society’s culture ( cultural consequences ), and for the lives of the people who take part in movements ( biographical consequences ).

Regarding political consequences, scholars have considered such matters as whether movements are more successful when they use more protest or less protest, and when they focus on a single issue versus multiple issues. The use of a greater amount of protest seems to be more effective in this regard, as does a focus on a single issue. Research has also found that movements are more likely to succeed when the government against which they protest is weakened by economic or other problems. In another line of inquiry, movement scholars disagree over whether movements are more successful if their organizations are bureaucratic and centralized or if they remain decentralized and thus more likely to engage in protest (Piven & Cloward, 1979; Gamson, 1990).Piven, F. F., & Cloward, R. A. (1979). Poor people’s movements: Why they succeed, how they fail . New York, NY: Vintage Books; Gamson, W. A. (1990). The strategy of social protest (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

Regarding cultural consequences, movements often influence certain aspects of a society’s culture whether or not they intend to do so (Earl, 2004),Earl, J. (2004). The cultural consequences of social movements. In D. A. Snow, S. Soule, & H. Kriesi (Eds.), The Blackwell companion to social movements (pp. 508–530). Malden, MA: Blackwell. and, as one scholar has said, “it is perhaps precisely in being able to alter their broader cultural environment that movements can have their deepest and lasting impact” (Giugni, 2008, p. 1591).Giugni, M. (2008). Political, biographical, and cultural consequences of social movements. Sociology Compass, 2 , 1582–1600. Social movements can affect values and beliefs, and they can affect cultural practices such as music, literature, and even fashion.

Movements may also have biographical consequences. Several studies find that people who take part in social movements during their formative years (teens and early 20s) are often transformed by their participation. Their political views change or are at least reinforced, and they are more likely to continue to be involved in political activity and to enter social change occupations. In this manner, writes one scholar, “people who have been involved in social movement activities, even at a lower level of commitment, carry the consequences of that involvement throughout their life” (Giugni, 2008, p. 1590).Giugni, M. (2008). Political, biographical, and cultural consequences of social movements. Sociology Compass, 2 , 1582–1600.

• The major types of social movements are reform movements, revolutionary movements, reactionary movements, self-help movements, and religious movements.
• Both micro and macro factors influence the rise of social movements. A key micro factor is social attachment, as social movement participants tend to have friendships and organizational ties that “pull” them into movements and promote their continued participation in a movement. Macro factors include certain social, economic, and political conditions in the larger social environment that generate interest in joining a movement and/or weaken the government as it attempts to deal with a social movement.
• Four major stages in the life cycle of a social movement include emergence, coalescence, institutionalization or bureaucratization, and decline.
• Social movements may have political, cultural, and biographical consequences. Political consequences seem most likely to occur when a movement engages in disruptive protest rather than conventional politics and when it has a single-issue focus. Involvement in movements is thought to influence participants’ later beliefs and career choices.

For Your Review

• Have you ever taken part in a protest of some kind? If so, write a brief essay outlining what led you to take part in the protest and what effect, if any, it had on the target of the protest and on your own thinking. If you have not participated in a protest, write a brief essay discussing whether you can foresee yourself someday doing so.
• Choose any U.S. social movement of the past half-century and write a brief essay that summarizes the various kinds of impacts this movement may have had on American society and culture.

Addressing Population and Urbanization Issues: What Sociology Suggests

The topics of population and urbanization raise many issues within the United States and also across the globe for which a sociological perspective is very relevant. We address of few of these issues here.

Population Issues

Perhaps the most serious population issue is world hunger. Both across the globe and within the United States, children and adults go hungry every day, and millions starve in the poorest nations in Africa and Asia. As the “Sociology Making a Difference” box in Section 14.2 discussed, sociological research indicates that it is mistaken to blame world hunger on a scarcity of food. Instead, this body of research attributes world hunger to various inequalities in access to, and in the distribution of, what is actually a sufficient amount of food to feed the world’s people. To effectively reduce world hunger, inequalities across the globe and within the United States based on income, ethnicity, and gender must be addressed; some ways of doing so have been offered in previous chapters.

Population growth in poor nations has slowed but remains a significant problem. Their poverty, low educational levels, and rural settings all contribute to high birth rates. More effective contraception is needed to reduce their population growth, and the United Nations and other international bodies must bolster their efforts, with the aid of increased funding from rich nations, to provide contraception to poor nations. But contraceptive efforts will not be sufficient by themselves. Rather, it is also necessary to raise these nations’ economic circumstances and educational levels, as birth rates are lower in nations that are wealthier and more educated. In particular, efforts that raise women’s educational levels are especially important if contraceptive use is to increase. In all of these respects, we once again see the importance of a sociological perspective centering on the significance of socioeconomic inequality.

Urbanization Issues

Many urban issues are not, strictly speaking, sociological ones. For example, traffic congestion is arguably more of an engineering issue than a sociological issue, even if traffic congestion has many social consequences. Other urban issues are issues discussed in previous chapters that disproportionately affect urban areas. For example, crime is more common in urban areas than elsewhere, and racial and ethnic inequality is much more of an issue in urban areas than rural areas because of the concentration of people of color in our cities. Previous chapters have discussed such issues in some detail, and the strategies suggested by a sociological perspective for addressing these issues need not be repeated here.

Still other urban issues exist that this chapter was the first to present. Two of these involve crowding and housing. Cities are obviously crowded, and some parts of cities are especially crowded. Housing is expensive, and many urban residents live in dilapidated, substandard housing. Here again a sociological perspective offers some insight, as it reminds us that these problems are intimately related to inequalities of social class, race and ethnicity, and gender. Although it is critical to provide adequate, affordable housing to city residents, it is also important to remember that these various social inequalities affect who is in most need of such housing. Ultimately, strategies aimed at providing affordable housing will not succeed unless they recognize the importance of these social inequalities and unless other efforts reduce or eliminate these inequalities.

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20.1 Understanding Social Change

Learning objectives.

• Understand the changes that accompany modernization.
• Discuss the functionalist and conflict perspectives on social change.

Social change refers to the transformation of culture, behavior, social institutions, and social structure over time. We are familiar from Chapter 5 “Social Structure and Social Interaction” with the basic types of society: hunting-and-gathering, horticultural and pastoral, agricultural, industrial, and postindustrial. In looking at all of these societies, we have seen how they differ in such dimensions as size, technology, economy, inequality, and gender roles. In short, we have seen some of the ways in which societies change over time. Another way of saying this is that we have seen some of the ways in which societies change as they become more modern. To understand social change, then, we need to begin to understand what it means for a society to become more modern. We considered this briefly in Chapter 5 “Social Structure and Social Interaction” and expand on it here.

Modernization

Modernization refers to the process and impact of becoming more modern. More specifically, it refers to the gradual shift from hunting-and-gathering societies to postmodern societies, as outlined in Chapter 5 “Social Structure and Social Interaction” , and perhaps especially to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century.

The terms modern and modernization have positive connotations; it sounds good to modernize and to be modern. Modernization implies that progress has been made and is continuing to be made, and who would not want progress? Yet modernization also has a downside, as we will see in this section and in the later discussion of the environment.

A related problem with the terms and concepts of modern and modernization is that many people think of Western nations when considering the most modern nations in the world today. This implies that Western society is the ideal to which other societies should aspire. While there are many good things about Western societies, it is important to avoid the ethnocentrism of assuming that Western societies are better because they are more modern. In fact, one reason that many people in the Middle East and elsewhere dislike the United States is that they resent the “Westernization” of their societies from the influence of the United States and other wealthy Western nations. When they see Coca-Cola and Pepsi logos and the McDonald’s golden arches in their nations, they fear Western influence and the loss of their own beliefs and traditions.

These caveats notwithstanding, societies have become much more modern over time, to put it mildly. We thus cannot fully understand society and social life without appreciating how societies have changed as they have become more modern. Not surprisingly, sociologists have recognized the importance of modernization ever since the discipline of sociology began in the 19th century, and much of the work of sociology’s founders—Émile Durkheim, Max Weber, Karl Marx, and others—focused on how and why societies have changed as they became more modern.

We can draw on their efforts and related work by later sociologists and by anthropologists to develop an idea of the differences modernization has made for societies and individuals. Several dimensions and effects of modernization seem apparent (Nolan & Lenski, 2009).

First, as societies evolve, they become much larger and more heterogeneous . This means that people are more different from each other than when societies were much smaller, and it also means that they ordinarily cannot know each other nearly as well. Larger, more modern societies thus typically have weaker social bonds and a weaker sense of community than small societies and place more of an emphasis on the needs of the individual.

As societies become more modern, they begin to differ from nonmodern societies in several ways. In particular, they become larger and more heterogeneous, they lose their traditional ways of thinking, and they gain in individual freedom and autonomy.

Thomas Hawk – Big City Turn Me Loose and Set Me Free – CC BY-NC 2.0.

We can begin to appreciate the differences between smaller and larger societies when we contrast a small college of 1,200 students with a large university of 40,000 students. Perhaps you had this contrast in mind when you were applying to college and had a preference for either a small or a large institution. In a small college, classes might average no more than 20 students; these students get to know each other well and often have a lot of interaction with the professor. In a large university, classes might hold 600 students or more, and everything is more impersonal. Large universities do have many advantages, but they probably do not have as strong a sense of community as is found at small colleges.

A second aspect of modernization is a loss of traditional ways of thinking. This allows a society to be more creative and to abandon old ways that may no longer be appropriate. However, it also means a weakening or even ending of the traditions that helped define the society and gave it a sense of identity.

A third aspect of modernization is the growth of individual freedom and autonomy. As societies grow, become more impersonal, and lose their traditions and sense of community, their norms become weaker, and individuals thus become freer to think for themselves and to behave in new ways. Although most of us would applaud this growth in individual freedom, it also means, as Émile Durkheim (1895/1962) recognized long ago, that people feel freer to deviate from society’s norms and thus to commit deviance. If we want a society that values individual freedom, Durkheim said, we automatically must have a society with deviance.

Is modernization good or bad? This is a simplistic question about a very complex concept, but a quick answer is that it is both good and bad. We see evidence for both responses in the views of sociologists Ferdinand Tönnies, Weber, and Durkheim. As Chapter 5 “Social Structure and Social Interaction” discussed, Tönnies (1887/1963) said that modernization meant a shift from Gemeinschaft (small societies with strong social bonds) to Gesellschaft (large societies with weaker social bonds and more impersonal social relations). Tönnies lamented the loss of close social bonds and of a strong sense of community resulting from modernization, and he feared that a sense of rootlessness begins to replace the feeling of stability and steadiness characteristic of small, older societies.

Weber (1921/1978) was also concerned about modernization. The hallmarks of modernization, he thought, are rationalization, a loss of tradition, and the rise of impersonal bureaucracy. He despaired over the impersonal quality of rational thinking and bureaucratization, as he thought it was a dehumanizing influence.

Durkheim (1893/1933) took a less negative view of modernization. He certainly appreciated the social bonds and community feeling, which he called mechanical solidarity , characteristic of small, traditional societies. However, he also thought that these societies stifled individual freedom and that social solidarity still exists in modern societies. This solidarity, which he termed organic solidarity , stems from the division of labor, in which everyone has to depend on everyone else to perform their jobs. This interdependence of roles, Durkheim said, creates a solidarity that retains much of the bonding and sense of community found in premodern societies.

We have already commented on important benefits of modernization that are generally recognized: modernization promotes creativity and individual freedom and autonomy. These developments in turn usually mean that a society becomes more tolerant of beliefs and behaviors that it formerly would have disapproved and even condemned. Modern societies, then, generally feature more tolerance than older societies. Many people, undoubtedly including most sociologists, regard greater tolerance as a good thing, but others regard it as a bad thing because they favor traditional beliefs and behaviors.

Beyond these abstract concepts of social bonding, sense of community, and tolerance, modern societies are certainly a force for both good and bad in other ways. They have produced scientific discoveries that have saved lives, extended life spans, and made human existence much easier than imaginable in the distant past and even in the recent past. But they have also polluted the environment, engaged in wars that have killed tens of millions, and built up nuclear arsenals that, even with the end of the Cold War, still threaten the planet. Modernization, then, is a double-edged sword. It has given us benefits too numerous to count, but it also has made human existence very precarious.

Sociological Perspectives on Social Change

Sociological perspectives on social change fall into the functionalist and conflict approaches. As usual, both views together offer a more complete understanding of social change than either view by itself (Vago, 2004). Table 20.1 “Theory Snapshot” summarizes their major assumptions.

Table 20.1 Theory Snapshot

The Functionalist Understanding

The functionalist understanding of social change is based on insights developed by different generations of sociologists. Early sociologists likened change in society to change in biological organisms. Taking a cue from the work of Charles Darwin, they said that societies evolved just as organisms do, from tiny, simple forms to much larger and more complex structures. When societies are small and simple, there are few roles to perform, and just about everyone can perform all of these roles. As societies grow and evolve, many new roles develop, and not everyone has the time or skill to perform every role. People thus start to specialize their roles and a division of labor begins. As noted earlier, sociologists such as Durkheim and Tönnies disputed the implications of this process for social bonding and a sense of community, and this basic debate continues today.

Several decades ago, Talcott Parsons (1966), the leading 20th-century figure in functionalist theory, presented an equilibrium model of social change. Parsons said that society is always in a natural state of equilibrium, defined as a state of equal balance among opposing forces. Gradual change is both necessary and desirable and typically stems from such things as population growth, technological advances, and interaction with other societies that brings new ways of thinking and acting. However, any sudden social change disrupts this equilibrium. To prevent this from happening, other parts of society must make appropriate adjustments if one part of society sees too sudden a change.

Functionalist theory assumes that sudden social change, as by the protest depicted here, is highly undesirable, whereas conflict theory assumes that sudden social change may be needed to correct inequality and other deficiencies in the status quo.

Kashfi Halford – More Riot Police – CC BY-NC 2.0.

The functionalist perspective has been criticized on a few grounds. The perspective generally assumes that the change from simple to complex societies has been very positive, when in fact, as we have seen, this change has also proven costly in many ways. It might well have weakened social bonds, and it has certainly imperiled human existence. Functionalist theory also assumes that sudden social change is highly undesirable, when such change may in fact be needed to correct inequality and other deficiencies in the status quo.

Conflict Theory

Whereas functional theory assumes the status quo is generally good and sudden social change is undesirable, conflict theory assumes the status quo is generally bad. It thus views sudden social change in the form of protest or revolution as both desirable and necessary to reduce or eliminate social inequality and to address other social ills. Another difference between the two approaches concerns industrialization, which functional theory views as a positive development that helped make modern society possible. In contrast, conflict theory, following the views of Karl Marx, says that industrialization exploited workers and thus increased social inequality.

In one other difference between the two approaches, functionalist sociologists view social change as the result of certain natural forces, which we will discuss shortly. In this sense, social change is unplanned even though it happens anyway. Conflict theorists, however, recognize that social change often stems from efforts by social movements to bring about fundamental changes in the social, economic, and political systems. In his sense social change is more “planned,” or at least intended, than functional theory acknowledges.

Critics of conflict theory say that it exaggerates the extent of social inequality and that it sometimes overemphasizes economic conflict while neglecting conflict rooted in race/ethnicity, gender, religion, and other sources. Its Marxian version also erred in predicting that capitalist societies would inevitably undergo a socialist-communist revolution.

Key Takeaways

• As societies become more modern, they become larger and more heterogeneous. Traditional ways of thinking decline, and individual freedom and autonomy increase.
• Functionalist theory favors slow, incremental social change, while conflict theory favors fast, far-reaching social change to correct what it views as social inequalities and other problems in the status quo.

For Your Review

• If you had to do it over again, would you go to a large university, a small college, or something in between? Why? How does your response relate to some of the differences between smaller, traditional societies and larger, modern societies?
• When you think about today’s society and social change, do you favor the functionalist or conflict view on the kind of social change that is needed? Explain your answer.

Durkheim, É. (1933). The division of labor in society . London, England: The Free Press. (Original work published 1893).

Durkheim, É. (1962). The rules of sociological method (S. Lukes, Ed.). New York, NY: Free Press. (Original work published 1895).

Nolan, P., & Lenski, G. (2009). Human societies: An introduction to macrosociology (11th ed.). Boulder, CO: Paradigm.

Parsons, T. (1966). Societies: Evolutionary and comparative perspectives . Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Tönnies, F. (1963). Community and society . New York, NY: Harper and Row. (Original work published 1887).

Vago, S. (2004). Social change (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Weber, M. (1978). Economy and society: An outline of interpretive sociology (G. Roth & C. Wittich, Eds.). Berkeley: University of California Press. (Original work published 1921).

Sociology Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Social Movements and Meaningful Social Change Essay

Black Lives Matter is one of the significant social movements affecting the human understanding of race. It is committed to eradicating systemic racism in America. This phenomenon includes, for example, racial prejudice among police officers and judicial injustice against black people. Black Lives Matter involves different branches in more than ten American states. A movement arose after the senseless murder of African American teenager. A year later, a court consisting of five white people and only one black woman acquitted the police officer. The court’s decision caused massive protests from the African American population.

The Black Lives Matter movement is not about individual flaws but the perceived general injustice of the American system, capitalism, and white people’s supremacy. Black Lives Matter and its leaders were definitely part of the American tradition. Their values ​​and beliefs can be traced back to the history of democracy and individual rights founders. The current COVID-19 situation aggravated the Black Lives Matter conflict. In the United States, pandemic-related racial divisions have also exacerbated the general problem. Thirty percent of all infected in the country are people with black skin color (while the black population in the United States is approximately twelve percent).

The Black Lives Matter movement can be described through the relative deprivation theory. According to Ferris and Stein (2020), this theory explains the action of the deprived or oppressed group of people trying to protect their rights. Compared to other groups, black people have been exposed to oppression from the government and society. This social movement is concerned with equalizing the rights of black and white people. Black Lives Matter has contributed to a significant change in the world. Black people try to satisfy their moral and physical needs, which they are deprived of as members of society.

This movement is widely spread worldwide, questioning the current society’s order. People from different countries started to comprehend the scale of the racial problem in America. This movement provoked the discussion about the deprivation of black, empowering people to be tolerant of differences. Thanks to the Black Lives Matter movement, society advanced to a new level of moral development. The necessity of promoting racial and cultural acceptance was highlighted. However, the next step in striving for equality should be governments. The intensity of the protest will not lead America and any other countries towards democracy. It is caused by the fact that each conflicting side is seeking a dictatorship for itself and at least wants to declare their own rights through mass public protests. This global problem requires wiser and large-scale decisions.

Thus, the Black Lives Matter movement has had a significant impact on society. COVID-19 has made visible all the problems, including inequality and injustice, accumulating over the years. In the depths of rejection, people are inclined to endow particular groups with greater advantages. Racism can be considered as part of a self-defense reaction. If white people admit that people with black skin are equal to them, they will find themselves in a tub of unequal in the global world. To solve these inequality issues, superior peoples should be ready to share wealth, mobility, or social capital with the deprived. Some people believe that racial inequality cannot be eliminated entirely because of human nature striving for supremacy over others achieved through comparison. Therefore, the problem of social inequality exists in all countries and must be fought further.

Ferris, K., & Stein, J. (2020). The real world: An introduction to sociology . W.W. Norton & Company.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2023, January 2). Social Movements and Meaningful Social Change. https://ivypanda.com/essays/social-movements-and-meaningful-social-change/

"Social Movements and Meaningful Social Change." IvyPanda , 2 Jan. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/social-movements-and-meaningful-social-change/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Social Movements and Meaningful Social Change'. 2 January.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Social Movements and Meaningful Social Change." January 2, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/social-movements-and-meaningful-social-change/.

1. IvyPanda . "Social Movements and Meaningful Social Change." January 2, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/social-movements-and-meaningful-social-change/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Social Movements and Meaningful Social Change." January 2, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/social-movements-and-meaningful-social-change/.

• Problem of Sleep Deprivation
• Effects of Sleep Deprivation
• Sleep Deprivation and Specific Emotions
• Poverty as the Deprivation of Capabilities
• The Influence of Sleep Deprivation on Human Body
• Poverty as Capability Deprivation
• Sleep Deprivation Impacts on College Students
• Sleep Deprivation and Insomnia: Study Sources
• Sensory Deprivation and Related Psychological Issues
• How Sleep Deprivation Affects College Students’ Academic Performance
• The Black Lives Matter Movement and Its Meaning
• ”When They Call You a Terrorist” by Bandele & Cullors
• Empowerment: Internal Means Against External Blocks
• The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
• Cancel Culture: A Persuasive Speech

SOC101: Introduction to Sociology (2020.A.01)

Social movements and social change.

Read this chapter for a review of social movements and change. As you read each section, consider the following topics:

• The text asks: "What do Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the anti-globalization movement, and the Tea Party have in common?" Answer this question for yourself.
• Take note of the different forms of collective behaviors. Also, take note of the different types of crowds.
• Take note of social movements on a state, national, and global level. Be able to distinguish between different types of social movements, and explore the theoretical perspectives on social movements, such as resource mobilization, framing, and new social movement theory.
• Take note of how technology, social institutions, population, and the environment can bring about social change. Also, note the importance of modernization in relation to social change.

Social Movements

Learning objectives.

• Demonstrate awareness of social movements on a state, national, and global level
• Distinguish between different types of social movements
• Identify stages of social movements
• Discuss theoretical perspectives on social movements, like resource mobilization, framing, and new social movement theory

Social movements are purposeful, organized groups that strive to work toward a common social goal. While most of us learned about social movements in history classes, we tend to take for granted the fundamental changes they caused - and we may be completely unfamiliar with the trend toward global social movements. But from the antitobacco movement that has worked to outlaw smoking in public buildings and raise the cost of cigarettes, to political uprisings throughout the Arab world, movements are creating social change on a global scale.

Levels of Social Movements

Movements happen in our towns, in our nation, and around the world. Let's take a look at examples of social movements, from local to global. No doubt you can think of others on all of these levels, especially since modern technology has allowed us a near-constant stream of information about the quest for social change around the world.

Chicago is a city of highs and lows, from corrupt politicians and failing schools to innovative education programs and a thriving arts scene. Not surprisingly, it has been home to a number of social movements over time. Currently, AREA Chicago is a social movement focused on "building a socially just city". The organization seeks to "create relationships and sustain community through art, research, education, and activism". The movement offers online tools like the Radicalendar - a calendar for getting radical and connected - and events such as an alternative to the traditional Independence Day picnic. Through its offerings, AREA Chicago gives local residents a chance to engage in a movement to help build a socially just city.

Figure 21.5 Texas Secede! is an organization which would like Texas to secede from the United States. At the other end of the political spectrum from AREA Chicago is the Texas Secede! social movement in Texas. This statewide organization promotes the idea that Texas can and should secede from the United States to become an independent republic. The organization, which as of 2014 has over 6,000 "likes" on Facebook, references both Texas and national history in promoting secession. The movement encourages Texans to return to their rugged and individualistic roots, and to stand up to what proponents believe is the theft of their rights and property by the U.S. government.

Gay marriage is a polarizing issue on the national level and has led to the development of many activist groups. While the legal battle is being played out state by state, the issue is a national one. The Human Rights Campaign, a nationwide organization that advocates for LGBT civil rights, has been active for over thirty years and claims more than a million members. One focus of the organization is its Americans for Marriage Equality campaign. Using public celebrities such as athletes, musicians, and political figures, it seeks to engage the public in the issue of equal rights under the law. The campaign raises awareness of the over 1,100 different rights, benefits, and protections provided on the basis of marital status under federal law and seeks to educate the public about why these protections should be available to all committed couples regardless of gender. A movement on the opposite end is the National Organization for Marriage, an organization that funds campaigns to stop same-sex marriage. Both these organizations work on the national stage and seek to engage people through grassroots efforts to push their message. In February 2011, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder released a statement saying President Barack Obama had concluded that "due to a number of factors, including a documented history of discrimination, classification based on sexual orientation should be subject to a more heightened standard of scrutiny". The statement said, "Section 3 of DOMA [the Defense of Marriage Act of 1993], as applied to legally married same-sex couples, fails to meet that standard and is therefore unconstitutional". With that the Department was instructed not to defend the statute in such cases.

Figure 21.6 At the time of this writing, more than thirty states and the District of Columbia allow marriage for same-sex couples. State constitutional bans are more difficult to overturn than mere state bans because of the higher threshold of votes required to change a constitution. Now that the Supreme Court has stricken a key part of the Defense of Marriage Act, same-sex couples married in states that allow it are now entitled to federal benefits afforded to heterosexual couples.

Social organizations worldwide take stands on such general areas of concern as poverty, sex trafficking, and the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food. Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are sometimes formed to support such movements, such as the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (FOAM). Global efforts to reduce poverty are represented by the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief (OXFAM), among others. The Fair Trade movement exists to protect and support food producers in developing countries. Occupy Wall Street, although initially a local movement, also went global throughout Europe and, as the chapter's introductory photo shows, the Middle East.

Types of Social Movements

We know that social movements can occur on the local, national, or even global stage. Are there other patterns or classifications that can help us understand them? Sociologist David Aberle (1966) addresses this question by developing categories that distinguish among social movements based on what they want to change and how much change they want. 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. Revolutionary movements seek to completely change every aspect of society. These include the 1960s counterculture movement, including the revolutionary group The Weather Underground, as well as anarchist collectives. Texas Secede! is a revolutionary movement. Religious/Redemptive movements are "meaning seeking," and their goal is to provoke inner change or spiritual growth in individuals. Organizations pushing these movements include Heaven's Gate or the Branch Davidians. The latter is still in existence despite government involvement that led to the deaths of numerous Branch Davidian members in 1993. Alternative movements are focused on self-improvement and limited, specific changes to individual beliefs and behavior. These include trends like transcendental meditation or a macrobiotic diet. Resistance movements seek to prevent or undo change to the social structure. The Ku Klux Klan, the Minutemen, and pro-life movements fall into this category.

Stages of Social Movements

Later sociologists studied the lifecycle of social movements - how they emerge, grow, and in some cases, die out. Blumer (1969) and Tilly (1978) outline a four-stage process. In the preliminary stage, people become aware of an issue, and leaders emerge. This is followed by the coalescence stage when people join together and organize in order to publicize the issue and raise awareness. In the institutionalization stage , the movement no longer requires grassroots volunteerism: it is an established organization, typically with a paid staff. When people fall away and adopt a new movement, the movement successfully brings about the change it sought, or when people no longer take the issue seriously, the movement falls into the decline stage . Each social movement discussed earlier belongs in one of these four stages. Where would you put them on the list?

Big Picture

Social media and social change: a match made in heaven.

Figure 21.7 In 2008, Obama's campaign used social media to tweet, like, and friend its way to victory. Chances are you have been asked to tweet, friend, like, or donate online for a cause. Maybe you were one of the many people who, in 2010, helped raise over $3 million in relief efforts for Haiti through cell phone text donations. Or maybe you follow presidential candidates on Twitter and retweet their messages to your followers. Perhaps you have "liked" a local nonprofit on Facebook, prompted by one of your neighbors or friends liking it too. Nowadays, social movements are woven throughout our social media activities. After all, social movements start by activating people. Referring to the ideal type stages discussed above, you can see that social media has the potential to dramatically transform how people get involved. Look at stage one, the preliminary stage : people become aware of an issue, and leaders emerge. Imagine how social media speeds up this step. Suddenly, a shrewd user of Twitter can alert his thousands of followers about an emerging cause or an issue on his mind. Issue awareness can spread at the speed of a click, with thousands of people across the globe becoming informed at the same time. In a similar vein, those who are savvy and engaged with social media emerge as leaders. Suddenly, you don't need to be a powerful public speaker. You don't even need to leave your house. You can build an audience through social media without ever meeting the people you are inspiring. At the next stage, the coalescence stage , social media also is transformative. Coalescence is the point when people join together to publicize the issue and get organized. President Obama's 2008 campaign was a case study in organizing through social media. Using Twitter and other online tools, the campaign engaged volunteers who had typically not bothered with politics and empowered those who were more active to generate still more activity. It is no coincidence that Obama's earlier work experience included grassroots community organizing. What is the difference between his campaign and the work he did in Chicago neighborhoods decades earlier? The ability to organize without regard to geographical boundaries by using social media. In 2009, when student protests erupted in Tehran, social media was considered so important to the organizing effort that the U.S. State Department actually asked Twitter to suspend scheduled maintenance so that a vital tool would not be disabled during the demonstrations. So what is the real impact of this technology on the world? Did Twitter bring down Mubarak in Egypt? Author Malcolm Gladwell (2010) doesn't think so. In an article in New Yorker magazine, Gladwell tackles what he considers the myth that social media gets people more engaged. He points out that most of the tweets relating to the Iran protests were in English and sent from Western accounts (instead of people on the ground). Rather than increasing engagement, he contends that social media only increases participation; after all, the cost of participation is so much lower than the cost of engagement. Instead of risking being arrested, shot with rubber bullets, or sprayed with fire hoses, social media activists can click "like" or retweet a message from the comfort and safety of their desk. There are, though, good cases to be made for the power of social media in propelling social movements. In the article, "Parrhesia and Democracy: Truth-telling, WikiLeaks and the Arab Spring," Theresa Sauter and Gavin Kendall (2011) describe the importance of social media in the Arab Spring uprisings. Parrhesia means "the practice of truth-telling," which describes the protestors' use of social media to make up for the lack of coverage and even misrepresentation of events by state-controlled media. The Tunisian blogger Lina Ben Mhenni posted photographs and videos on Facebook and Twitter of events exposing the violence committed by the government. In Egypt the journalist Asmaa Mahfouz used Facebook to gather large numbers of people in Tahrir Square in the capital city of Cairo. Sauter and Kendall maintain that it was the use of Web 2.0 technologies that allowed activists not only to share events with the world but also to organize the actions. When the Egyptian government shut down the Internet to stop the use of social media, the group Anonymous, a hacking organization noted for online acts of civil disobedience initiated "Operation Egypt" and sent thousands of faxes to keep the public informed of their government's activities as well as attacking the government's web site. In its Facebook press release the group stated the following: "Anonymous wants you to offer free access to uncensored media in your entire country. When you ignore this message, not only will we attack your government websites, Anonymous will also make sure that the international media sees the horrid reality you impose upon your people". Sociologists have identified high-risk activism, such as the civil rights movement, as a "strong-tie" phenomenon, meaning that people are far more likely to stay engaged and not run home to safety if they have close friends who are also engaged. The people who dropped out of the movement - who went home after the danger got too great - did not display any less ideological commitment. But they lacked the strong-tie connection to other people who were staying. Social media, by its very makeup, is "weak-tie" (McAdam and Paulsen 1993). People follow or friend people they have never met. But while these online acquaintances are a source of information and inspiration, the lack of engaged personal contact limits the level of risk we'll take on their behalf.

Figure 21.8 After a devastating earthquake in 2010, Twitter and the Red Cross raised millions for Haiti relief efforts through phone donations alone.

Theoretical Perspectives on Social Movements

Most theories of social movements are called collective action theories, indicating the purposeful nature of this form of collective behavior. The following three theories are but a few of the many classic and modern theories developed by social scientists.

Resource Mobilization

McCarthy and Zald (1977) conceptualize resource mobilization theory as a way to explain movement success in terms of the ability to acquire resources and mobilize individuals. Resources are primarily time and money, and the more of both, the greater the power of organized movements. Numbers of social movement organizations (SMOs), which are single social movement groups, with the same goals constitute a social movement industry (SMI). Together they create what McCarthy and Zald (1977) refer to as "the sum of all social movements in a society".

Resource Mobilization and the Civil Rights Movement

An example of resource mobilization theory is activity of the civil rights movement in the decade between the mid 1950s and the mid 1960s. Social movements had existed before, notably the Women's Suffrage Movement and a long line of labor movements, thus constituting an existing social movement sector , which is the multiple social movement industries in a society, even if they have widely varying constituents and goals. The civil rights movement had also existed well before Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. Less known is that Parks was a member of the NAACP and trained in leadership. But her action that day was spontaneous and unplanned. Her arrest triggered a public outcry that led to the famous Montgomery bus boycott, turning the movement into what we now think of as the "civil rights movement". Mobilization had to begin immediately. Boycotting the bus made other means of transportation necessary, which was provided through car pools. Churches and their ministers joined the struggle, and the protest organization In Friendship was formed as well as The Friendly Club and the Club From Nowhere. A social movement industry , which is the collection of the social movement organizations that are striving toward similar goals, was growing. Martin Luther King Jr. emerged during these events to become the charismatic leader of the movement, gained respect from elites in the federal government, and aided by even more emerging SMOs such as the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), among others. Several still exist today. Although the movement in that period was an overall success, and laws were changed (even if not attitudes), the "movement" continues. So do struggles to keep the gains that were made, even as the U.S. Supreme Court has recently weakened the Voter Rights Act of 1965, once again making it more difficult for black Americans and other minorities to vote.

Figure 21.9 Multiple social movement organizations concerned about the same issue form a social movement industry. A society's many social movement industries comprise its social movement sector. With so many options, to whom will you give your time and money?

Framing/Frame Analysis

Over the past several decades, sociologists have developed the concept of frames to explain how individuals identify and understand social events and which norms they should follow in any given situation. Imagine entering a restaurant. Your "frame" immediately provides you with a behavior template. It probably does not occur to you to wear pajamas to a fine-dining establishment, throw food at other patrons, or spit your drink onto the table. However, eating food at a sleepover pizza party provides you with an entirely different behavior template. It might be perfectly acceptable to eat in your pajamas and maybe even throw popcorn at others or guzzle drinks from cans. Successful social movements use three kinds of frames to further their goals. The first type, diagnostic framing , states the problem in a clear, easily understood way. When applying diagnostic frames, there are no shades of gray: instead, there is the belief that what "they" do is wrong and this is how "we" will fix it. The anti-gay marriage movement is an example of diagnostic framing with its uncompromising insistence that marriage is only between a man and a woman. Prognostic framing , the second type, offers a solution and states how it will be implemented. Some examples of this frame, when looking at the issue of marriage equality as framed by the anti-gay marriage movement, include the plan to restrict marriage to "one man/one woman" or to allow only "civil unions" instead of marriages. As you can see, there may be many competing prognostic frames even within social movements adhering to similar diagnostic frames. Finally, motivational framing is the call to action: what should you do once you agree with the diagnostic frame and believe in the prognostic frame? These frames are action-oriented. In the gay marriage movement, a call to action might encourage you to vote "no" on Proposition 8 in California (a move to limit marriage to male-female couples), or conversely, to contact your local congressperson to express your viewpoint that marriage should be restricted to male-female couples. With so many similar diagnostic frames, some groups find it best to join together to maximize their impact. When social movements link their goals to the goals of other social movements and merge into a single group, a frame alignment process occurs - an ongoing and intentional means of recruiting participants to the movement. This frame alignment process has four aspects: bridging, amplification, extension, and transformation. Bridging describes a "bridge" that connects uninvolved individuals and unorganized or ineffective groups with social movements that, though structurally unconnected, nonetheless share similar interests or goals. These organizations join together to create a new, stronger social movement organization. Can you think of examples of different organizations with a similar goal that have banded together? In the amplification model, organizations seek to expand their core ideas to gain a wider, more universal appeal. By expanding their ideas to include a broader range, they can mobilize more people for their cause. For example, the Slow Food movement extends its arguments in support of local food to encompass reduced energy consumption, pollution, obesity from eating more healthfully, and more. In extension, social movements agree to mutually promote each other, even when the two social movement organization's goals don't necessarily relate to each other's immediate goals. This often occurs when organizations are sympathetic to each others' causes, even if they are not directly aligned, such as women's equal rights and the civil rights movement.

Figure 21.10 Extension occurs when social movements have sympathetic causes. Women's rights, racial equality, and LGBT advocacy are all human rights issues. Transformation means a complete revision of goals. Once a movement has succeeded, it risks losing relevance. If it wants to remain active, the movement has to change with the transformation or risk becoming obsolete. For instance, when the women's suffrage movement gained women the right to vote, members turned their attention to advocating equal rights and campaigning to elect women to office. In short, transformation is an evolution in the existing diagnostic or prognostic frames that generally achieves a total conversion of the movement.

New Social Movement Theory

New social movement theory , a development of European social scientists in the 1950s and 1960s, attempts to explain the proliferation of postindustrial and postmodern movements that are difficult to analyze using traditional social movement theories. Rather than being one specific theory, it is more of a perspective that revolves around understanding movements as they relate to politics, identity, culture, and social change. Some of these more complex interrelated movements include ecofeminism, which focuses on the patriarchal society as the source of environmental problems, and the transgender rights movement. Sociologist Steven Buechler (2000) suggests that we should be looking at the bigger picture in which these movements arise - shifting to a macro-level, global analysis of social movements.

The Movement to Legalize Marijuana

The early history of marijuana in the United States includes its use as an over-the-counter medicine as well as various industrial applications. Its recreational use eventually became a focus of regulatory concern. Public opinion, swayed by a powerful propaganda campaign by the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in the 1930s, remained firmly opposed to the use of marijuana for decades. In the 1936 church-financed propaganda film "Reefer Madness," marijuana was portrayed as a dangerous drug that caused insanity and violent behavior. One reason for the recent shift in public attitudes about marijuana, and the social movement pushing for its decriminalization, is a more-informed understanding of its effects that largely contradict its earlier characterization. The public has also become aware that penalties for possession have been significantly disproportionate along racial lines. U.S. Census and FBI data reveal that blacks in the United States are between two to eight times more likely than whites to be arrested for possession of marijuana. Further, the resulting incarceration costs and prison overcrowding are causing states to look closely at decriminalization and legalization. In 2012, marijuana was legalized for recreational purposes in Washington and Colorado through ballot initiatives approved by voters. While it remains a Schedule One controlled substance under federal law, the federal government has indicated that it will not intervene in state decisions to ease marijuana laws.

Bringing a Social Movement to Life

The author Adam Hochschild recommends books that vividly illustrate moments of great change.

This is an edition of the Books Briefing, our editors’ weekly guide to the best in books. Sign up for it here.

Occasionally you read a book that changes your sense of what a book can do. For me, that title was Adam Hochschild’s King Leopold’s Ghost , which recounts the history of Belgium’s brutal colonial rule over the Congo and how an early-20th-century human-rights campaign managed to bring world attention to the atrocities taking place in the name of profit. I went on to read all of Hochschild’s other books, and each one achieved the same difficult feat: bringing narrative flair to the story of a movement, whether the 19th-century abolitionist struggle in England or the republican cause taken up by Americans in the Spanish Civil War. What Hochschild does is not easy. He uses the conventions of a fiction writer to make the push for human rights extremely readable. It was a thrill to have him write an essay this week on a new book by David Van Reybrouck, Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World , about that nation’s independence struggle—Hochschild says the book “fills an important gap.” I took the opportunity to talk with Hochschild about some other books he’d recommend, especially those focused on moments in history when people manage to accomplish great change.

First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic ’s Books section:

• Would limitlessness make us better writers?
• What the author of Frankenstein knew about human nature
• “My Book Had Come Undone”: a poem by Carolina Hotchandani

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Gal Beckerman: Besides your own work, what are some books you recommend that do a good job presenting the dynamics of activism and making change?

Adam Hochschild: One of my favorite books—and one of the great nonfiction works of the 20th century—is George Orwell’s Homage to Catalonia . In 1936, Orwell volunteered in the Spanish Civil War to fight fascism. But once in Spain, he found two things he didn’t expect: the most far-reaching social revolution Western Europe has ever seen, and a war-within-the-war as other parties in the Spanish Republic crushed these changes. No reader can forget Orwell’s description of what it feels like to be hit by a bullet: like being “at the center of an explosion.”

Beckerman: The book you reviewed exposed me to Indonesia’s independence movement for the first time, I’m ashamed to admit. Are there any books that did that for you—opened you up to a new part of the world or a history you didn't know about?

Hochschild: One piece of history I long knew too little about was the Philippine War of 1899–1902. Gregg Jones’s Honor in the Dust: Theodore Roosevelt, War in the Philippines, and the Rise and Fall of America’s Imperial Dream is a good narrative introduction. And Vestiges of War: The Philippine-American War and the Aftermath of an Imperial Dream 1899–1999 , edited by Angel Velasco Shaw and Luis H. Francia, is an extraordinarily rich collection of documents, photographs, film scripts, poetry, and more.

Beckerman: Are there works of fiction that you think offer an important lens on human rights?

Hochschild: If Not Now, When? is the best of the two novels by the great Italian writer and Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi, who devoted most of his writing life to nonfiction about the Holocaust. John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath is an unforgettable portrait of human suffering in the Great Depression, and Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle , set in a meatpacking plant, gave us the Pure Food and Drug Act. However, that was not the intention of Sinclair, who was more concerned about labor rights. “I aimed at the public’s heart,” he said later, “and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”

Beckerman: Finally, do you have one book you might press on a young writer looking to work in the same narrative-nonfiction vein as you?

Hochschild: To me, Robert Caro is our greatest living nonfiction writer. Start with his first book, The Power Broker , about New York City’s parks and the highway czar Robert Moses. You don’t have to be a native New Yorker like me to appreciate this massive demolition job on the man who laced our glorious city with ugly freeways and had a lifelong contempt for Black and poor people. It’s a masterpiece of storytelling and one of the best books about the exercise of power ever written.

The Particular Cruelty of Colonial Wars

By Adam Hochschild

A new history of Indonesia’s fight for independence reveals the brutal means by which the Dutch tried to retain power.

Read the full article.

What to Read

Multiple Choice , by Alejandro Zambra, translated by Megan McDowell

If you’ve ever taken a standardized test in your life, you’ll recognize the format of the Chilean writer Zambra’s book immediately. The author grew up under the Pinochet dictatorship, and in this work, based on the structure of the Chilean Academic Aptitude Test, he uses multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blanks, and long sample texts to confront the authoritarian instincts that underlay his own education and that continue in many rigid, exam-based educational systems today. Its many questions begin to create a creeping sense of dread and nihilism, and that mood comes to a head in the last section, which is made up of three short stories and a series of questions about each. Yet even with these dark undertones, the book is both a quick read and hilarious. You may have thought that you never wanted to encounter fill-in-the-bubble-type tests again, but rest assured, Multiple Choice does all the work for you; it’s brilliant, and well worth your time.  — Ilana Masad

From our list: Six cult classics you have to read

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📚 The Unexpected: Navigating Pregnancy During and After Complications , by Emily Oster and Nathan Fox

📚 Silk: A World History , by Aarathi Prasad

Your Weekend Read

We’re All Reading Wrong

By Alexandra Moe

The ancients read differently than we do today. Until approximately the tenth century , when the practice of silent reading expanded thanks to the invention of punctuation, reading was synonymous with reading aloud. Silent reading was terribly strange, and, frankly, missed the point of sharing words to entertain, educate, and bond. Even in the 20th century, before radio and TV and smartphones and streaming entered American living rooms, couples once approached the evening hours by reading aloud to each other.

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Research in Social Movements, Conflicts and Change

• Recent Chapters

All books in this series (26 titles)

Recent chapters in this series (16 titles)

• Beyond Protests: Using Computational Text Analysis to Explore a Greater Variety of Social Movement Activities
• Coalitions Under Threat: Analyzing the 2019 Hong Kong Anti-Extradition Protests Using Telegram Social Media Data
• Developing Ethical Standards for Student Participation in Protest Research 1
• How to Analyze the Influence of Social Movements With QCA: Combinational Hypotheses, Venn Diagrams, and Movements Making Big News
• Insider-Outsider Dynamics and Identity in Qualitative Studies of Social Movements
• Instant Archives: Social Media and Social Movement Research
• Measuring Event Diffusion Momentum (EDM): Applications in Social Movement Research 1
• Moments of Interrogation: Doing Feminist Ethnography in the Archives
• Navigating Interests and Cultivating Innovation in the Study of Social Movements, Conflict, and Change
• Satellite Images in Conflict Research: Methodological and Ethical Considerations
• The Use of Digitized Newspaper Archives for World-Historical Research on Social Conflicts: The State-Seeking Nationalist Movements Database
• Climatic Conditions and Internal Armed Conflicts: An Empirical Study
• Inequities in Movement-Making: A Socio-Structural Organizational Analysis of a Movement Organization Case
• Introduction
• It's All About Timing: Temporal Dynamics in the Protest–Repression Nexus in Pinochet's Chile, 1982–1989 *
• Organizing a Weak Anti-Prison Movement? Surrogate Representation and Political Pacification at a Nonprofit Prison Reentry Organization
• Dr Lisa Leitz

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The Influence of Social Media on Social Movements: An Exploratory Conceptual Model

• Conference paper
• First Online: 01 January 2015
• Cite this conference paper

• Carla Danielle Monteiro Soares 20 &
• Luiz Antonio Joia 20  

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 9249))

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• International Conference on Electronic Participation

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Information and communication technology affects all issues in the modern world, including social movements. The impact of these technologies on such movements has been felt worldwide in recent years, affecting both developed countries, such as Spain and the United States, as well as developing countries, such as Brazil, Egypt, and Tunisia. Interestingly, the intensive use of the Internet and especially social media has been a common denominator in the popular demonstrations that have occurred in the past few years in the most diverse scenarios. Social movements appear to have been influenced by social media, particularly with respect to their organization and communication. Therefore, based on a review of the extant literature on the topic, this paper seeks to propose an exploratory conceptual model about the influence of the use of social media on social movements, whereby possible scenarios in which these social demonstrations tend to occur can be identified.

A definition of Social Media can be found at http://webtrends.about.com/od/web20/a/social-media.htm , accessed on March 10, 2015.

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Communication Sciences and the Study of Social Movements

Social Media and Social Movements Around the World

An Analytical Study of the Roles of Social Media and the Social Development in India

• Social movements
• E-Participation
• Social media

1 Introduction

Contemporary social movements Footnote 1 like so many other aspects of the modern world begin to suffer gradual transformation, starting to have similar characteristics, even when sparked off in completely different scenarios. Information and communication technology (ICT) has a dual role in this context, since the Internet is now used at times for the mere diffusion of information, and at other times as the very means by which the demonstrations are organized, in a process that feeds back on itself [ 1 ].

In the case of social movements, Internet and social media in particular facilitate the events and also brings them to international attention at an unprecedented pace, enabling the uprisings to be literally monitored in real time [ 2 , 3 ].

Among these movements, the highlights were those that took place in Istanbul, the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, the Indignadas in Spain, the 20 Cents movement in Brazil, among others. These movements were mostly composed of young people called to action through social media, without the presence of parties, trades unions, and traditional mass organizations [ 4 , 5 ].

In order to contribute to the understanding of the relationship between the use of the Internet and especially social media with the social movements, this theoretical paper proposes the development of a conceptual model, rendering possible to discuss the potential and limitations of social media on social movements, thereby providing insights for the understanding and ongoing enhancement of academic research in this knowledge area.

2 The Context of Internet, Social Media, and Social Movements

The networks represent the new social morphology of our societies, since the diffusion of network logic substantially modifies the operation and the results of processes of production, experience, power and culture [ 6 ]. This society, named as the “network society” [ 7 ], uses information and communication technologies to establish its social structure. However, the Internet is a tool that develops but does not change behavior; on the contrary, behavior takes advantage of the Internet to broaden and organize itself into what it represents [ 8 ].

In spite of this, the Internet has proved to be an essential medium of expression and organization for the social demonstrations. It is a means of communication to which much of the world population has access, reconfiguring the map of relationships, in which ideas and information flow and some boundaries become fluid. In this respect, one argues that the importance of social networking sites (SNS) has grown so swiftly that they have become one of the tools of the social and political movements [ 9 ].

The popularity of the SNS, making them the most well-known websites in the world from October 2011 onwards, has contributed to a considerable extent to the spread of social demonstrations [ 10 ]. To give an idea of scale, in different regions such as the Middle East, Latin America, Europe, and Africa, SNS represented about 24 % of all time spent on the Internet in 2011, an increase of 35% compared to 2010 [ 11 ]. Moreover, YouTube has become the most popular online video platform worldwide, offering two out of five videos viewed worldwide [ 10 ].

With respect to the social movements, one stresses the fact that major mass demonstrations of the population were organized by mobilization via social media and thereafter showed their strength with the massive presence of people on the street [ 12 ]. They were united around calls for change, such as the Arab Spring, which began in late 2010, the Indignadas movement in Spain in 2011, and the protests in Brazil in 2013. In these cases, there was no mediation of the mobilization along classic lines, namely political parties, trade unions and conventional communication channels [ 13 ].

One deals with a standard feature of the social movements, namely that they spill over from social media onto the streets [ 12 ]. Anger and indignation with the current reality is the trigger for this feature, though fear is a suppressor for the outbreaks. Fear, however, is overcome by sharing the indignation via the network, which generates the awareness that one is not alone. Based on that, enthusiasm arises, which fosters the hope that things can be different, after which mass mobilization occurs. Furthermore, the interactive dynamics of the highly interconnected modern world has established a favorable environment for the reinvention of democracy [ 14 ]. Social media enables social movements to spread extremely swiftly and comprehensively, with technology rendering the physical distance between participants irrelevant.

As one states, occupation of the public space is essential at a given point for the visibility of the social movement, even though the origin and support structure of the social movement is in the open territory of the Internet and its social media [ 12 ].

Moreover, social movements mediated by the Internet intentionally have no leaders or hierarchy, mimicking the horizontal playing field of the Internet and reflecting distrust both of established leaders as well as of crises of representation [ 12 ]. Therefore, one points out that social movements enabled by social media are popular P2P (peer-to-peer) movements, in other words they have the same features as a point-to-point protocol computer network [ 15 ]. Thus, they arise when the decentralized and horizontal communication capacity of society makes it possible to build communities, share ideas and – in the case of demonstrations – express indignation. It is also stated that networks composed of many connection points and actors can be established anywhere and that all its points need to use compatible programs to connect to each other as, for example, Facebook [ 15 ]. This means that different actors can be in different places, though using the same social networking platform to link up. It is also stressed the importance of P2P processes arising from the high degree of connectivity of social media in real time (mobile phone, Internet, Twitter, and Facebook) for synchronization of a collective intelligence in what one calls the third reinvention of democracy and politics [ 14 ].

In the next section, it will be set forth the methodological procedures undertaken in this article to propose an exploratory conceptual model aiming at addressing the relationship between social movements and social media.

3 Methodological Procedures

After having defined the topic of this theoretical essay, the search for literature started. The first phase of this process was trying to find papers published in the leading journals of Information and Communication Technology. This search was not fruitful. Only a literature review on Information, Communication, and Society written by Garrett [ 16 ] about the subject of this research was found. One broadened the scope of search and included the principal journals in the field of sociology, anthropology, communication, marketing, politics, etc. The Journal of Communication and The Communication Review both dedicated a special issue on social media and political change. The Journal of Communication titled its issue: Social Media and Political Change: Capacity, Constraint, and Consequence and covered a wide range of protests.

After the review of the results accrued from the first search phase, a more general search among journals from different disciplines was undertaken, including backward and forward search as suggested by Webster and Watson [ 17 ].This search resulted in 64 articles, all containing the following key words, independently or combined, namely: social media, manifestations, social protest, uprising, rebellion, Arab Spring, Tunisia, Egypt, Iran, Brazil, Occupy movement, and Occupy Wall Street.

The papers were classified based on their contents. That is, some articles address the structural factors related to the use of social media on social movements, i.e. the contextual conditions of each country wherein the popular movements took place. On the other hand, others articles tackle the contextual factors related to the use of social media on social movements, namely the factors considered closest to the movements per se, being them specific moderating factors that can help revealing the evolution and dynamics of social movements mediated by social media.

In order to comply with the suggestions accrued from Webster and Watson [ 17 ] and Okoli and Schabram [ 18 ] on literature review development, one analyzed the papers trying to triangulate them [ 19 – 21 ], as well as find commonalities and differences both in theory and methodology used. Attention was also paid to their recommendations for future research, as recommended by Webster and Watson [ 17 ].

After that, the aforementioned structural and contextual factors accrued from the papers analyzed were consolidated into an exploratory conceptual model to be tested in further studies.

4 Social Media and Social Movements: A Proposal for an Exploratory Conceptual Model

As already said, this article aims to develop an exploratory conceptual model to analyzing the influence of social media use in the organization of local social movements. This conceptual model consists of structural and instrumental factors discussed below and identified by means of the main contributions of the extant literature on social movements mediated by ICT that occurred in several countries since 2011.

4.1 Structural Factors

Based on the analysis of the extant literature about the subject addressed in this paper, one can realize the importance of structural factors on the using of social media on popular movements. These structural factors in the conceptual model are the contextual conditions of each country, namely the macro elements that demonstrate the overall living conditions and political activity in the nation. They can foster the emergence of agendas and ideas (e.g. improved living conditions, better transport, and the fight against corruption), as well as their dissemination to society in general. They include the technological, political, and socioeconomic context, as listed below according to the extant literature analyzed.

4.1.1 Technological Context

From the literature review conducted, one have noticed that several authors point to the importance of access to ICT by society as a way of having independent sources of information, sharing such information, and acquiring greater knowledge about leaders and governments [ 6 , 12 , 22 – 24 ]. In addition, access to ICT provides opportunities to express opinions, support social movements and even coordinate initiatives [ 16 ]. These authors support the existence of a strong linear relationship between the degree of Internet penetration in a given country and the current social movements.

In this manner, the technological context is used in the conceptual model for definition of the degree of Internet penetration in a given country. In preparing this construct, an international index can be used covering aspects such as: degree of territorial Internet signal coverage via the telecommunications infrastructure; degree of openness of the regulatory framework by means of universal access policies, especially for economically prejudiced people; degree of digital education of society such that individuals can exercise their civic rights independently and autonomously via the Internet.

The International Telecommunication Union Development Index [ 25 ], more commonly known as the ICT Development Index of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) - the UN specialized agency for information and communication technologies - is an international index that takes into account the above aspects. Therefore, it might be used (among others) as a próxis for measuring this construct.

4.1.2 Political Context

Based on the studies of several authors [ 26 – 30 ], the political context of a country, namely its degree of democracy, influences the social movements that take place there. Therefore, it is relevant to analyze the political context associated with the degree of democratic freedom in a given country. Thus, when preparing this construct, an international index can also be used covering aspects such as: breadth of the electoral process; degree of independence and representativeness of Powers; degree of freedom of speech and press; degree of protection of human rights; degree of social participation.

Thus, the index of democracy compiled by The Economist (Democracy Index) [ 31 ] might be used (among others) as a próxis for measuring this construct, as it assesses democracy (or lack thereof) in 167 countries on a regular basis.

4.1.3 Socio-Economic Context

For several academics [ 12 , 32 – 35 ], the socio-economic conditions of a country interfere directly in the collective actions of its citizens, who express their complaints and/or conceptualize their participation in social movements, inviting others to join them. Thus, the socioeconomic context – that defines the economic conditions that influence the quality of life of society in a given country – is also used in the proposed conceptual model. In the creation of this construct, an international index might be used to assess aspects such as: degree of economic activity relating to the production of goods and services and degree of distribution of income throughout society. Thus, the Human Development Index (HDI) – a statistical tool used to measure the overall development of a country in its social and economic dimensions –might be used (among others) as a próxis for measuring this construct [ 36 ].

That index sets out to measure the development of a country in accordance with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The calculation of same combines four main indicators: life expectancy for health; expected years of schooling; average years of schooling for education; and gross national income per capita for the standard of living.

4.2 Instrumental Factors

Based on the analysis of the extant literature about the subject addressed in this paper, one can also realize the importance of instrumental factors on the using of social media on popular movements. These instrumental factors in the conceptual model are those considered closest to the movements per se. They are specific moderating factors, which may help to reveal the evolution and dynamics of social movements mediated by social media.

By using the literature review, the following factors can are considered to be instrumental: the agenda of claims; the traditional media; the repression of the demonstration; and the international repercussion, as explained below.

4.2.1 Agenda of Claims

Social movements occur for various reasons, such as political, social, and economic claims, which reveal the hope for new eras of self-determination after the struggle, demonstrations, and riots [ 35 ]. In addition to the increasing dissatisfaction with the dictatorial regimes, youth unemployment, corruption, poverty, inflation, social exclusion, and violent repression are among the main reasons for the revolts [ 35 ].

The beginning of movements on the Internet occurs as a result of existing economic, political, and social conditions [ 12 ]. In other words, the agenda arises from the moment citizens, who are either dissatisfied with the economic and social conditions and/or with repression, express their indignation via social networks, or when indignation is provoked by some image showing repression that spreads rapidly via social media and, in the current Internet jargon, ‘goes viral.’ [ 12 ].

In turn, one points out that the concerns of the people are shared by means of tools (platforms like Facebook and Twitter) that increase the intensity of social connection, thereby fomenting social movements [ 37 ]. Furthermore, an increase in the intensity of information flow (the number of times that people listen to the issues) and in the emotional intensity (how individuals experience the perception of events) lead to an increase in the likelihood of radicalization [ 38 ]. Thus, there is a strong connection between social media and the agenda of claims of the movements.

4.2.2 Traditional Media

Traditional media which performs the mediation of reality by means of formal journalism – collecting and disseminating information on events, within and beyond national borders – suffered from the inversion in the flow of news [ 39 ]. Social media with input from the public began to influence the content of the traditional media, which transmitted information on the manifestos, scheduling of gatherings, and images and videos taken during the protests [ 40 ].

One highlights the fact that during the social movements, as participation and trust of the population increased in relation to the news posted on social media, public trust in the traditional media vehicles diminished [ 37 ]. A search then began for information on social media (videos, photos, and declarations) that did not appear to be edited and that had been obtained by ordinary people. This established an inversion in the flow of news, where content and/or the agenda of claims produced by the public, which were posted on social media, were reproduced in the traditional media. Thus, the traditional communication media began to use information available in the social media to establish the agendas of their news [ 37 ].

Interestingly, those who do not yet have access to social media take advantage of the traditional media, such as newspapers, magazines and television, to get information on the social movements. Moreover, public acts gain visibility through media coverage and give the participants added incentive to stage further demonstrations [ 41 ].

4.2.3 Repression of Demonstrations

When there is suppression of protests, either by the government or by the media, social media is increasingly used for sharing text, video, audio, and photos of the events. A quest for the legitimation of the movements with the support of the population has been detected. The evidence of truculent oppression leads to heavier traffic on social media, with numerous shared photos and videos, accompanied by indignant texts posted by the population [ 42 ]. Besides, when repression is related to social media, as was the case in Egypt, ironically this action can exacerbate the revolt and make the citizens angrier, thus promoting greater interaction between them and leading them to seek new hybrid communication tactics to overcome the barriers imposed by the repressive government [ 43 ].

4.2.4 International Repercussion

In their studies, several authors stress the strong ties between new technologies and the international political world, highlighting the dissemination and monitoring of news through social media to promote the spread of ideas and tactics for protest swiftly and efficiently across national borders [ 44 – 46 ]. Thanks to network technology, the mobilizations can achieve transnational scale in record time [ 47 ]. Moreover, digital tools, including networks and mobile technology, are evidence of a snowball effect, which is only possible because of the structure and design of modern digital communications that transcend the traditional geopolitical boundaries [ 48 ].

As a result of the aforementioned analysis, the reference sources that have supported the choice of both the structural and instrumental factors, as well as their components, are presented in a consolidated way in Figs.  1 and 2 below.

Reference sources for the structural factors

4.3 Exploratory Conceptual Model of Influence of the Use of Social Media in Social Movements

From the structural and instrumental factors explained above, an exploratory conceptual model of influence of the use of social media in social movements can therefore be proposed, as shown in Fig.  3 .

Exploratory conceptual model of the influence of social media use in social movements

According to the proposed exploratory model, the analysis of social movements in each country must consider the dynamics of the sundry structural factors, namely the technological, political, and socio-economic scenarios, as well as their modification over the course of time. For example, in the case of the technological context, an increasing trend in the degree of Internet penetration in a country signifies greater access to information. Thus, with access to ICT, citizens acquire information, self-organization and self-mobilization spontaneously that they did not previously have [ 12 ]. In the case of the political context, by using, for instance, the democracy index of The Economist, it is possible to evaluate a country according to the following indicators: “full democracy,” “imperfect democracy,” “hybrid regime”, and “authoritarian regime” [ 36 ]. Moreover, one can analyze the regression, progression or stalemate of the country’s democracy index, in addition to considering the causes for this. These include: poor economic performance; decreased public trust in political institutions; increased violence and drug trafficking; democratically-elected leaders replaced by technocrats; among others [ 36 ].

In the case of the socio-economic context, the classification of the country in relation to its Human Development Index, for instance, makes it possible to analyze its evolution or involution, and compare it with that of other countries where there were also social movements mediated by ICT. The decrease of this index may signify increased unemployment among young people, increased levels of poverty and violence, which can lead to the indignation of citizens and demonstrations on the Internet in response to the prevailing economic, political, and social conditions in the country [ 12 ].

With respect to the instrumental factors, it is necessary to analyze to what extent these specific items – namely the agenda of claims, traditional media, repression of demonstrations, and international repercussion – contribute to the increased dissemination of social movements via the social network.

These instrumental factors are relevant, since it has been realized from the literature review that the evolution of social demonstrations occurs in an interactive manner. That is, they begin with specific agendas aired in minor protests, which increase in size as they suffer repression and/or suffer repercussions in the media [ 45 – 47 ], until they become widespread protests with international repercussions. This process of evolution of social movements occurs as an escalating force driven by social media. In other words, the interactions increase in line with the way that these factors interact with the main players in the demonstrations, and so on [ 14 ].

In this context, the occurrence of a feedback process is detected in which the social movements increasingly foster the use of social media. This, in turn, is configured and reconfigured by the information disseminated among the players, namely the demonstrators, thereby providing feedback for the next social protests, such as, for example, the sharing of actions in the protests and dissemination of agendas.

5 Final Remarks

This theoretical paper proposed an exploratory conceptual model in order to evaluate how the use of social media influences the social movements of a country, by considering its degree of Internet penetration, the maturity of its democracy, and the socio-economic conditions of its citizens. Thus, the influence of the use of social media can be evaluated by assessing the technological, political, and socio-economic scenarios. These contexts, identified in the literature review on social movements and social media, are the macro elements that are proof of the living conditions in general and socio-political activity in the country and are therefore considered to be the structural factors.

In addition to the structural factors, one was identified from the literature review the need to use elements inherent to the movement per se, acting as specific moderators that can assist in understanding the evolution and dimension of social movements via social media. These elements are considered to be instrumental factors, namely agenda of claims, traditional media, repression of demonstrations, and international repercussion.

Thus, the proposed exploratory conceptual model might enable analysis of the influence of the use of social media in social movements in order to identify possible scenarios where demonstrations tend to evolve, scrutinizing their antecedents and possible causes, and establishing if there is a pattern in the emergence of these social movements mediated by social media.

Lastly, as this is an exploratory and theoretical paper, further research must test the proposed conceptual model by means of analysis of social movements mediated by ICT that have occurred in different political, socio-economic, and technological scenarios.

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Soares, C.D.M., Joia, L.A. (2015). The Influence of Social Media on Social Movements: An Exploratory Conceptual Model. In: Tambouris, E., et al. Electronic Participation. ePart 2015. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9249. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22500-5_3

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Analyzing the emergence, dynamics, and impact of various social movements such as the Zapatista move

• Political Science

The Public School Education Reform Movement of the 1800s

This essay about the Public School Education Reform Movement of the 1800s explores how educational changes in America were influenced by the shift from an agrarian to an industrial society. It highlights the role of Horace Mann and other reformers in advocating for accessible, standardized, and secular education through public schooling. The essay discusses the challenges, developments, and lasting impact of these reforms on modern education, emphasizing the continued relevance of their foundational values in promoting equitable and democratic education systems.

How it works

In the annals of educational history, few movements have had as profound an impact on the landscape of learning as the Public School Education Reform Movement of the 1800s. Emerging against the backdrop of a rapidly industrializing society and growing concerns about social order and citizenship, this movement laid the groundwork for modern public education in the United States and beyond.

The 1800s were a time of immense change in America. The nation was transitioning from an agrarian economy to an industrial powerhouse, with cities swelling and populations surging.

Alongside these transformations came a pressing need for a new approach to education. The existing system, largely comprised of private and parochial schools, was inadequate for the needs of an increasingly diverse and urbanizing population.

Enter the reformers. Drawing inspiration from Enlightenment ideals and the emerging field of psychology, these visionaries sought to revolutionize education by making it more accessible, standardized, and secular. Foremost among them was Horace Mann, often hailed as the “Father of American Education.” As the first Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, Mann championed the cause of public schooling, arguing that it was essential for the preservation of democracy and the cultivation of moral character.

Central to Mann’s vision was the concept of the common school—a free, taxpayer-funded institution open to all children regardless of their background or social status. These schools, he believed, would serve as the great equalizer, providing students with the knowledge and skills necessary to participate fully in civic life. Moreover, by instilling values such as punctuality, obedience, and respect for authority, they would help maintain social order in an increasingly complex society.

Mann’s ideas gained traction throughout the 1800s, spurred on by a combination of economic, social, and ideological factors. The rise of industrial capitalism created a demand for a literate and numerate workforce, while waves of immigration brought new challenges and opportunities for assimilation. Meanwhile, the spread of democratic ideals fueled a belief in the power of education to uplift the masses and promote social mobility.

But the road to educational reform was far from smooth. Opposition came from various quarters, including religious conservatives who viewed public schools as a threat to their authority and autonomy. Others questioned the wisdom of investing public funds in education, arguing that it should remain the purview of families and churches. In some cases, racial and ethnic prejudices led to the exclusion of marginalized groups from the benefits of public schooling.

Despite these challenges, the reformers persevered, enacting a series of landmark reforms that laid the foundation for the modern public school system. Among the most notable of these was the establishment of compulsory attendance laws, which required children to attend school for a certain number of years. This measure helped ensure that all children, regardless of their family’s economic circumstances, had access to an education.

Another key development was the standardization of the curriculum and the professionalization of teaching. Prior to the reform movement, education was often haphazard and inconsistent, with each school operating according to its own principles and practices. The reformers sought to change this by introducing uniform standards and qualifications for teachers, as well as a common curriculum based on the principles of liberal education.

In addition to these structural reforms, the 1800s saw a growing emphasis on the role of education in promoting social and moral development. Drawing on the ideas of philosophers such as John Dewey and Friedrich Froebel, educators began to recognize the importance of experiential learning, hands-on activities, and moral instruction in the curriculum. Schools became not just places of academic instruction, but also centers of community life, where students learned to work together, solve problems, and engage in civic activities.

By the turn of the 20th century, the Public School Education Reform Movement had transformed the educational landscape of America. Public schools were now a ubiquitous presence in towns and cities across the country, providing millions of children with the opportunity to learn and grow. Moreover, the values of universal access, standardized curriculum, and social integration that the reformers had championed had become deeply ingrained in the national consciousness.

Of course, the legacy of the reform movement is not without its complexities and contradictions. Critics have pointed to the persistence of inequalities within the education system, particularly along lines of race, class, and geography. Moreover, debates continue to rage over the appropriate balance between academic rigor and personal development, between standardized testing and creative expression, between public funding and private enterprise.

Yet for all its flaws, the Public School Education Reform Movement of the 1800s remains a testament to the power of ideas to shape the course of history. In an era of profound social and economic change, it offered a vision of education as a means of fostering individual opportunity, social cohesion, and democratic citizenship. And though the challenges of the present may be different, the ideals that animated the reformers of the past continue to inspire us to imagine new possibilities for the future of education.

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Mexico’s presidential candidates discuss social spending, climate change in 2nd debate

FILE - This combination of two file photos shows Xochitl Galvez, left, arriving to register her name as a presidential candidate on July 4, 2023, in Mexico City, and Claudia Sheinbaum, right, at an event that presented her as her party’s presidential nominee on Sept. 6, 2023, in Mexico City. The two women, considered the frontrunners in Mexico’s presidential election, discussed social spending and climate change in the race’s second debate Sunday, April 28, 2024, which also included Jorge Álvarez Máynez. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)

FILE - Rep. Jorge Álvarez Máynez greets supporters after he was nominated by the Citizen’s Movement party to run for president in the upcoming general elections, Jan. 10, 2024, in Mexico City. Mexico’s second presidential debate on Sunday, April 28, a little more than a month before the elections, measured the economic, employment and poverty proposals of the ruling Claudia Sheinbaum and opponents Xóchitl Gálvez and Maynez. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s leading presidential candidate repeatedly touted the social programs of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and walked a fine line between supporting the national oil company and promising a clean energy transition in the second debate Sunday night ahead of the June 2 election.

Former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum of the president’s Morena party continues to hold a healthy lead over Xóchitl Gálvez of a coalition of opposition of parties and Jorge Álvarez Máynez of the small Citizen Movement party.

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López Obrador significantly raised Mexico’s minimum wage and increased spending on social programs, most of which are popular direct cash transfer programs. Sheinbaum has benefitted from her mentor’s popularity throughout the campaign and promised to continue his programs.

She called the model of government that he started and she has committed to continuing “humanist, an honest model, protector of our patrimony, with better salaries, with better pensions, without raising taxes.”

Even Gálvez, Sheinbaum’s most serious competitor, stressed that she, too, would maintain the popular, but costly programs if elected. The former senator and tech entrepreneur reminded voters that she knew poverty growing up and was able advance in part because of a scholarship.

“I am a woman who comes from below, who knows poverty and knows how poverty hurts and the time that it steals from you,” Gálvez said.

Álvarez Máynez, a former congressman, promoted his own initiatives to reduce Mexicans’ work week from six to five days, provide paternity leave and increase vacation. He said that despite the social spending of the current administration, young children receive a fraction of what they should because “they don’t vote.”

On the environment and climate change, Sheinbaum, a climate scientist , pointed to her efforts as mayor, such as putting solar panels on the rooftops of Mexico City’s sprawling wholesale market and adding more electric buses and bike lanes.

As president, she said, she would work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help Mexico adapt to climate change. But she also defended López Obrador’s construction of a huge new oil refinery that she said would help Mexico reduce its gasoline imports. She warned that Gálvez would try to privatize the deeply indebted state oil company, known as Pemex.

Gálvez said the private sector would be critical in Mexico’s clean energy transition. She added that Mexico was losing foreign investment opportunities because foreign companies require access to clean electricity produced with renewables. She promised to make Pemex an efficient company, something successive administrations from various parties have failed to do.

Álvarez Máynez said that Mexico remains overly dependent on fossil fuels and that the country’s future is in wind and solar power. He promised to put solar panels on all schools and health centers.

Gálvez once again was the aggressor in the debate, trying repeatedly to paint Sheinbaum as untrustworthy. This time she took to holding up a variety of placards while Sheinbaum spoke calling her a liar. Sheinbaum, in turn, took to calling Gálvez “the corrupt one.”

All three candidates said major changes are needed to address Mexico’s fresh water supply, hit hard in much of the country by a prolonged drought . Their plans combined the need for reusing water, the majority of which goes to irrigation , and improving water system infrastructure.

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Mexico's presidential candidates discuss social spending, climate change in 2nd debate

Mexico election debate.

• Oops! Something went wrong. Please try again later. More content below

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s leading presidential candidate repeatedly touted the social programs of outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and walked a fine line between supporting the national oil company and promising a clean energy transition in the second debate Sunday night ahead of the June 2 election.

Former Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum of the president’s Morena party continues to hold a healthy lead over Xóchitl Gálvez of a coalition of opposition of parties and Jorge Álvarez Máynez of the small Citizen Movement party.

López Obrador significantly raised Mexico’s minimum wage and increased spending on social programs, most of which are popular direct cash transfer programs. Sheinbaum has benefitted from her mentor’s popularity throughout the campaign and promised to continue his programs.

She called the model of government that he started and she has committed to continuing “humanist, an honest model, protector of our patrimony, with better salaries, with better pensions, without raising taxes.”

Even Gálvez, Sheinbaum’s most serious competitor, stressed that she, too, would maintain the popular, but costly programs if elected. The former senator and tech entrepreneur reminded voters that she knew poverty growing up and was able advance in part because of a scholarship.

“I am a woman who comes from below, who knows poverty and knows how poverty hurts and the time that it steals from you,” Gálvez said.

Álvarez Máynez, a former congressman, promoted his own initiatives to reduce Mexicans’ work week from six to five days, provide paternity leave and increase vacation. He said that despite the social spending of the current administration, young children receive a fraction of what they should because “they don’t vote.”

On the environment and climate change, Sheinbaum, a climate scientist , pointed to her efforts as mayor, such as putting solar panels on the rooftops of Mexico City’s sprawling wholesale market and adding more electric buses and bike lanes.

As president, she said, she would work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help Mexico adapt to climate change. But she also defended López Obrador’s construction of a huge new oil refinery that she said would help Mexico reduce its gasoline imports. She warned that Gálvez would try to privatize the deeply indebted state oil company, known as Pemex.

Gálvez said the private sector would be critical in Mexico’s clean energy transition. She added that Mexico was losing foreign investment opportunities because foreign companies require access to clean electricity produced with renewables. She promised to make Pemex an efficient company, something successive administrations from various parties have failed to do.

Álvarez Máynez said that Mexico remains overly dependent on fossil fuels and that the country’s future is in wind and solar power. He promised to put solar panels on all schools and health centers.

Gálvez once again was the aggressor in the debate, trying repeatedly to paint Sheinbaum as untrustworthy. This time she took to holding up a variety of placards while Sheinbaum spoke calling her a liar. Sheinbaum, in turn, took to calling Gálvez “the corrupt one.”

All three candidates said major changes are needed to address Mexico’s fresh water supply, hit hard in much of the country by a prolonged drought . Their plans combined the need for reusing water, the majority of which goes to irrigation , and improving water system infrastructure.

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