Introduction to Sociology

Social Movements
June 4, 2015

Quiz 4
1. What is religion? What is the role of
religion in society according to the
functionalist perspective?
2. What is the conflict perspective on
education?

Social movement
organized effort by a large number
of people to bring about or impede
social, political, economic, or cultural
change.
a large group of people who are
organized to promote or resist some
social change.

Why SM
Members of social movements hold
strong ideas about what is wrong
with the worldor some part of it
and how to make things right.
civil rights movement, the white
supremacist movement, the womens
movement, the animal rights
movement, and the environmental
movement.

Types of Social Movements

(I)
At the heart of social movements lies
a sense of injustice.
Proactive
Reactive

Types of Social Movements (II)

Alterative social movements seek to alter some specific
behavior.
Redemptive social movements also target individuals, but
their goal is total change.
Religious conversion.

Reformative social movements seek to reform some specific

aspect of society.
The animal rights movement, for example, seeks to reform the ways in
which society views and treats animals.

Transformative social movements transform the social order

itself.
Its members want to replace the social order with their vision of the
good society.

Types of Social Movements (III)

Meta formative: wants to change the
social order itselfnot just of a specific
country, but of an entire civilization, or
even the whole world.
change concepts and practices of race
ethnicity, class, gender, family, religion,
government, and the global stratification of
nations.
i.e., communist social movement
Other examples?

Typography of social
movements

Tactics of Social Movements

Different tactics can be deployed for
movements.
Boycott, march, all-night candlelight
vigil, bombing, assassination etc.
Other examples of various violent/nonviolent tactics?

Reflect
What are the
various
strategies used
in social
movements?

Membership types

Membership types
At the center is the inner core, those most
committed to the movement.
The inner core sets the groups goals, timetables, and
strategies.

People at the second level are also committed to

the movement, but somewhat less so than the
inner core.
They can be counted on to show up for demonstrations
and to do the grunt work

At third level is a wider circle of people who are

less committed and less dependable.
Their participation depends on convenience

 The tactics that a group uses depend

largely on the backgrounds and
predispositions of the inner core.
The tactics also depend on the size
of the inner core membership and
committed people.

Public interest in SM
Outside the groups membership is
the public, a dispersed group of
people who may have an interest in
the issue.
Sympathetic
Hostile
Disinterested

Influencing the public

Use of propaganda and mass media
The right kind of publicity enables
the leaders
Get public sympathy
Recruit more members

In effective propaganda people

support a cause without even
knowing why they do it.

Tactics in propaganda
Devised by the Lees (1939)
(i) Name-calling (ii) Glittering Generally
(iii) Transfer Device (iv) Testimonial
Device (v) Plain-folk Device (vi) Card
Tactics (vii) Band-wagon.

Motivation to join social movement

Social movements are fed by a sense
of injusticea conviction that we can
no longer tolerate some condition of
society.
Not everyone who feels this way joins a
social movement.

Motivation to join social movement

(I)
People often join social movements simply because
they know others in the movement.
Mass society theory: SM relieve feelings of
isolation created by an impersonal, bureaucratized
society.
Relative deprivation theory: people join
movements to redress their grievances.
A sense of justice, morality, values, and ideological
commitment also motivate people to join social
movements. (Gap in expectations and conditions)

Agent provocateurs: people who oppose a cause

may participate in it.

Motivation to join social movement

(II)
Some people join because of moral
shocka sense of outrage at finding
out what is really going on.
They feel they must choose sides and do
what they can to help right wrongs.
Ideological commitment to the
movement.
Many members on both sides of an issue
have moral and ideological reason
(examples?)

Stages of SM
Five stages of social movements
have been identified by sociologists

Key to success
Social movements come and go and
sometimes without success
A social movement must focus on a
problem that concerns a large number
of people.

Stages of SM
Initial unrest and agitation.
People are upset about some condition in society and want to
change it

Resource mobilization
Organization: A division of labor is set up.
The leaders make policy decisions, and the rank and file do the
daily tasks necessary to keep the movement going.

Institutionalization:
At this stage, the movement has developed a bureaucracyformal hierarchy.

Decline. The movement eventually withers away.

Decline does not necessarily mean failure

Resurgence?