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Recommended: About social movement
Analysis of New Social Movement Theory
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In Johnston, Laraña, and Gusfield’s discussion of New Social Movement (NSM) theory, they identify the concept as a “double-edged sword,” in that is has both related itself to the changing shape of society but also overemphasized the newness of its model, almost divorcing itself from previous social movement theories instead of acknowledging and assessing the similarities between them and integrating what is useful from theories of the past. As its basic framework asserts that social movements now are not as linked to class as they were in the time of the emergence of Marxism and at the height of industrialist society (as Resource Mobilization Theory might stress), new social movement theory succeeds in fitting itself to post-modern and post-industrialist social structure while it fails to explain the situations and changes that it describes. It makes the important point that a new and different society incites new and different movements. However, the language of the theory has a “tendency to ‘ontologize,’” as it tries to claim “more explanatory power than it empirically warranted,” which occasionally makes it an obstacle rather than a tool to analyze the modern face of social movements (Buechler & Cylke 276).
Johnston, Laraña, and Gusfield proceed to break down social movements and attribute to them eight characteristics which help clarify what defines a “new social movement.” The first of these characteristics is the frequently discussed observation that social movements are no longer homogenous in the category of social class, which Johnston, et al. describe as an NSM not bearing a “clear relation to the structural roles of its participants” (Buechler &...
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...on in the Leninist model,” according to Johnston, Laraña, and Gusfield (Buechler & Cylke 278).
Overall, New Social Movements are defined by their particular reflections of individualist, post-industrialism, though the basic premises for the formation of movements remain. Individuals have grievances which affect their choices of action and organization. Though collective action is acted out in different ways and reflects a less unified identity formation process, NSM’s bring to bear their effects on society by the sum of the actions of its members, whether those actions are personal or collective, and whether or not ideology is broadly shared. In this way, it may be detrimental to call New Social Movements “new.” Their context has changed, and so they have changed. The evolution of social movements reflects both their current environment and their roots.
Malcolm Gladwell’s article "Small Change: Why the Revolution Will not be Tweeted" raises a significant question about the prospective contribution of web-based social networking to the advent of progressive social movement and change. Gladwell bold declaration that "the revolution will not be tweeted" is reflective of his view that social media has no useful application in serious activism. Contrasting various elements of the “high-stakes” lunch-counter protests in Greensboro, North Carolina in the 1960’s with the “low-stakes” activism achieved through social media, Gladwell concludes that effective social movements powerful enough to impose change on longstanding societal forces require both “strong ties” among participants and the presence of a hierarchical organizations. In contrast, Gladwell characterizes the social networks as an interwoven web of "weak ties" that is inherently devoid of a hierarchy. Gladwell’s prerequisites for social movement are firmly based in strong body of sociological evidence, but his views regarding the nature of online social networks are laughably lacking in foresight and obstructed by a misleadingly selective body of evidence.
Existing within the movement must be a leader or leaders, as well as a large number of committed followers or members. Additionally, social movements have “organizations or coalitions” working as a guiding backbone for collectivity and regulation (Stewart,
Polletta, Francesca and James Jasper. “Collective Identity and Social Movements.” Annual Review of Sociology 27.1 (2001): 283–305. Print.
When Richard Hofstadter published his book, The Age of Reform, his assumption of their being a Progressive movement was widely accept in the historical world. His controversial claim that a status revolution coupled with nativist fears caused the populist and progressive movements caused a boom in research and scholarship on the Populist and Progressive Movements. In 1977, Peter Filene published his “An Obituary for “The Progressive Movement.”” In it, he explains persuasively that there was no Progressive ‘movement’ because there was not a movement.
The working class, faced with all the struggles that capitalism puts it through, is bound to revolt against the ruling class. During the 19th century, Marx states that “the workers begin to form combinations (Trades’ Unions) against the bourgeois; they club together in order to keep up the rate of wages; they found permanent associations in order to make provision beforehand for these occasional revolts. Here and there, the contest breaks out into riots.” Today, the working class hosts manifestations and form multiple organizations to help them through their struggles. In New York, the Occupy Wall Street movement organizes marches to demand fairer laws, such as universal health
Rodney King a black man who lived in Las Vegas was severely beaten by four white police officers. The officers were brought into court and tried on charges of assault. The officers were acquitted of the assault charges. Immediately protestors took to the streets, to express their angry over the judge’s decision. Protestors found the ruling to be unfair and was fed up with the ill-treatment. The violent protest turned into a riot. A lot of damage occurred; over 50 people were killed, over 2,300 people injured, 8,000 arrests and estimated over $1 billion in property damage. The riots exposed the police abuse, poverty, and lack of economic opportunity. If it was not for the violent protestors no light would have been shed on the way black were being
Part one, The Appeal of Mass Movements, describes why people would be drawn towards a mass movement. "For men to plunge headlong into an undertaking of vast change, they must be intensely discontented yet not destitute, and they must have the feeling that by the possession of some potent doctrine." (Page 11) During this chapter the author uses a wealth of historical information including the French Revolution and the English Industrial Revolution. The author also details what conditions are most suited for a mass movement to take place. He tells that when people are ready for mass movement, they will usually go for any type.
...s by linking this sense of a moral code to the economy by boycotting the companies who benefitted from racial discrimination. The International Relations Theory coupled with a social movement leads to global transformations resulting from mobilization. Mobilization Klotz argues is a necessary tool for the transformation of normative foundations globally. These movements in particular challenged present social systems and found its success in identifying with a moral discrimination issue. It here that when a social movement creates alliances with various discriminated and non-discriminated but financially supportive actors that the movement is more likely in challenging and overthrowing the elites of society as well as changing socioeconomic and political foundations. Social movements indeed have the ability to span globally and alter economic and political policies.
Polletta, F., & Jasper, J. M. (2001). Collective identity and social movements. Annual review of Sociology, 283-305.
The literature on social studies enjoys a wide range of social movement’s definitions (Christiansen 2009). This diversity of such a definition is due to the fact that theorists tend to define the term of a social movement depending on their particular theoretical formulation (Diani 1992). Therefore, this section will first consider definitions proposed by group of scholars that represent four major trends in social movements analysis. These trends are as follow, the ‘Collective Behavior Perspective’ (Turner and Killian), the ‘Resource Mobilization Theory’ (RMT) (ZaId and McCarthy); the ‘Political Process Perspective (Tilly); and the ‘New Social Movements Approach’ (NSMs) (Touraine, Melucci). Then, a definition by Della Porta and Diani is selected as this definition has been centered on the most important characteristics of the social movements and oft-cited by researchers.
Paul Hawken, in the chapter “Blessed Unrest,” records the people of a new social movement, as well as their ideals, goals, and principles. He writes how they are connected, along with the diversity and differences they bring to make the social movement unique. Hawken communicates to the readers the various social, environmental, and political problems they will encounter in today’s world as well as similar problems of the past. Problems that these groups of organizations are planning to undertake with the perseverance of humanity.
The first question was, “Discuss the four types of social movements and the features of each one. The four types of social movements are alternative social movement, redemptive social movement, reformative social movement, and revolutionary social movement. The alternative social movement is defined as, “a want to create a change in specific people’s thoughts, practices, and beliefs regarding a particular issue.” “Their goal is to encourage a small, defined change in the way a particular group of people think and act in order to solve a problem” (Carl 308). Mothers against drunk driving (MADD) are an example of an alternative social movement because it targets one behavior-- drunk driving. Through its efforts, MADD has caused tougher drunk driving laws to be enacted, and lead to changes peoples ' behavior.Now, the redemptive social movement, “focus on specific individuals, but the amount of change sough is radical, rather than limited.” A good example would include the American Civil Rights Movement which demanded full civil
Massey, Garth. Ways of Social Change: Making sense of modern times. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2012. 74-88. Print.
Researchers classify social movements according to the type of change they seek (Aberle, 1966, Cameron, 1966, Blumer, 1969, as cited in Macionis, 2007). According to John Macionis, a social movement is when people commonly band together to create an organized activity that encourages or discourages social change (Macionis, 2008). In the case of this radical society, Hippies were typically ...
The number of revolutions in the last 3 decades has increased, and seems to keep increasing. Civil unrest and protests brought many victims including civil and political figures throughout the world. In the era where technology is at the peak of its success, especially in communication technologies, mankind suffers from lack of communication. Problem is not caused by the technology itself, the problem is in human nature. I will continue with an analogy. Man invented the knife, which is very useful tool in our daily lives. The problem occurs when one thinks about the purposes that knife could be used. Story repeats itself with Newspapers and News Media. Technology improved the speed and the size that news can reach anywhere in couple of seconds. In a few seconds we can reach our friend at the other pole of the globe and receive pictures and live videos in response. We can send information, receive it and even create it in the artificial world. Life has become easier with technology. We can control our cell phones with voice command and reserve a table in the closest restaurant for dinner. Technology is everywhere in our lives, but if we think for a second the purposes we could use them for then the danger begins. In this short essay I will be talking about the struggle of mankind for freedom and the stages it went through. There are 3 parts to my paper. In the first part I will discuss the birth of World Wide Web and how the purpose of it went through changes. In the second part, I will be talking about birth of newspapers in the Web, precisely how it developed into an intermediate body that transfers information to people. Ultimately, I will discuss the Ukrainian revolution and the role of the news media in it and ho...