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Factors that aid the sucess of social movement
Factors that influence social change
Example of successfull social movements
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The sociologist Emile Durkeim saw social movements as the result of “anomie”, a societal pathology or social disorganization, described as the “madding crowd”. But in his analysis, Sydney Tarrow approached the concept of successful social movements as “collective challenges, based on common purposes and social solidarities, in sustained interaction with elites, opponents, and authorities”. The question addressed in this essay is not to draw an analysis of what is a social movement, but rather to explain what make these groups of action reach favourable outcomes of their specific political or social issues in a democratic society. For that purpose, feminist movements from the 20th century up to now in France are perfect examples of growing social …show more content…
movements that have achieved favourable outcomes in society. The fight for defining, establishing and achieve equal political, economic, cultural, and social rights between men and women has been an important collective challenge meeting the four characteristics of a successful social movement.
To capture the essence of what makes a social movement successful, this essay will suggest that feminist social movements, based on a common ideology and social solidarity, are collective contentious challenges, in sustained contention. First of all, for social movements to be successful, members must have a common ideology and social solidarity. They have to have a reason to run the risks of it and be apart of a social solidarity. The effect of a common ideology is reflected among the members of the social movements and marks a form of social solidarity. Through publication, film-making or other forms of expressions, people marked their interest for the movement of defence of women’s rights (Tarrow, 1998). For instance, Simone De Beauvoir thoroughly supports the feminist claims with her book The Second Sex in 1949. In it, she promotes the right for women to seek achievement in social life. This action had made so much impact in favour of the feminist movement, as it created “shock waves”, that it was translated and brought in the United States in 1953. This influence made France discuss it more, and triggered the new generation of girls’ reflection on a new model of a woman at the same time free and autonomous. The film-maker Jean-Luc Godard also makes a form of feminist claim in reducing woman in an object in his movies (Hurtg, Mossuz-Lavau, Sineau, 1989). This shows an effective binding between the members, based on the fervent will to defend the feminist claim. It demonstrates the importance of the role of a common purpose and social binding in order to have a successful social movement. But this ideology and solidarity cannot achieve a successful social movement if not joined by collective contentious challenges. For an ideology and social solidarity to go beyond individual resistance (James Scott, 1985) and to be effective, they have to organize contentious collective challenges. These are characterized by action against elitist values or cultural codes, to promote new values in society (Melucci 1996). These challenges are shown through obstructing the criticized activities or taking action in some way to prove a claim. It is being used to attract the attention of opponents. For Tarrow, for a movement to succeed, it has to have great influence on people, to make opponents react to it (Tarrow, 1998). The common claim of gender inequality and social solidarity at the beginning of the 20th century triggered an important collective contentious challenge in the history of feminism in France: the left-wing 1968 social crisis. It refers to student campaigning and demonstrations spreading from Nanterre University to Sorbonne University against traditional society. The crisis of 1968 made the feminist social movements revive and flourish by giving new challenges to defend their ideology. It marked a new path in the fight for feminism, for the end of the decade. The French Women’s liberation movement, that emerged from the crisis, in turn organized collective actions for gender equality and women’s rights. At that period, a series of other feminist movements were founded, aiming particularly at the legalization of contraception and abortion, as the movement Choisir in 1971, founded by the lawyer Gisèle Halimi, to legally defend signatories of the petition for freedom of abortion (Hurtg, Mossuz-Lavau, Sineau, 1989). It is through collective challenges and provocative actions that social movements are allowed to be heard, to spread their sense of injustice and affirm their common interest, which attracted the public attention. For Tarrow, collective challenges are the grassroots of an effective social movement, if organized and with leaders. If unorganized without any leader, a social movement is structurally unable to access the third characteristic of succeeding movement, sustaining contention (Tarrow, 1998). For example, the Occupy Wall Street movement of 2011 proves that with no leaders, the movement is basically failing, and unable to develop. Contentious collective challenges have thus an essential part in making a social movement succeed as it draws their ability to be organized, and to properly defend their claim. But a common ideology, social solidarity and contentious collective challenges do not make an effective social movement without being in sustaining contention. There has to be sustaining contention and interaction with opponents and the elites. Tarrow also emphasizes on the fact that changes in political opportunities and constraints are most important in order to create new phases of contention for people with collective claims. He believes that the outcomes of a social movement, and its success, revolves around their breadth and the reactions of the opponent, not on the justice of the claim or the power of persuasion of the movement. For the opponent’s reaction to emerge, there must be sustaining contention. New opportunities for original activists and new ones are why interaction between the social force and politics has to exist. Indeed, otherwise, social movements become only an individualist “resistance” (James Scott, 1985). Social movements, through the sustained contention with the opponents and elites, also have to evolve and change directions in learning from their failures and trying again in different ways (Tarrow, 1998). As an example of sustaining contention with politics in feminist movements, in 1973, as a minor got an abortion with the help of her mother, and both were prosecuted under the 1920 law, the abortion being a crime. From this event emerged in April 1973 another feminist social movement Movement for the freedom of abortion and contraception, in which doctors participated. This movement asked for the dissolution of the 1920 law and access for minors to free contraception and coverage of abortion (Stewart, 1980). So not only movements act in making sustained contention, but they also emerge from them, which makes them succeed. They adapt to the social and political opportunities. An other example can be the Women’s democratic movement, founded after 1968 by supporters and friends of President Mitterrand, which made him the first president to raise publically the issue of contraception. Also, even though the French Women’s liberation movement was solely a network of relations, and an informal and loose federation of these groups, it had a massive impact on society (Hurtg, Mossuz-Lavau, Sineau, 1989). Contention needs to be sustained as fundamental reforms made in the past can be lost in the future. Today’s feminist social movements fight against regression (Magnier, 2008). Feminist movements have a certain particularity, because they never end and always affirm the essentiality of gender equality in society. Successful social movements are determined by a common purpose and social solidarity that lead to collective challenges, which in turn must be in sustaining contention with its opponents and the elites.
Without meeting these three intertwined characteristics, the social movement in question cannot be successful. The Occupy Wall Street movement for example, as mentioned previously, is lacking leadership and organization and its common purpose was very wide, as it focused on social and economic inequality worldwide. It would have probably succeeded if the movement had broken down the claims they made in small movements. Contrastingly, feminist movements embody perfectly this idea, as they each fought for one cause, from the legal right to file complaints independently to contraception. By taking the problem of gender inequality as a basis, they succeeded in taking issues like voting, contraception or matrimonial rights, in the prospect of making changes in society. So today, we can affirm that the feminist movement is succeeding, as it still criticizes current issues. Also, as seen before, sustaining contentious adds the success determinant of other new issues emerge from them, as it brings new political opportunities, by the dissolution of constraints in society. In the end, the key to success of social movements is adaptation to the context, and the flexibility of the movements’
members.
The 1961 US Freedom Rides were an immense driving force within the African American community seeing as the participants— mere students who were part of an activist group called the Congress of Racial Equality (CoRE)— refused to give up on protesting for what they believed in even when being violently attacked by those who strongly opposed them. It is obvious that their perspiration and determination to achieve their goals would inspire many and, due to the ever increasing inequality and dehumanising behaviours directed towards Australian Aborigines during the same time period, inspiration was exactly what was needed to begin protests and activisms much like those conducted within America. Throughout the time period that followed the US Freedom rides, Australian Aborigines partook in their own activisms which included a Freedom ride that is believed to have been inspired by those that took place within America.
These documents touch on important topics that a lot of Americans have a hard time understanding. Both The Civil Rights movement and Feminist Movement connect to mainstream liberalism, share parallel goals or differences, progressed in the 1970s, and still have an influence on American’s views to this day. Equal rights among all, is still something America is struggling with after about 50 years. There is no denying though, that the movements during the 60’s and 70’s molded the lives of future generations in the way that American’s view each other as human beings.
I have read Kathryn Kish Sklar book, brief History with documents of "Women's Rights Emerges within the Antislavery Movement, 1830-1870" with great interest and I have learned a lot. I share her fascination with the contours of nineteenth century women's rights movements, and their search for meaningful lessons we can draw from the past about American political culture today. I find their categories of so compelling, that when reading them, I frequently lost focus about women's rights movements history and became absorbed in their accounts of civic life.
We have to truly take initiative in order to express our ideas regarding our feminist movement. We must take all our concerns in order to foster personal liberation and growth. The archaic social, psychological, and economic practices that discriminate against women must be ordeals of the past. We must compose new practices in order to develop a post-revolutionary society. This movement will require strategy, organization, commitment, and devotion; it may be a long battle, but I believe that we will end in triumph.
“Compare and contrast women’s suffrage movements of the late nineteenth and early centuries with the European feminist movements of the 1960’s and 1970’s.” Whereas the women’s suffrage movements focused mainly on overturning legal obstacles to equality, the feminist movements successfully addressed a broad range of other feminist issues. The first dealt primarily with voting rights and the latter dealt with inequalities such as equal pay and reproductive rights. Both movements made vast gains to the social and legal status of women.
This movement which was inspired by the ideologies of courageous women and fueled by their enthusiasm and sacrifice is often unacknowledged by most historians in the chronicles of American History. Today the movement is often misunderstood as a passive, white upper class, naive cause. But a deeper study would reveal that the women’s suffrage movement was the one that brought together the best and brightest women in America, which not only changed the lives of half the citizens of United States but also changed the social attitudes of millions of Americans.
Without the civil rights movement, the women’s movement likely would never have taken off on its own. The civil rights movement and the activists involved gave women a model for success. The method the civil rights movement used demonstrated the power of solving social problems through collective action. By using lunch counter sit-ins, organizing into national networks like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and reaching into college campuses through the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the civil rights movement was able to bring together northerners and southerners, older and younger citizens and men and women to work for a single cause. Women took inspiration from this in the creation of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and other feminist groups – NOW even states in its Statement of Purpose that “there is no civil rights movement to speak for women, as there has been for Negroes and other victims of discrimination” and that NOW must take on that responsibility.
Most traditional societies and until recent times, women generally were at a disadvantage. Their education sometimes was limited to domestic skills (“Women’s rights” n.p.). After, there was revolutions, and working women in the former soviet union intended to hold low paying jobs. They were also represented in party and government councils (“Women’s rights” n.p.). The late 1960s and early 70s active feminists organized numerous women’s rights group (“Women’s rights”n.p.). Women encountered discrimination in many forms. In 1960 equal opportunities were given to women (“Women’s rights” n.p.). During the women’s movement certain social institutions and traditional values, were questioned (“Women’s rights” n.p.). Else where in the world the women’s rights movement has also made progress in achieving its goals. In nearly every nation, women have the right to vote and hold public office (“Women’s rights” n.p.). Women’s rights movement made progress in achieving goals in nearly every nation after that (“Women’s rights” n.p.). Major unsponsored conferences on women were held in 1975, 1980, 1985, and 1995 (“Women’s rights” n.p.).
Feminist theory, in particular, has influenced my sense of social justice and helped me discover my personal sense of social activism. Feminism, by definition, is a social justice movement. Its four main philosophies (liberal feminism, cultural feminism, radical feminism, and socialist feminism), as explained by Jones-Smith (2012) focus on equality. Of the four philosophies, I was very interested in social feminism. Socialist feminist has a goal of “change in institutional and social relationships” (Jones-Smith, 2012, p.365). I relate strongly to this philosophy as I believe that in order to attain social justice, change must be made at an institutional and political level. This philosophy has largely influenced my definition of social justice in the field of
Social movements refer to informal groups of people who focus on either political or social issues. The goal of the social movement is to change things in society, to refuse to go along with the norm, and to undo a social change. For example, the Women’s Rights Movement that began in the 1840s was geared towards getting women more equality in relation to political, social, and economic status in society (Foner). Along with this, women gained a louder voice to speak out about what they wanted to change and implemented the change. Prior to the Women’s Rights Movement, women were often timid, compliant, obedient, and mistreated. After the 1920s, a movement towards more equality was shifted in society views, however not all were convinced or changed by the new ideas of women. Although women began to get increased rights, the typical gender roles, which they were expected to follow did not loosely lesson. Women still found themselves doing the same gender roles, house roles, and family roles even after the 1920s. It was not until the 1960s when the Feminist movement began (Foner). The literary piece is “Why I Want a Wife” by Judy Brady and the goal of the Feminist Movement was to create new meanings and realities for women in terms of education, empowerment, occupation, sexual identity, art, and societal roles. In short, the Feminist Movement was aimed to gain women freedom, equal opportunity and be in control over their own life.
Feminism is the movement for removing inequalities from society. Women imbued with a spirit of radicalism understand that a liberal feminist attitude, despite the seeming slowness of change that accompanies it, may transform a community more rapidly than a revolutionary approach that alienates those to be convinced and, thus, extinguishes the possibility of improvement. (Weaver 49) Feminists confront the problems of their society in hopes of altering society to be equal.
A growing population of women’s activists can be attributed to the growing number of courses being offered and information available. Only a few decades ago this would not have been heard of. It is due to the increasing amount of awareness on the topic of women’s status as second class citizens that activism has increased. Through various media, we have learned of topics such as the “glass ceiling”, the working conditions of women in Third World countries, the current injustices against women being carried out in the First World, reproductive rights, as written about by Angle Davis, and other limitations imposed on women.
In just a few decades The Women’s Liberation Movement has changed typical gender roles that once were never challenged or questioned. As women, those of us who identified as feminist have rebelled against the status quo and redefined what it means to be a strong and powerful woman. But at...
Throughout history, women have remained subordinate to men. Subjected to the patriarchal system that favored male perspectives, women struggled against having considerably less freedom, rights, and having the burdens society placed on them that had so ingrained the culture. This is the standpoint the feminists took, and for almost 160 years they have been challenging the “unjust distribution of power in all human relations” starting with the struggle for equality between men and women, and linking that to “struggles for social, racial, political, environmental, and economic justice”(Besel 530 and 531). Feminism, as a complex movement with many different branches, has and will continue to be incredibly influential in changing lives. Feminist political ideology focuses on understanding and changing political philosophies for the betterment of women.
All throughout history, men have been seen to hold more power than women, but many people have set a goal to abolish gender inequality. Feminism is defined as “a social movement focused on the political, economic, and social rights of women” (“Feminism”). Many people think of feminism as a movement planning to make women higher than men, but this is not true. It simply is focused on showing the public how biased people may be depending on gender. There has been a need for these feminist organizations since America first became established, but there are many places that they may occur worldwide.