1Social MovementsBasic ConceptsBusiness• Book update• Book report assignment (distributed, explained)• Web update– Username: SMStudent– Password: SocMove– These are CASE Sensitive!!• Correct exam dates: March 10, April 28Choosing Sides, Choosing Theory• There is a broad tendency to use different theories for movements we agree with and those we disagree with• Our own movements – Respond to core principles of justice, morality and characterized by clear thinking.– Principal focus on identifying the most effective forms of action• Opponents – Irrational, deluded even motivated by evil – OR cynical, hiding their true motives– Principal focus on explaining how people could think such things, or on exposing the “true” sources of the movementTheories are rooted in cases and standpointsIf you understand what movements are the touch-points for a line of theory, and how the theorists stood with respect to them, you will understand the core of the theoryOur goal is to treat movements as even-handedly as possible in our theory, use the same theories for all movements, or be able to explain theoretically why they differThis does NOT mean we give up our capacity to form political or moral judgments about right and wrong2Older theories1. Fearful. French revolution, turmoil, Fascism, Stalinism, lynching. “How could people support such terrible things?”• Group mind, Authoritarianism, Ideological delusion• “Collective behavior” theory focused on disruption of society2. Celebratory. Marxian/Socialist supporters of working class movements. Black Civil Rights Movement and anti-war movements of the 1960s• Goals seem unproblematic, reasonable• Political sociology tradition fed into resource mobilization: how can people win?Basic Definitions (courtesy Goodwin/Jasper)• Protest = the act of challenging, resisting, or making demands upon authorities, powerholders, and/or cultural beliefs and practices by some individual or group• Social movement = a collective, organized, sustained and noninstitutional challenge to authorities, powerholders, or cultural beliefs and practices.• Revolutionary movement = a social movement that seeks, at a minimum, to overthrow the government or stateProtest• the act of challenging, resisting, or making demands • upon – authorities, power-holders, – and/or cultural beliefs and practices • by some individual or groupDiscuss examples? Borderline cases? We don’t study ONLY protest.Social Movement is a• challenge to – authorities, power-holders, OR– cultural beliefs and practices – (NOTE: others would say “actions to promote or resist social change”)• that is – collective (multiple people)– organized (coordinated, at least to some degree)– sustained (lasts a while, not just one outburst) and – non-institutional (the most problematic part of a standard definition – outside the “normal” structures or routines of society. More about this shortly.)3Different ways of defining movements• As groups of people (the most natural idea): BUT a movement can continue as the people in it come and go • As a (single) challenge that lasts a long time – but misses the complexity of movements• As preferences for change (i.e. as sets of ideas) (McCarthy & Zald 1977 – commonly cited) BUT although the preferences bound a movement, they are not the thing itself• As sets of actions with common orientations toward social change preferencesAnother, related way of defining terms• Collective action (esp. protests): people act together in some concerted fashion.• Collective campaign: series of collective actions oriented toward the same general social change goal bounded by space, time, and/or participants• Social movement: a complex set of collective campaigns and other collective events broadly oriented to the same general goal– Emphasis on complexity, diffuse boundaries– Competing definitions, orientations within the movementAbout the “goals” of social movements• Can be extremely vague and ill-defined, especially for relatively unorganized turmoil expressing discontent without clear proposals: “make things better for farmers [or peasants, or poor urbanites]." • Organizations are more likely to articulate clear goals or proposals.• Different factions of the same movement may disagree about specific goals. I.e. different branches of women’s movement, Black movement, workers’ movements, gay movement. • A complex movement generally encompasses may specific and even competing goals within a broader more diffuse social change orientationOrganizations• Social movement organization (SMO): an organization (with boundaries, members, a structure) explicitly oriented toward movement goals. National Organization for Women. NAACP. Greenpeace.• Other organizations (sometimes called “preexisting” organizations) may be part of movements, but their “purpose” is not the movement. I.e. churches, unions, fraternal organizations, government agencies.• All the organizations in a social movement taken together may be called a social movement sector (but the term is NOT popular)• BUT . . .4Movements are more than organizationsIndividual ActionsOrganizational ActionsCollective Actions not by OrganizationsActions oriented toward goalPreferences for social changeOrganizations in movements• Coherent decision-making groups set goals, plan strategies, accumulate resources• Often seek directly to influence those who have power• Often plan events designed to draw in other people OR to influence other people’s opinions• May take many forms: moderate law-abiding, small informal or small clandestine, large bureaucratic, radical or disruptive, religious or secularOther kinds of collective actions• Demonstrations, mass protests. Typically planned by an organization or coalition of organizations, but may draw in many other people. May also occur more spontaneously after a major precipitating event, or at a gathering formed for another purpose.• Riots, short-term insurrections. Typically not planned (although some may be incited). Generally build upon prior sentiments, organized on the spot.• Consciousness. Collective shifts in how people talk about issues, what kinds of actions they reward/punish in others. Ideology, awareness, “standing up.”Individual actions are also parts of movements• Individual thoughts, ideas• Isolated contributions, usually