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Theoretical Principles of Sociology, Volume 3 pp 337–374Cite as

Meso-level Social Change

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Abstract

This is the last substantive chapter of the book, exploring the dynamics of change at the mesolevel. It is argued that, ultimately, changes occur at the mesolevel in response to selection pressures emanating from the macro- and microlevel environments of corporate and categoric units. As these change, then the institutional domains and stratification systems of a society and potentially intersocietal system change, as do the mesolevel and most immediate environments of the microlevel. The chapter emphasizes diverse sources of change but gives particular emphasis on the emergence of social movement organizations (SMOs). Change is viewed to occur when individuals respond to grievances from discontinuities and tensions in social structure and culture, and begin to create an organizational structure whose goal is to change some dimensions of the existing culture and structure of a society or community. Inequalities and particularly inequalities consolidated with categoric-unit memberships are one of the most important forces of change in a society, creating tensions and grievances that increase the likelihood of social movement foundings. These SMOs mobilize and focus grievances, typically on systems of existing authority, and then recruit members and other key resources to realize their goals. Like any corporate unit, SMOs operate with environments, fields, and resource niches, the dynamics of which are emphasized. There are macrolevel cultural fields composed of texts, values, ideologies, meta-ideologies, and institutional norms, as well as microlevel fields revolving around people’s beliefs and grievances at the level of encounters. There are also mesolevel fields consisting of beliefs about members of categoric units and the cultures of groups and other organizations operating in the environment of an SMO. At the structural level, the mechanisms integrating institutional domains and stratification systems operate as environmental constraints on SMOs, forcing SMOs to develop strategies, tactics, and goals within the resource niches that such integration generates. The chapter closes with the last set of principles on mesodynamics, emphasizing the macro- and microlevel conditions that increase the likelihood of SMOs emerging and that make them effective or ineffective in their efforts to bring about social change.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    I am employing the term framing somewhat differently than the general literature, although I do not think that the differences are that great. To compare my usage of this concept with that in the literature, see Benford (1993), Benford and Snow (2000), Snow (2004, 2008), Snow and Benford (1998, 1992), Gamson and Meyer (1996), and Soule and King (2008). These uses and my use of the notion framing in volumes 1 and 2 as a part of the normatizing process vary somewhat from both Goffman’s (1974) original usages and my usage here, although framing is still considered a cultural dynamic.

  2. 2.

    For additional analyses of identities and social movements, see Einwohner (2006), Hunt et al. (1994), Snow and McAdam (2000), Klandermans and de Weerd (2000), Larana et al. (1994), and Polletta and Jaspers (2001).

  3. 3.

    For additional works on framing and reframing, see Fernandez and McAdam (1988), Gould (1991), Jasper and Poulson (1995), Klandermans and Oegema (1987), and Passy and Giugni (2001).

  4. 4.

    For representative works on political opportunities structures, see Almeida (2003), Costain and McFarland (1998), Tarrow (1998), Davenport (2007), Earl (2003), Fager (1985), Kitschelt (1986), Kriesi (2004), Meyer (2004, 2007), Meyer and Tarrow (1998).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, University of California at Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA

    Jonathan H. Turner

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Turner, J.H. (2012). Meso-level Social Change. In: Theoretical Principles of Sociology, Volume 3. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6221-8_8

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