Abstract
Social movements are groups of people organizing to bring about—or resist—social change, using, at least in part, non-institutional strategy and tactics (also known as “unconventional politics”). Most social movements have social inequality and injustice as core concerns and mobilize around these issues. Social movements received scant scholarly attention in the United States prior to the 1960s, aside from dismissive, passing treatments. But with the rise in social activism in the 1960s and the resurgence of the conflict perspective, scholars began to give social movements more serious consideration.
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Notes
- 1.
Social movements are defined here as distinct from revolutions, which typically involve entire shifts in social, political, and/or economic systems. Although this chapter will briefly discuss some classical conventional theories of social movements and revolution, including the French Revolution, it will largely focus on contemporary conventional theories and social movements, especially those in the United States. Other chapters in this handbook provide closer attention to Marxist theories of social movements and revolutions in a broader global context. For a more comprehensive coverage and analysis of historical and contemporary social movements and revolutions, see the following works: Jack A. Goldstone, Revolution and Rebellion in the Early Modern World (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1991); Jeff Goodwin, No Other Way Out: States and Revolutionary Movements, 1945–1991 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001); Stephen K. Sanderson, Revolutions: A Worldwide Introduction to Social and Political Contention, Second Edition (Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers, 2010); and Francois Polet (ed.), The State of Resistance: Popular Struggles in the Global South (London: Zed Books, 2007).
- 2.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The Social Contract (1762).
- 3.
David W. Lovell. “Socialism, Utopianism, and the ‘Utopian Socialists.’” History of European Ideas 14 (1992), pp. 185–201.
- 4.
Lovell. “Socialism, Utopianism, and the ‘Utopian Socialists’.” pp. 185–201.
- 5.
Lovell, “Socialism, Utopianism, and the ‘Utopian Socialists.’”
- 6.
Lovell, “Socialism, Utopianism and the ‘Utopian Socialists.’”
- 7.
Berch Berberoglu. Social Theory: Classical and Contemporary: A Critical Perspective (New York: Routledge, 2017), Chap. 5.
- 8.
Berberoglu. Social Theory: Classical and Contemporary, Chap. 5.
- 9.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto (1848).
- 10.
Max Weber, Economy and Society.
- 11.
Max Weber, The Objectivity of the Sociological and Social-Political Knowledge. (1904).
- 12.
Weber, The Objectivity of the Sociological and Social-Political Knowledge.
- 13.
Peter Blau, Exchange and Power in Social Life (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1964).
- 14.
Georg Simmel. “The Web of Group Affiliations,” in Conflict and the Web of Group Affiliations (New York: The Free Press, 1955).
- 15.
Simmel, Conflict and the Web of Group Affiliations, 172.
- 16.
Simmel, Conflict and the Web of Group Affiliations, 175.
- 17.
Simmel, Conflict and the Web of Group Affiliations, 174–75.
- 18.
Simmel, Conflict and the Web of Group Affiliations, 174–75
- 19.
Simmel, Conflict and the Web of Group Affiliations, 174–75
- 20.
See, for instance, Robert Park, “Collective Behavior.” Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences (New York: Macmillan, 1934).
- 21.
Joan Neff Gurney and Kathleen J. Tierney, “Relative Deprivation and Social Movements: A Critical Look at Twenty Years of Theory and Research.” The Sociological Quarterly 23 (1982):33–47.
- 22.
Merton, Robert K. “Social Structure and Anomie.” American Sociological Review 3 (1938), pp. 672–82.
- 23.
Neil Smelser, The Theory of Collective Behavior (Glencoe, IL: The Free Press, 1962).
- 24.
John McCarthy, and Mayer N. Zald, “Resource Mobilization and Social Movements: A Partial Theory.” American Journal of Sociology 82 (1977):1212–41.
- 25.
See, for instance, Peter K. Eisinger, “The Conditions of Protest Behavior in American Cities.” American Political Science Review 67 (1973), pp. 11–28.
- 26.
Aldon Morris, “A Retrospective on the Civil Rights Movement: Political and Intellectual Landmarks.” Annual Review of Sociology 25 (1999), pp. 517–39.
- 27.
David S. Meyer, “Protest and Political Opportunity.” Annual Review of Sociology 30 (2004), pp. 125–45.
- 28.
Peter K. Eisinger, “The Conditions of Protest Behavior in American Cities.” American Political Science Review 67 (1973), pp. 11–28.
- 29.
Doug McAdam, Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency, 1930–1970 (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1982).
- 30.
McAdam, Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency, 1930–1970.
- 31.
McAdam, Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency, 1930–1970.
- 32.
James T. Richardson, “Legal Status of Minority Religions in the United States.” Social Compass 42 (1995), pp. 249–64.
- 33.
For a good assessment of “new social movements theory”—or theories—see Stephen M. Buechler, “New Social Movement Theories.” The Sociological Quarterly 36 (1995), pp. 441–64.
- 34.
Francesca Polletta, and James M. Jasper, “Collective Identity and Social Movements.” Annual Review of Sociology 27 (2001), pp. 283–305.
- 35.
Nira Yuval-Davis, “Intersectionality and Feminist Politics.” European Journal of Women’s Studies 13 (2006):193–209.
- 36.
Erving Goffman, Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1974).
- 37.
Robert D. Benford and David A. Snow, “Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and Assessment.” Annual Review of Sociology 26 (2000), pp. 611–39.
- 38.
David S. Meyer, “Claiming Credit: Stories of Movement Influence as Outcomes,” Mobilization: An International Journal 11 (2006), pp. 201–18.
- 39.
David S. Meyer and Suzanne Staggenborg. “Movements, Counter-Movements, and the Structure of Political Opportunity.” American Journal of Sociology 100 (1996), pp. 1628–60.
References
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Berberoglu, Berch. 2017. Social Theory: Classical and Contemporary: A Critical Perspective. New York: Routledge.
Blau, Peter M. 1964. Exchange and Power in Social Life. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
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Domhoff, G. William. 1967. Who Rules America? Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Eisinger, Peter K. 1973. The Conditions of Protest Behavior in American Cities. American Political Science Review 67: 11–28.
Goffman, Erving. 1974. Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Goldstone, Jack A. 1991. Revolution and Rebellion in the Early Modern World. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Goodwin, Jeff. 2001. No Other Way Out: States and Revolutionary Movements, 1945–1991. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gurney, Joan Neff, and Kathleen J. Tierney. 1982. Relative Deprivation and Social Movements: A Critical Look at Twenty Years of Theory and Research. The Sociological Quarterly 23: 33–47.
Lovell, David W. 1992. Socialism, Utopianism, and the ‘Utopian Socialists’. History of European Ideas 14: 185–201.
Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. 1848. The Communist Manifesto.
McAdam, Doug. 1982. Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency, 1930–1970. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
McCarthy, John, and Mayer N. Zald. 1977. Resource Mobilization and Social Movements: A Partial Theory. American Journal of Sociology 82: 1212–1241.
Merton, Robert K. 1938. Social Structure and Anomie. American Sociological Review 3: 672–682.
Meyer, David S. 2004. Protest and Political Opportunity. Annual Review of Sociology 30: 125–145.
———. 2006. Claiming Credit: Stories of Movement Influence as Outcomes. Mobilization: An International Journal 11: 201–218.
Meyer, David S., and Suzanne Staggenborg. 1996. Movements, Counter-Movements, and the Structure of Political Opportunity. American Journal of Sociology 100: 1628–1660.
Mills, C. Wright. 1956. The Power Elite. New York: Oxford University Press.
Morris, Aldon. 1999. A Retrospective on the Civil Rights Movement: Political and Intellectual Landmarks. Annual Review of Sociology 25: 517–539.
Park, Robert. 1934. Collective Behavior. In Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences. New York: Macmillan.
Polletta, Francesca, and James M. Jasper. 2001. Collective Identity and Social Movements. Annual Review of Sociology 27: 283–305.
Richardson, James T. 1995. Legal Status of Minority Religions in the United States. Social Compass 42: 249–264.
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. 1762. The Social Contract.
Simmel, Georg. 1955. The Web of Group Affiliations. In Conflict and the Web of Group Affiliations, ed. Georg Simmel. New York: The Free Press.
Smelser, Neil J. 1962. The Theory of Collective Behavior. Glencoe, IL: The Free Press.
Weber, Max. 1904. The Objectivity of the Sociological and Social-Political Knowledge.
———. 1922. Economy and Society.
Yuval-Davis, Nira. 2006. Intersectionality and Feminist Politics. European Journal of Women’s Studies 13: 193–209.
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Peoples, C.D. (2019). Classical and Contemporary Conventional Theories of Social Movements. In: Berberoglu, B. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Social Movements, Revolution, and Social Transformation. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92354-3_2
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