Social movements openstax

Connexions module: m42945 1
Social Movements∗
OpenStax College
This work is produced by The Connexions Project and licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution License †
Abstract
• Demonstrate awareness of social movements on a state, national, and global level
• Distinguish between dierent types of social movements
• Identify stages of social movements
• Discuss theoretical perspectives on social movements, like resource mobilization, framing, and new
social movement theory
Social movements are purposeful, organized groups striving to work toward a common social goal.
While most of us learned about social movements in history classes, we tend to take for granted the fun-
damental changes they caused and we may be completely unfamiliar with the trend toward global social
movement. But from the anti-tobacco movement that has worked to outlaw smoking in public buildings and
raise the cost of cigarettes, to uprisings throughout the Arab world, movements are creating social change
on a global scale.
1 Levels of Social Movements
Movements happen in our towns, in our nation, and around the world. Let's take a look at examples of
social movements, from local to global. No doubt you can think of others on all of these levels, especially
since modern technology has allowed us a near-constant stream of information about the quest for social
change around the world.
1.1 Local
Chicago is a city of highs and lows, from corrupt politicians and failing schools to innovative education
programs and a thriving arts scene. Not surprisingly, it has been home to a number of social movements
over time. Currently, AREA Chicago is a social movement focused on building a socially just city (AREA
Chicago 2011). The organization seeks to create relationships and sustain community through art, research,
education, and activism (AREA Chicago 2011). The movement oers online tools like the Radicalendar-a
calendar for getting radical and connected- and events such as an alternative to the traditional Indepen-
dence Day picnic. Through its oerings, AREA Chicago gives local residents a chance to engage in a
movement to help build a socially just city.
∗Version 1.2: Jun 4, 2012 5:17 pm -0500
†http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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1.2 State
Figure 1: Texas Secede! is an organization which would like Texas to secede from the United States.
(Photo courtesy of Tim Pearce/ickr)
At the other end of the political spectrum from AREA Chicago, there is a social movement across the country
in Texas. There, the statewide Texas Secede! organization promotes the idea that Texas can and should
secede from the United States to become an independent republic. The organization, which has 3,400 likes
on Facebook, references both Texas and national history in promoting secession. The movement encourages
Texans to return to their rugged and individualistic roots, and to stand up to what proponents believe is
the theft of their rights and property by the U.S. government (Texas Secede! 2009).
1.3 National
A polarizing national issue which has helped spawn many activist groups is gay marriage. While the legal
battle is being played out state-by-state, the issue is a national one and crops up in presidential debates
quite frequently. There are ardent supporters on both sides of the issue.
The Human Rights Campaign, a nationwide organization that advocates for LGBT civil rights, has been
around for over 30 years and claims more than a million members. One focus of the organization is their
Americans for Marriage Equality campaign. Using public celebrities such as athletes, musicians, and political
gures, the campaigns seeks to engage the public in the issue of equal rights under the law. The campaign
raises awareness of the over 1,100 dierent rights, benets, and protections provided on the basis of marital
status under federal law, and seeks to educate the public on why they believe these protections are due to
committed couples, regardless of gender (Human Rights Campaign 2011).
A movement on the opposite end would be the National Organization for Marriage, an organization
that funds campaigns to stop same-sex marriage (National Organization for Marriage 2011). Both of these
organizations work on the national stage and seek to engage people through grassroots eorts to push their
message.

Figure 2: The right of gays and lesbians to marry is a polarizing issue but is gaining support nationally.
(Photo courtesy of Krossbow/ickr)
1.4 Global
Despite their successes in bringing forth change on controversial topics, social movements are not always
about volatile politicized issues. For example, let's look at the global movement called Slow Food. Slow
Food, with the slogan Good, Clean, Fair Food, is a global grassroots movement claiming supporters in
150 countries. The movement links community and environmental issues back to the question of what is
on our plates and where it came from. Founded in 1989 in response to the increasing existence of fast
food in communities that used to treasure their culinary traditions, Slow Food works to raise awareness of
food choices (Slow Food 2011). With more than 100,000 members in 1,300 local chapters, Slow Food is a
movement that crosses political, age, and regional lines.
2 Types of Social Movements
We know that social movements can occur on the local, national, or even global stage. Are there other
patterns or classications that can help us understand them? Sociologist David Aberle (1966) addresses
this question, developing categories that distinguish among social movements based on what they want to
change and how much change they want. Reform movements seek to change something specic about the
social structure. Examples include anti-nuclear groups, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), and the
Human Rights Campaign's advocacy for Marriage Equality. Revolutionary movements seek to completely
change every aspect of society. These would include the 1960's counterculture movement, as well as anarchist
collectives. Texas Secede! is a revolutionary movement. Religious/Redemptive movements are meaning
seeking, and their goal is to provoke inner change or spiritual growth in individuals. Organizations pushing
these movements might include Heaven's Gate or the Branch Davidians. Alternative movements are
focused on self-improvement and limited, specic changes to individual beliefs and behavior. These include
trends like transcendental meditation or a macrobiotic diet. Resistance movements seek to prevent or
undo change to the social structure. The Ku Klux Klan and pro-life movements fall into this category.

3 Stages of Social Movements
Later sociologists studied the lifecycle of social movementshow they emerge, grow, and in some cases, die
out. Blumer (1969) and Tilly (1978) outline a four-stage process. In the preliminary stage, people become
aware of an issue and leaders emerge. This is followed by the coalescence stage when people join together and
organize in order to publicize the issue and raise awareness. In the institutionalization stage, the movement
no longer requires grassroots volunteerism: it is an established organization, typically peopled with a paid
sta. When people fall away, adopt a new movement, the movement successfully brings about the change it
sought, or people no longer take the issue seriously, the movement falls into the decline stage. Each social
movement discussed earlier belongs in one of these four stages. Where would you put them on the list?
:
Figure 3: In 2008, Obama's campaign used social media to tweet, like, and friend its way to victory.
(Photos courtesy of bradleyolin/ickr)
Chances are you have been asked to tweet, friend, like, or donate online for a cause. Maybe you
were one of the many people who, in 2010, helped raise over $3 million in relief eorts for Haiti
through cell phone text donations. Or maybe you follow presidential candidates on Twitter and
retweet their messages to your followers. Perhaps you have liked a local nonprot on Facebook,
prompted by one of your neighbors or friends liking it too. Nowadays, woven throughout our social
media activities, are social movements. After all, social movements start by activating people.
Referring to the ideal type stages discussed above, you can see that social media has the potential
to dramatically transform how people get involved. Look at stage one, the preliminary stage:
people become aware of an issue and leaders emerge. Imagine how social media speeds up this step.
Suddenly, a shrewd user of Twitter can alert his thousands of followers about an emerging cause or
an issue on his mind. Issue awareness can spread at the speed of a click, with thousands of people
across the globe becoming informed at the same time. In a similar vein, those who are savvy and
engaged with social media emerge as leaders. Suddenly, you don't need to be a powerful public
speaker. You don't even need to leave your house. You can build an audience through social media
without ever meeting the people you are inspiring.
At the next stage, the coalescence stage, social media also is transformative. Coalescence is the
point when people join together to publicize the issue and get organized. President Obama's

2008 campaign was a case study in organizing through social media. Using Twitter and other
online tools, the campaign engaged volunteers who had typically not bothered with politics, and
empowered those who were more active to generate still more activity. It is no coincidence that
Obama's earlier work experience included grassroots community organizing. What is the dierence
between his campaign and the work he did in Chicago neighborhoods decades earlier? The ability
to organize without regard to geographical boundaries by using social media. In 2009, when student
protests erupted in Tehran, social media was considered so important to the organizing eort that
the U.S. State Department actually asked Twitter to suspend scheduled maintenance so that a vital
tool would not be disabled during the demonstrations.
So what is the real impact of this technology on the world? Did Twitter bring down Mubarak in
Egypt? Author Malcolm Gladwell (2010) doesn't think so. In an article in New Yorker magazine,
Gladwell tackles what he considers the myth that social media gets people more engaged. He points
out that most of the tweets relating to the Iran protests were in English and sent from Western
accounts (instead of people on the ground). Rather than increasing engagement, he contends that
social media only increases participation; after all, the cost of participation is so much lower than
the cost of engagement. Instead of risking being arrested, shot with rubber bullets, or sprayed with
re hoses, social media activists can click like or retweet a message from the comfort and safety
of their desk (Gladwell 2010).
Sociologists have identied high-risk activism, such as the civil rights movement, as a strong-tie
phenomenon, meaning that people are far more likely to stay engaged and not run home to safety if
they have close friends who are also engaged. The people who dropped out of the movement-who
went home after the danger got too great-did not display any less ideological commitment. But
they lacked the strong-tie connection to other people who were staying. Social media, by its very
makeup, is weak-tie (McAdam and Paulsen 1993). People follow or friend people they have never
met. But while these online acquaintances are a source of information and inspiration, the lack of
engaged personal contact limits the level of risk we'll take on their behalf.
Figure 4: After a devastating earthquake in 2010, Twitter and the Red Cross raised millions for Haiti
relief eorts through phone donations alone. (Photo courtesy of Cambodia4KidsOrg/ickr)

4 Theoretical Perspectives on Social Movements
Most theories of social movements are called collective action theories, indicating the purposeful nature of
this form of collective behavior. The following three theories are but a few of the many classic and modern
theories developed by social scientists.
4.1 Resource Mobilization
Social movements will always be a part of society, and people will always weigh their options and make
rational choices about which movements to follow. As long as social movements wish to thrive, they must
nd resources (such as money, people, and plans) for how to meet their goals. Not only will social movements
compete for our attention with many other concernsfrom the basic (our jobs or our need to feed ourselves)
to the broad (video games, sports, or television), but they also compete with each other. For any individual, it
may be a simple matter to decide you want to spend your time and money on animal shelters and Republican
politics versus homeless shelters and Democrats. But which animal shelter, and which Republican candidate?
Social movements are competing for a piece of nite resources, and the eld is growing more crowded all the
time.
McCarthy and Zald (1977) conceptualize resource mobilization theory as a way to explain movement
success in terms of its ability to acquire resources and mobilize individuals. For example, PETA, a social
movement organization, is in competition with Greenpeace and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), two
other social movement organizations. Taken together, along with all other social movement organizations
working on animals rights issues, these similar organizations constitute a social movement industry.
Multiple social movement industries in a society, though they may have widely dierent constituencies and
goals, constitute a society's social movement sector. Every social movement organization (a single
social movement group) within the social movement sector is competing for your attention, your time, and
your resources. The chart below shows the relationship between these components.

Figure 5: Multiple social movement organizations concerned about the same issue form a social move-
ment industry. A society's many social movement industries comprise its social movement sector. With
so many options, who will you give your time or money to?
4.2 Framing/Frame Analysis
Over the past several decades, sociologists have developed the concept of frames to explain how individuals
identify and understand social events and which norms they should follow in any given situation (Goman
1974; Snow et al. 1986; Benford and Snow 2000). Imagine entering a restaurant. Your frame immediately
provides you with a behavior template. It probably does not occur to you to wear pajamas to a ne dining
establishment, throw food at other patrons, or spit your drink onto the table. However, eating food at
a sleepover pizza party provides you with an entirely dierent behavior template. It might be perfectly
acceptable to eat in your pajamas, and maybe even throw popcorn at others or guzzle drinks from cans.
Successful social movements use three kinds of frames (Snow and Benford 1988) to further their goals.
The rst type, diagnostic framing, states the problem in a clear, easily understood way. When applying
diagnostic frames, there are no shades of gray: instead, there is the belief that what they do is wrong and
this is how we will x it. The anti-gay marriage movement is an example of diagnostic framing with its
uncompromising insistence that marriage is only between a man and a woman. Prognostic framing, the
second type, oers a solution and states how it will be implemented. Some examples of this frame, when
looking at the issue of marriage equality as framed by the anti-gay marriage movement, include the plan
to restrict marriage to one man/one woman or to allow only civil unions instead of marriage. As you
can see, there may be many competing prognostic frames even within social movements adhering to similar
diagnostic frames. Finally, motivational framing is the call to action: what should you do once you agree
with the diagnostic frame and believe in the prognostic frame? These frames are action-oriented. In the
gay marriage movement, a call to action might encourage you to vote no on Proposition 8 in California
(a move to limit marriage to male-female couples), or conversely, to contact your local congressperson to

express your viewpoint that marriage should be restricted to opposite-sex couples.
With so many similar diagnostic frames, some groups nd it best to join together to maximize their
impact. When social movements link their goals to the goals of other social movements and merge into a
single group, a frame alignment process (Snow et al. 1986) occursan ongoing and intentional means of
recruiting participants to the movement.
This frame alignment process involves four aspects: bridging, amplication, extension, and transfor-
mation. Bridging describes a bridge that connects uninvolved individuals and unorganized or ineective
groups with social movements that, though structurally unconnected, nonetheless share similar interests or
goals. These organizations join together creating a new, stronger social movement organization. Can you
think of examples of dierent organizations with a similar goal that have banded together?
In the amplication model, organizations seek to expand their core ideas to gain a wider, more universal
appeal. By expanding their ideas to include a broader range, they can mobilize more people for their cause.
For example, the Slow Food movement extends its arguments in support of local food to encompass reduced
energy consumption and reduced pollution, plus reduced obesity from eating more healthfully, and other
benets.
In extension, social movements agree to mutually promote each other, even when the two social move-
ment organization's goals don't necessarily relate to each other's immediate goals. This often occurs when
organizations are sympathetic to each others' causes, even if they are not directly aligned, such as women's
equal rights and the civil rights movement.

(a)
(b)
(c)
Figure 6: Extension occurs when social movements have sympathetic causes. Women's rights, racial
equality, and LGBT advocacy are all human rights issues. (Photos (a) and (b) courtesy of Wikimedia
Commons; Photo (c) courtesy of Charlie Nguyen/ickr)http://cnx.org/content/m42945/1.2/

Transformation involves a complete revision of goals. Once a movement has succeeded, it risks losing
relevance. If it wants to remain active, the movement has to change with the transformation or risk becoming
obsolete. For instance, when the women's surage movement gained women the right to vote, they turned
their attention to equal rights and campaigning to elect women. In short, it is an evolution to the existing
diagnostic or prognostic frames generally involving a total conversion of movement.
4.3 New Social Movement Theory
New social movement theory, a development of European social scientists in the 1950s and 1960s,
attempts to explain the proliferation of post-industrial and post-modern movements that are dicult to
analyze using traditional social movement theories. Rather than being one specic theory, it is more of
a perspective that revolves around understanding movements as they relate to politics, identity, culture,
and social change. Some of these more complex interrelated movements include ecofeminism, which focuses
on the patriarchal society as the source of environmental problems, and the transgender rights movement.
Sociologist Steven Buechler (2000) suggests that we should be looking at the bigger picture in which these
movements ariseshifting to a macro-level, global analysis of social movements.
5 Summary
Social movements are purposeful, organized groups, either with the goal of pushing toward change, giving
political voice to those without it, or gathering for some other common purpose. Social movements intersect
with environmental changes, technological innovations, and other external factors to create social change.
There are a myriad of catalysts that create social movements, and the reasons that people join are as varied
as the participants themselves. Sociologists look at both the macro- and microanalytical reasons that social
movements occur, take root, and ultimately succeed or fail.
6 Section Quiz
Exercise 1 (Solution on p. 13.)
If we divide social movements according to their position among all social movements in a society,
we are using the __________ theory to understand social movements.
a. framing
b. new social movement
c. resource mobilization
d. value-added
While PETA is a social movement organization, taken together, the animal rights social movement
organizations PETA, ALF, and Greenpeace are a(n) __________.
a. social movement industry
b. social movement sector
c. social movement party
d. social industry
Social movements are:
a. disruptive and chaotic challenges to the government
b. ineective mass movements

c. the collective action of individuals working together in an attempt to establish new norms
beliefs, or values
d. the singular activities of a collection of groups working to challenge the status quo
When the League of Women Voters successfully achieved its goal of women being allowed to vote,
they had to undergo frame __________, a means of completely changing their goals to ensure
continuing relevance.
a. extension
b. amplication
c. bridging
d. transformation
If a movement claims that the best way to reverse climate change is to reduce carbon emissions
by outlawing privately owned cars, outlawing cars is the ________.
a. prognostic framing
b. diagnostic framing
c. motivational framing
d. frame transformation
7 Short Answer
Exercise 6
Think about a social movement industry dealing with a cause that is important to you. How do
the dierent social movement organizations of this industry seek to engage you? Which techniques
do you respond to? Why?
Exercise 7
Do you think social media is an important tool in creating social change? Why or why not? Defend
your opinion.
Exercise 8
Describe a social movement in the decline stage. What is its issue? Why has it reached this stage?
8 References
Aberle, David. 1966. The Peyote Religion among the Navaho. Chicago: Aldine.
Area Chicago. 2011. About Area Chicago. Retrieved December 28, 2011 (http://www.areachicago.org
1
).
Benford, Robert, and David Snow. 2000. Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and
Assessment. Annual Review of Sociology 26:611639.
Blumer, Herbert. 1969. Collective Behavior. Pp. 67121 in Principles of Sociology, edited by A.M.
Lee. New York: Barnes and Noble.
Buechler, Steven. 2000. Social Movement in Advanced Capitalism: The Political Economy and Social
Construction of Social Activism. New York: Oxford University Press.
1http://www.areachicago.org

Gladwell, Malcolm. 2010. Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted. The New Yorker,
October 4. Retrieved December 23, 2011 (http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_gladwell?curren
).
Goman, Erving. 1974. Frame Analysis: An Essay on the Organization of Experience. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.
Human Rights Campaign. 2011. Retrieved December 28, 2011 (http://www.hrc.org
3
).
McAdam, Doug and Ronnelle Paulsen. 1993. Specifying the Relationship between Social Ties and
Activism. American Journal of Sociology 99:640667.
McCarthy, John D. and Mayer N. Zald. 1977. Resource Mobilization and Social Movements: A Partial
Theory. American Journal of Sociology 82:12121241.
National Organization for Marriage. 2011. About NOM. Retrieved January 28, 2012 (http://www.nationformarriage.org/
).
Slow Food. 2011. Slow Food International: Good, Clean, and Fair Food. Retrieved December 28, 2011
(http://www.slowfood.com
5
).
Snow, David, E. Burke Rochford, Jr., Steven , and Robert Benford. 1986. Frame Alignment Processes,
Micromobilization, and Movement Participation. American Sociological Review 51:464481.
Snow, David A. and Robert D. Benford 1988. Ideology, Frame Resonance, and Participant Mobilization.
International Social Movement Research 1:197217.
Texas Secede! 2009. Texas Secession Facts. Retrieved December 28, 2011 (http://www.texassecede.com
6
).
Tilly, Charles. 1978. From Mobilization to Revolution. New York: Mcgraw-Hill College.
2http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/10/04/101004fa_fact_gladwell?currentPage=all
3http://www.hrc.org
4http://www.nationformarriage.org/site/c.omL2KeN0LzH/b.3479573/k.E2D0/About_NOM.htm
5http://www.slowfood.com
6http://www.texassecede.com

Solutions to Exercises in this Module
to Exercise (p. 10): Answer
C
A
C
D
A
Glossary
Denition 1: alternative movements
social movements that limit themselves to self-improvement changes in individuals
Denition 2: diagnostic framing
when the social problem is stated in a clear, easily understood manner
Denition 3: frame alignment process
using bridging, amplication, extension, and transformation as an ongoing and intentional means
of recruiting participants to a movement
Denition 4: motivational framing
a call to action
Denition 5: new social movement theory
theory that attempts to explain the proliferation of postindustrial and postmodern movements that
are dicult to understand using traditional social movement theories
Denition 6: prognostic framing
when social movements state a clear solution and a means of implementation
Denition 7: reform movements
movements that seek to change something specic about the social structure
Denition 8: religious/redemptive movements
movements that work to promote inner change or spiritual growth in individuals
Denition 9: resistance movements
those who seek to prevent or undo change to the social structure
Denition 10: resource mobilization theory
theory that explains social movements' success in terms of their ability to acquire resources and
mobilize individuals
Denition 11: revolutionary movements
movements that seek to completely change every aspect of society
Denition 12: social movement industry
the collection of the social movement organizations that are striving toward similar goals
Denition 13: social movement organization
a single social movement group
Denition 14: social movement sector
the multiple social movement industries in a society, even if they have widely varying constituents
and goals

Denition 15: social movement
a purposeful organized group hoping to work toward a common social goal

Social movements openstax

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