Social Movements Essay

Being where we are supposed to be at the prescribed time is at the core of what we are as soldiers. It is basic soldiering and, as such, must be strictly adhered to. The ability to do so exhibits discipline and responsibility.

Social movements are one of the primary means through which the public is able to collectively express their concerns about the rights and wellbeing of themselves and others. Under the proper conditions, social movements not only shed light on issues and open large scale public discourse, but they can also serve as a means of eliciting expedited societal change and progress. Due to their potential impact, studying the characteristics of both failed and successful social movements is important in order to ensure that issues between the public and the government are resolved to limit injustices and maintain societal progress.

Filene defines a movement as a “collectivity acting with some continuity to promote or resist a change in the society…one can then analyze its internal characteristics along four dimensions: program, the values which underlie this program, membership and supporters” (20-21). Filene finds the program of a social movement the most important part, for without a program the movement will be unable to sustain itself. His most convincing point is that on so many issues, the Progressives, supposedly a defined and cohesive movement, had numerous splits within their group. For example, “The Federal Reserve Act of 1913 created, according to Arthur Link, a conflict between ‘uncompromising’ and ‘middle-of-the-road’ progressives.” The most convincing example concerns women’s suffrage, “a cause that has generally been attributed to the progressive movement.” However, as Filene points out, progressive Presidents Roosevelt and Taft were unwilling to appease feminists with suffrage, and stayed far from the idea for as long as possible. Indeed, if a list of 400 so-called progressives is carefully researched, it may be noted that they are divided almost exactly down the center for and against a woman’s right to vote (22-23). In this way, it is clear that

It is through protest that the government is able to recognize what the people believe. Without this there would be no changes, no reconsideration, and no progress.

Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln’s successor, fought with Congress over Reconstruction policies. Johnson imagined a lenient and rapid “restoration” of the South to the Union rather than the fundamental “reconstruction” that Republican congressmen favored (Norton, 14 intro). The president and Republican congressional leadership disagreed and by the time it was all over, Congress impeached the president, enfranchised freedmen, and gave them a role in reconstructing the South (Norton, 14 intro). The nation then also adopted the 14th and 15th Amendments ensuring equal protection of citizenship, law, and universal manhood suffrage.

For the past couple years, it seems as if the spotlight on American politics has only gotten brighter. This makes sense - as I've grown and matured I pay more attention to the occurrences around me. Activism has only increased as a higher percentage of population finds their voice and support from more and more allies.

"Progressive Education assumes the world changes, and that in a universe that is not particularly concerned with ability to think straight" - Rychard Fink

Despite the inequality in the United States, many Americans have been determined to have their voices heard. Recently, movements such as Occupy Wallstreet and the Tea Party Movement have formed in response to the growing wealth and control by the “1%”. These social movements have become very popular at times due to discontent among the populace and the wide accessibility of social media. While these movements tend to have rapid success early on; lack of cohesion, results, and true direction

Tarrow, Sidney G. Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics. Cambridge University Press; 2 edition (May 13, 1998).

Social movements are continued, intestinal efforts to foster or retard broad legal and social changes, primarily outside the normal institutional channels endorsed by authorities (Jasper 2014). Movements’ persistence often allows them to develop formal organizations, but they also operate though informal social networks (Jasper 2014). Movements have purposes, even when these have to do with transforming members themselves rather then the worlds outside the movement (Jasper 2014).

Take a look around you. Imagine the world now, then again from fifty to a hundred and fifty years ago. Much has changed and much has stayed the same. Plenty of issues that were prevalent so long ago are still lingering around today such as racism, discrimination, white supremacy. We fight constant battles fighting these issues whether its educating others or defending ourselves from it. It was only one hundred and one years ago that we saw D.W. Griffiths Birth of a Nation hit the silver screens. This film changed America, it set a different tone and look for people of color, more specifically black Americans.

Eric Hoffer wrote ?The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements? in early 1950 when he offered insight about the current cultural phenomenon surrounding public movements. In his book, Hoffer discusses about the appeal of mass movements, the potential converts, united action and self-sacrifice, and finally the beginning and end of mass movements. This discussion draws upon examples from religious, social, and nationalistic movements.

Start by narrowing the historical literature down into three main schools of thought so you can take a closer look at how social movements are born, why some succeed, and others fail. (Clearly, using a broad brush to paint a simplified scope of the topic, but this will help to centralize the data in a more digestible context.) The main schools of thought in this paper have been grouped in the following types of action: Collective Action, Economic/Political, and Leadership Centered.

Non- violent movements are a way for groups of people to achieve change and create an impact in the society. The labor, African American, and Vietnam anti-war peace movements were significantly successful in abolishing harsh working conditions, gaining civil rights for blacks, and withdrawing from the Vietnam War (Upchurch). Non-violent and violent movements have been used throughout history to evoke change in the society, obtain equality, civil rights, and peace. While violent protest result in the same changes, non-violent methods can ultimately go beyond local violent protest, spread nationally through movements, and protest without requiring violence. These events because of the non-violent

The second characteristic of NSM’s is tied to the first, in that groups no longer tend to share an over-arching ideological framework, whereas in Marxist discourse, such a shared frame was the “unifying and totalizing element for collective action” (Buechler & Cylke 277). Ideological unity has been supplanted by “pragmatic orientations” where movement members seek “institutional reform” to attain greater power in decision making processes, promoting a “‘democratizing dynamic’” in social movement discourse.