What Makes a Social Movement Successful : Leadership

A social movement is a group of individuals that focus on political or social issues. Though this explanation appears pertinent, movements are rarely that simple. In the case of racial militancy, a social movement is characterized by the need for justice, preserving the community and the emergence of the New Negro. What distinguishes racial militancy from other groups is the inclination to question society and combat relentlessly for their objectives. Frequently this movement employed empowerment, unity, and a new identity to define their movement.

Social movements have many different definitions. In his paper, Social Movements, James Jasper defines them as “sustained and intentional efforts to foster or retard social changes, primarily outside the normal institutional channels encouraged by authorities”. (CITE) In simpler terms, a social movement is a movement created by people who want a social or political change. A big part of social movements is resource mobilization theory. Resource mobilization theory states that social movements “succeed through the effective mobilization of resources and the development of political opportunities for members” (CITE). This means that if a social movement wants to be successful, they need to organize themselves so they can do things such as collect funds from constituents and elites, receive volunteers and members, and get their

Social movements are large groups of people who are usually without political power and influence that decide to promote or resist social change through unconventional means (Monnier, 2010). Social movements begin when there is a problem identified by a certain group of people. The group finds out who is responsible for failing to appropriately address their issues and at that point proceed to take action themselves. These movements can be violent or nonviolent when addressing the responsible parties. There are many types of social movements that include but not limited to civil rights, animal rights and environmental rights movements. The basis of these movements would derive from the conflict theory. The conflict theory

[Anonymous]. "The True Believer : Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements." October 21, 2000. http://brothersjudd.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/reviews.detail/book_id/743, accessed 11 Aug

What determines a movement? Malcolm Gladwell defines what pushes a movement to make a difference. He analyzes the concept of “strong ties” and “weak ties” and how these relationships affect an individual’s willpower and determination to help a cause. Gregory Orr puts these ideas into context in his memoir, “Return to Hayneville”, in which he recounts his experience and involvement in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Malcolm Gladwell’s “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted”, focuses, in particular, on the civil rights movement concentrates to the lunch counter sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina. Gladwell’s ideas and opinions of social and political emancipations are given a real world setting, as

The Southern textile movement in 1934 and the recruitment of youth Egyptians might initially seem completely unrelated. While, the two movements vary significantly in what they are trying to accomplish, they still have have some overlap with tactics of mobilization. The 1934 workers strike was one of largest known workers strike in America’s history and the ongoing recruitment of Egyptian youth is an ongoing response to the aggravation about the current economy. The definition of a social movement has been challenged in the comparison of these two seemingly dissimilar “movements”.

Social movements often highlight the unique sociological imagination that individuals have in regards to history. These movements call for the recognition of historical consciousness by the masses. Often times because of the pure nature of social protests, people believe that the outcries by groups are in relation to specific moments, however social movements are not moments, but movements that occur in relation to moments that are often overseen and highlight oppression. The Black Lives Matter movement calls for the collective acknowledgement and public consciousness of the persistent, de-humanizing experiences that Black people face in American society.

These groups pursue a common ‘cause’ or political agenda. These groups tend to be informal, with a broad goal and are often known to use unconventional methods. The main concepts of a social movements are that a group of people with conflicting orientations come together as a collective identity with a set of similar beliefs and targets, in order to carry out action to reach these common targets. These actions are normally non-institutionalized.

The black community was able to gain justice and equal rights in America by protesting and marching. Gay and lesbians have gained equal rights as well through social movement. Due to the economic inequality and social hierarchy that exists in America today, it is mostly the lower and middle-class people who protest for better benefits in society. The cause for their social movement could be for better employment wages or for equal rights. It is less likely for the top one percent individuals to start a social movement. Those people that are being placed at the bottom of the social hierarchy are the ones more likely to start social movements. In other countries, people choose quiescence rather than insurgence as their norm for society because they have less resources to start a social movement. For example, women in America are free to march and express their right of speech. However, in other countries like the Middle Eastern, women are not allowed to walk in the street and express their rights of speech. Greater danger exists in other countries for those who start a social movement to challenge the ways of

Social movements come about as people of small groups which are loosely connected are united by a single purpose. Unlike interest groups who are often bureaucratic, social movements are loosely organized. Protests are often done to express people’s dissent or support on a certain issue or advocacy. However, not all social movements are able to thrive since their existence relies on the existence of a certain event or issue. Some social movements also decline since they succeeded, especially in movements with very specific goals. For others, movements are also at risk of repression and co-optation from the government, especially in non-democratic countries.

Social movements play a huge role on determining what makes or breaks a society. The purpose of a social movement is to strive together in achievement of a social goal. Social movements can be identified in different locations of the world. The United States alone has been home to thousands of social movement groups, being that this is the “Land of the Free”, the citizens will gladly take advantage of that right. Social movements can advocate for anything but the more common groups are usually inclined to advocate for religious freedom or even racial equality.

Oftentimes, protest movements gain momentum after a widespread event occurs that makes the public gain awareness of a certain topic. The idea that protest movements don’t just suddenly occur but are the result of years of planning

When starting a movement, it is vital to have something like a mission or ideology that defines what the movement is about. In the case of the Earth Day and the environmental movement it the mission is very simple which allows for many interpretations. Although the main goal is to help the environment, the ways in which everything was brought together for Earth Day had various angles. Woodhouse (2014) in the article After Earth Day the Modern Environmental Movement explains the mission as, “It was neither centralized nor focused on a specific message or political agenda; instead it was heterogeneous and intended to educate as much as to protest” p557. In the case of Earth Day, they were looking for a way to connect to communities without force and doing it through education is much more palatable especially when part of the goal is to convince someone that here is even an issue occurring. First fixing the ignorance then going for policy is a great move. I think it is similar to the feminist movements start with first talking to working women then challenging policy of the country. Also, when the mission of the movement is so simple like Earth Day it allows for many groups of people interested in the environment to be on board not just issues with pollution and air quality (Woodhouse 2014:557). When different groups of people work together using the idea of education as their mission there is really no path that

Disobedience has proven to be a successful means of promoting social progress. Martin Luther King Jr used peaceful means of rebellion, such as boycotting busses and sit-ins, to help repair some of America’s most discriminating Laws and regulations. These acts were successful because they were well thought and dignified protests. Then in turn, the protests gained support and the movement grew in strength. The protests did not attack the power they were defying, but simply stood up for the message they were trying send. A protest is a highly effective way to defy a social power by gaining attention. However, when protests begin to attack the power at bay, attention can turn negative quickly and actually hinder public support that pushes social change.

Similar questions on the acquiring of collective identities and interests have preoccupied social movement scholars for many years, culminating in growing body of work that is termed mobilization theory. This approach of linking industrial relations and social movement theory to understanding the nature of collectivism draws on the work of Kelly (1997; 1998). It was a shift from traditional institutional analysis of trade unions and towards the analysis of the nature and social processes of workers’ collectivization. The central issue of this approach is to understanding how individuals are transformed into collective actors, how collective identity and interest are constructed and sustained, and how they participate in collective action against their employer.