...Theories of Social Movements Relative Deprivation Theory Relative deprivation theory, developed by Denton Morrison (1971) is a more general theory about why individuals join social movements. A person experiences relative deprivation when she feels that she is not receiving her “fair share” of what seems to be available. Therefore, the people who are the worst off are not necessarily the ones experiencing relative deprivation. For instance, research in the Civil Rights movement showed that African Americans who were the most active were not most deprived but were fairly well-off, such as college students or religious leaders but they were the ones who felt the most relatively deprived. Key to the idea of relative deprivation is the notion of expectations, that is, what people think they deserve and want in life. If these expectations are met, people do not experience discontent or relative deprivation. On the other hand, if people compare themselves to their reference groups and find that they have less, they will experience relative deprivation. If an individual feels that everyone else seems to be wealthier or generally seems to have it better, they will experience relative deprivation. A second key to the idea of relative deprivation is the notion of legitimate expectations. Relative deprivation is not simply the idea that people want what everyone else has. It is the idea that they think they deserve it and have a right to it. Therefore, if they do not get what they...
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...A social movement is a group of individuals who act collectively to stop or resist a social change. A social movement consists of individuals who are committed to a cause, usually attempting to bring a new order to life. The cause being fought for can vary, ranging from politics to human rights to animal rights. For this optional homework, I did a bit of research on the Animal Rights Movement. The Animal Rights Movement is a large social movement operating in Canada, as well as the United States. The Animal Rights movement advocates that animals should be afforded the same consideration as human beings. Animals should not be treated as property but rather as living beings. Advocates approach the issue from different philosophical positions, ranging from the protectionist side of the movement, presented by philosopher Peter Singer with a utilitarian focus on suffering and consequences, rather than on the concept of rights, to the abolitionist side, represented by law professor Gary Francione, who argues that animals need only one right, the right not to be property. A current dilemma that we see take place is the fight between companies and animal rights movement on if it is right for the companies to test their product on animals. For many companies, the ideology of Peter Singer is used. However for others, such as The Body Shop, products being tested on animals is forbidden, and is advertised on all their products. Animal Rights: The Abolitionists Approach is an organization...
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...Kate Nash claims “that social movements have such a central place in the understanding of new forms of politics in the field is largely due to the way in which they have been placed on the research agenda by those sympathetic to, or actively involved in, those politics.” (Nash, 2012: 87) From this statement it is clear social movements have played a crucial role in defining South Africa in terms of social and political status, and they have been the source of many of our current laws and norms that we conform to today. Throughout history there has been debate on whether the terms ‘old’ and ‘new’ social movements are practical when discussing them within a South African context. In this essay, the various characteristics of both ‘old’ and ‘new’ social movements will be discussed in detail so as to understand what each entails, and examples will be given of each. From this, the usefulness of the distinction between ‘old’ and ‘new’ social movements in the post-1994 South African context will be explored so as to come to a conclusion regarding their use in South African history. Reference will be made to the studies of Kate Nash, Richard Ballard et al., Thokazani Nzimakwe and Tsepho Madlingozi ‘Old’ social movements tend to emphasise labour movements and parties that focus movement was seen as directing its attention towards the corporatist state. “ (Nash, 2010: 88) In simpler words, ‘old’ social movements are oriented towards the state, and are therefore emphasise structural hierarchy...
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...Social Movements The world has experienced profound change and transformation in economical level as well as changing of the political and social structure. Especially since the mid-20th century, accelerating urbanization; the processes such as modernization and changes in the community show its impact on the region. Besides with the addition of globalization this impact can influence beyond the continent with common communication channels. All these changes and the social transformation made the social actors’ role questionable. Since the 1960s, the deep and rapid transformation, which also effected the anti-system protest movement. For instance, in 1960, students, the new left and the civil rights movement; LGBT 1970s and 1980s, the environment, women, peace and human rights movements; 1990s and 2000s 'global justice movement' have emerged one after the other, and have increased as well. (Demiroğlu, 2014) Movements are relatively long-term collective engagements in producing or guiding social change. In other words social movements mean expressing inappreciativeness and be the voice that needs to be satisfied. Indeed, in the 19th century the term social movement was often used to describe the actual course of social change, especially change bringing broader social participation. 19th century class struggle of the European workers' movement and the revolutionary masses had brought the issue to the center of political life. In this process, the deteriorating war conditions...
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...and contrast two different social movement theories. The study of social movements is a very broad subject and with every new movement paves a way for new theories to be developed. Social movements is usually defined as a group of individuals who share the same ideology and together all try to obtain different political, social and economic goals. Among the current leading social movements looked at today includes resource mobilization, collective behaviour theory, political opportunities theory and frame alignment theory. Throughout this essay I will compare and contrast the two theories which are resource mobilization and the ‘new social movements theory’. Research for resource mobilization theory was introduced during the 1970’s . Resource mobilization was a social movement based on ‘the idea that successful movements acquire resources and create advantageous exchange relationships with other groups as they achieve success in fulfilling their goals’(Constain,1992). Within the framework of this theory outlines two distinct approaches which include: ‘organizational/entrepreneurial’ model presented by McCarthy and Zald and secondly, the socio-political or ‘political/interactive’ argued more favourably by authors such as Tilly, Diani, and McAdam. On the other hand the ‘new social movements theory revolves as an attempt to define the different features of more current social movements which handle global ecology and Native rights. These type of movements raise attention upon the...
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...2. Explain the two goals of a social movement. While social movements have different goals to work toward. They have two main goals to start with. Social movements also have different goals at different stages of their movement but there are two goals that remain throughout. One of their two main goals is to raise awareness of a social problem. Then the second goal is to get the whole society to recognize the social problem and get it changed. These goals work together to start the movement. The organization must come together over the same social problem. They bring people in who believe in their problem. These people must organize and strategize their organization to have the same vision. They have these people to spend time and money to draw awareness to the problem. They do this to bring in more people into their organization and expand their organization. Once the organization expands large enough they begin to make awareness more prominent. The larger the organization the more areas that can be covered to make the problem more seen and the more resources that are available. They can use pamphlets, speeches, leaflets, media, and many other sources to get society to notice the social problem. Once the awareness of the problem is big enough there are steps taken to get the problem fixed. The problem is an unwanted social situation and is needed to be changed. That is why the organization began. Depending on the social problem the answer can be easily fixed. However,...
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...Amr Amr 12/10/2013 Egypt Burning: How one Egyptian revolutionary movement overthrew a dictator while one another overthrew a democracy. On the 17th of December, 2011 a vegetable vendor lit himself on fire in response to the corrupt and inefficient bureaucratic system in Tunisia. This small event by an unknown vendor led to the biggest and fastest spread of social movements in the history of the Arab world known as the Arab spring. Yet while the Tunisian example has been seen as relatively successful, in Egypt things seems to be more complicated and difficult especially with two different social movements, the first mobilized on the 25th of January and overthrew the long time autocratic ruler Hosni Mubarak, while the second had its beginnings in December of 2012 led to the overthrow of the first democratically elected president on June 30th of the following year was able to rally the biggest protest in modern history. This research paper’s goal will be to analyze the two social movements, their origins, make-up, organizational structure, their image abroad and finally their conclusion. For example why did the January 25th movement, which had clear goals from the onset and an extremely diverse make up ranging from secular liberals to conservative Islamists get sidelined and collapsed after achieving their first goal? And why did the Tamarod movement (rebel in Arabic) which had its origin in a petition form and was able to garner more active support, including...
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...There have been numerous social movements that affected specific gender groups in society and transformed the world they live in. Well-known women’s movements have existed throughout the century, one of the best known movements of current times was the movement led by a feminist group called the suffragettes; the Suffragettes fought for equal rights for women they fought for their right to vote and an equal right to work, the basic equal right that many young women in society take for granted. During the civil rights movements in the 1960s and 1970s women’s right movements rose once again when women entered the workplace in masses and the controversial introduction of abortion and the pill changed the face of the world women lived in. Women are not alone in their battles for equality, the gay rights movement that started in California in the 1950s and finally made large ground in the late 1960s with the riots at the iconic stonewall inn changed the way minority gender groups lived in society. The Suffragettes was a was a women’s movement group in search of equal right for women, in particular women’s rights to work, much like their male counterparts and be able to cast their vote. It took over 70 years for the movement to gain the right for the ability for women to vote, it was in 1928 that all women could legally vote. During the time of war from the 1940s to 1950s the suffragettes fought for women’s rights to work and during this time when labor was needed in the masses to...
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...New Social Movements In Nepal Introduction Nepal has undergone three major movements during and after the end of the hundred years of Rana Oligarchy in 1950, 1990 and 2006. These movements did not only change the political power, but also substantively affected the structure of the prevalent Nepalese society. Hereupon, ethnic, Dalit, women and Madesh movement with the demand of identity and inclusion have been reaching their peak in these recent years. We can analyze all these movements of Nepal under the important and essential theory of New Social Movement. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) fought twelve years People's war under the doctrine developed by Mao Tse-tung of China, but raised many issues highly influenced by the New Social Movement such as ethnic, gender, Dalit and Madesh related to the identity and human rights, not based on socialism or communism. The article 'New Social Movements: of the Early Nineteenth Century' written by Craig Calhoun is important to make our perception on the various social movements of Nepal. It is new concept in the sociological theory which was developed after only 1968, different than old social movements like the Marxism, socialism and labour movement of the past. Most of the contemporary social movements are emerged outside the mainstream political system, political parties and formal institutional life and inspired by the non-hierarchical, participatory form of democracy, human rights, social justice, environmental preservation...
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...A reform movement is a social movement that is done to make some type of change big or small. The change wanting to be made is a change that is to be made to society, and to those around you. During the early 1800s, a lot of reform movements were made. A lot of these reform movements that were made ended up being very successful in achieving their goals. However, during the process of a reform movement, not everyone is going to agree with what is being done. You will have some people who think it is pointless, and those who think the movement is necessary. Reform movements like the Temperance Movement, Public Education Reform Movement, and the Abolitionist Movement all have made an important impact on society and history, and were all very...
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...Eyes on the Prize is a documentary that follows the progression of the African American civil rights movement from 1954 to 1985. This documentary is split into two separate volumes, America’s Civil Rights Years (1954-1964) and American at the Racial Crossroads (1965-1985). The entirety of this documentary is about 14 hours long, so I only watched the first volume: America’s Civil Rights Years. This documentary provides a vast amount of personal accounts and interviews from various people who were directly and/or indirectly linked to the civil rights movement. These interviews gave the individual perspectives of the movement, which were all unique, but established similarities in the feelings of social injustices and prejudices. This documentary did a good job in showing how these individual experiences developed and united to form the civil rights movement. The first volume of Eyes on the Prize hints at the mobilization and political process perspectives mentioned in the introduction of Goodwin /Jasper textbook. The migration of blacks out of the agricultural south provided new resources and opportunities that weren’t available before. The acquisition of these resources including social networking and organizational infrastructure allowed a place to discuss the social injustices brought upon them. Some of the interviewees in the documentary made mentions of going to the churches to unionize, a luxury that wasn’t available before. During this time, World War II was looming...
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...subconscious level, for the civil rights activists of the 1960’s it was the Social Gospel. The philosophical and religious standpoint of the Social Gospel was formed because of the fact that modern theology had wandered far from the original teachings of Jesus. The Social Gospel emphasizes salvation and equality on a community level rather than on an individual basis. It’s original goal was to create equality throughout the social classes to make the poor as well off as the rich, however, it was adapted to promote justice through all races in the civil rights movement. Throughout the March trilogy, written by John lewis and Andrew...
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...The first social movement that I will be analyzing is voting rights. Voting rights have changed a lot throughout history and have not always been clear in the constitution. I have decided to discuss this movement because I have become much more interested in it voting rights since I am able to vote now. Voting in the United States was once only for the white men who owned property and so many citizens did not have this right. Voting did not become a reality for African Americans in the South until the twenty-fourth amendment was passed in 1964 and the Voting Right Act in 1965. If we think about this, 1965 was not very long ago. There are many African Americans living today that did not have the right to vote when they were younger and I could only imagine the feelings of oppression that they experienced. Literacy tests and poll taxes made it very difficult for them to vote prior to this movement. When discussing voting rights, we must also discuss women and their voting history. Many women wanted a say in elections and began their suffrage in the 1840s. As more women had enter the workforce, they wanted have a say and they finally received...
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...1. What are the four stages that social movements often go through? What typically happens in each stage? First step is defining the problem, activists and individuals draw attention. A common second step is acceptance by a community or enough people. New Demands come about when people are not happy with what the government has done to help the situation.Rejection and reformulation is a fourth step a social problem may have to go through if the problem is not resolved or if not enough people back it or view it as relevant enough. 2. What is one issue that researchers have in studying social movements? Discuss why this is an issue. One problem researchers have is determining exactly when social movements start. In many cases, the injustice has...
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...Social Movement and Gender Paper Marco Ovid-DeSouza SOC/333 May 12, 2015 Matthew Szlapak Social Movement and Gender Paper Women in today's society live very different lives from those who lived in the late 1800s. Women throughout the last century petitioned, protested, and marched for equality and the rights that men inherently were born with. It took several social movements during the 20th century to attain higher education, gain independents, to vote, and to have the rights to choose. These social movements came in three significant waves. The first wave gave women a voice and granted them limit rights and independence. In the second wave, women fought for equality in the workplace and sexual freedom. The third wave brought gender violence, reproductive rights, and other issues to the forefront. Each social movement raised awareness, further forcing society to address the issues of inequality. Looking back at these movements, they were vital stepping-stones to the changes seen in society today. This paper will describe three social movements, the social and political environment at the times the movements occurred, and the effect each movement had on society. It will explain how each movement changed public opinion on gender issues and the effects it has had on gender view today. Social Movements The Suffragists With the first wave came the suffragists, which called for the equal right to vote among other liberties. The late 1800s and early 1900s was a very...
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