- "A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a social or political one." - "This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one."
The study of collective action and social change in historical contexts.
Definition of a social movement: A social movement is a collective, organized, and sustained effort of people seeking to radically change an existing societal condition or order.
Types of social movements: Includes alternative movements, redemptive movements, reformative movements, and revolutionary movements.
Theoretical perspectives on social movements: Includes resource mobilization theory, political process theory, and new social movement theory.
Origins and causes of social movements: Includes grievances arising from inequality, exclusion, and oppression as well as the influence of leaders and social networks.
Key figures in social movements: Includes activists, organizers, leaders, and intellectuals who played pivotal roles in social movements.
Tactics and strategies of social movements: Includes nonviolent resistance, civil disobedience, direct action, and mass mobilization.
Impact and legacy of social movements: Includes changes in laws, policies, and societal attitudes as well as the inspiration and lessons learned for future movements.
Intersectionality and social movements: The recognition that social movements are often connected to other struggles for justice and thus involve multiple identities, issues, and forms of oppression.
Globalization and social movements: The impact of transnational flows of capital, labor, and culture on the emergence, spread, and effectiveness of social movements across borders.
Media and social movements: Includes the ways in which media can amplify or distort social movement messages, as well as the emergence of social media and its role in shaping how movements are organized and perceived.
Civil Rights Movement: This subfield of social movements in history focuses on the efforts made by African Americans and other minorities to combat racial discrimination and achieve equal rights before the law.
Feminist Movement: This subfield of social movements in history explores the efforts of women to achieve political, economic, and social equality with men.
Labor Movement: This subfield of social movements in history examines the organization and actions of workers to improve their working conditions, wages, and benefits.
Environmental Movement: This subfield of social movements in history investigates the activism and mobilization around environmental issues such as climate change, pollution, and natural resource depletion.
LGBTQ+ Movement: This subfield of social movements in history explores the struggles of atypical sexualities to gain equal rights and social acceptance.
Anti-War Movement: This subfield of social movements in history examines the efforts of individuals and groups to protest against wars, military interventions, and militarism.
Pro-Choice Movement: This subfield of social movements in history investigates the activism around reproductive rights, particularly women's rights to access abortion.
Indigenous Rights Movement: This subfield of social movements in history examines the movements to protect the rights of Indigenous peoples to their lands, cultures, and sovereignty.
Disability Rights Movement: This subfield of social movements in history explores the efforts of people with physical, mental, and intellectual disabilities to achieve equal access, accommodations, and rights in society.
Global Justice Movement: This subfield of social movements in history examines the activism and mobilization around issues of economic inequality, trade justice, and democratic governance.
- "It is a type of group action and may involve individuals, organizations, or both." - "They represent a method of social change from the bottom within nations."
- "Political science and sociology have developed a variety of theories and empirical research on social movements." - "Some research in political science highlights the relation between popular movements and the formation of new political parties." - "Sociologists distinguish between several types of social movements examining things such as scope, type of change, method of work, range, and time frame."
- "Modern Western social movements became possible through education (the wider dissemination of literature) and increased mobility of labor due to industrialization and urbanization." - "The freedom of expression, education, and relative economic independence prevalent in modern Western culture are responsible for the unprecedented number and scope of various contemporary social movements."
- "Social movements have been and continue to be closely connected with democratic political systems." - "Occasionally, social movements have been involved in democratizing nations, but more often they have flourished after democratization."
- "Modern movements often use technology and the internet to mobilize people globally." - "Adapting to communication trends is a common theme among successful movements."
- "Research is beginning to explore how advocacy organizations linked to social movements use social media to facilitate civic engagement and collective action."
- "They represent a method of social change from the bottom within nations." - "They may empower oppressed populations to mount effective challenges and resist the more powerful and advantaged elites."
- "They represent a method of social change from the bottom within nations."
- "Many of the social movements of the last hundred years grew up, like the Mau Mau in Kenya, to oppose Western colonialism."
- "Sociologists distinguish between several types of social movement examining things such as scope, type of change, method of work, range, and time frame." - "Some research in political science highlights the relation between popular movements and the formation of new political parties."
- "Over the past 200 years, they have become part of a popular and global expression of dissent."
- "Adapting to communication trends is a common theme among successful movements."
- "Modern Western social movements became possible through education (the wider dissemination of literature) and increased mobility of labor due to industrialization and urbanization."
- "They represent a method of social change from the bottom within nations."
- "Occasionally, social movements have been involved in democratizing nations, but more often they have flourished after democratization."
- "Social movements have been described as 'organizational structures and strategies that may empower oppressed populations to mount effective challenges and resist the more powerful and advantaged elites'."
- "Modern movements often use technology and the internet to mobilize people globally." - "Adapting to communication trends is a common theme among successful movements."
- "Sociologists distinguish between several types of social movement examining things such as scope, type of change, method of work, range, and time frame."
- "Research is beginning to explore how advocacy organizations linked to social movements use social media to facilitate civic engagement and collective action."