INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY A Canadian Focus Ninth Edition

Chapter 15 Social Movements Introduction Social Movement: a large group of people trying to bring about or resist social change. Small change, e.g., diverting a highway Large change, e.g., transforming an economic order About values and morals, e.g., pro-lifers About economic issues, e.g., anti-poverty groups Collective behaviour: a large number of people do not accept some of the prevailing values, norms, leaders of society: least to most institutionalized. Collective Behaviour Panics: people are overcome and try to save themselves with immediate action. Crowds: collective behaviour when it departs from conventional behaviour, e.g., fight at a soccer game. Fad: unconventional practices that spread rapidly and last for a short time. Craze: a fad with intense commitment, that is considered strange, e.g., streaking. Public: large dispersed group made up of people with an interest. Social movement: large collectivity trying to bring about or resist social change. Theories of Collective Behaviour Social contagion: Blumer—“the relatively rapid, unwitting, and non-rational dissemination of a mood, impulse, or form of conduct.” Criticism: exaggerates the unanimity of collective behaviour. (cont’d) Theories of Collective Behaviour (cont’d) Emergent norm theory: great diversity among people in a crowd, but the members are under the impression that most others are in agreement and they conform to the apparent will of the crowd. Criticism: Irrationality implied in the concept of social contagion has been largely rejected Insufficient attention to social structure Insufficient attention to interest groups and conflict It can be institutionalized Social Breakdown Social breakdown approach: when unrest occurs, people become “uprooted” and become susceptible to the appeal of a movement. Durkheim noted the importance of social integration, attachment to social groups. Criticism: institutions can also promote social unrest. Relative Deprivation Relative deprivation: gap between what people believe they have a right to receive and what they actually receive. Movements are more likely to occur when people are frustrated than when their welfare is declining. Criticism: focuses on conditions that immediately precede a social movement. Collective Action Approaches Collective action: institutionalized and non-institutionalized activity in pursuit of a goal. Concerned with the character, not the amount of social unrest, and change of character Identifies cleavage factors, which separate people, and integrating factors that bind people Discontent is not a sufficient condition; it must be mobilized Resource Mobilization Mobilization: transfer of resources from one kind of collective action to another. It is an organizational problem. Conditions to assist mobilization: Ideology: set of beliefs that provide a basis for action, define goals Frame: principles that enable people to make sense of their world (cont’d) Resource Mobilization (cont’d) Leadership Effective means of communicating Network of cooperative relationships Financial resources make organizing easier. Only those who are better off have the resources to organize a social movement and impress their demands. Game Theory Used to analyze crowds and social movements Game Theory – Study of optimal decision making Key traits of decision makers Rational They try and anticipate the actions and reactions of other decision makers Game Theory assumes people behave rationally in crowds and make decision based on relative payoffs and costs of certain behaviours (cont’d) Game Theory (Cont’d) Free-rider problem – If a large number of people can benefit from a collective effort, the most rational behavior for a self-interested person is to let others do the work Selective incentives – The direct benefits a person can derive from belonging to an association of joining a social movement Coordination Problem – People want to participate but will only do so if others will participate as well Marxist Explanations Marxists are interested in Bourgeoisie revolts to overthrow feudalism Revolts to overthrow capitalism Capitalism creates exploitation and polarizes classes to mobilize workers for collective action. Gramsci argued importance of non-economic struggles against the existing order. Hegemony: domination of a class over others, not just economically but politically and culturally. Political Opportunity Structure Focuses on the political opportunities available to leaders and participants, e.g., according to the degree of openness, stability, availability of allies and elite conflict of the area. Recognizes the way in which social movements are shaped by forces beyond the control of members, despite literature which centers on the intentional behaviour of actors. Competition Those most likely to engage in action are those in competition and conflict with other groups. Historically, the most common form has been among kinship groups Modernization was supposed to reduce ethnic conflict, but it did not Status competition (e.g, sex, age, and ethnicity) is prominent in our modern society Postmodernism Rejection of traditional explanations Post-industrial literature stresses hi-tech Distinctive characteristics of post-industrial and postmodern society have created new social movements Criticism: these movements are not so new, feminist and environmental groups can be found earlier. Culture and Social Movements Cultural Conditions – Can make a social movement succeed or fail Types of Cultural Conditions: Feelings of oppression or discontent Hostile beliefs towards other groups Religious convictions Transcendental beliefs Ethnic or nationalist sentiments Elements of culture a that lead members of a group to identify with one another Putting It All Together Institutionalization should be a variable Symbolic and cognitive processes are crucial Social breakdown does bring protest Relative deprivation helps explain motives, as does expectation of success and selective incentives Resources must be mobilized Ideology and structure are important New movements emphasize modern societies Canadian Social Structure and Collective Action Social cleavage: division based on class, ethnicity, etc. Regional cleavage: Prairie movements are the best-known regional ones: Progressives, after WWI, for tariff reductions, absorbed by Liberals Social Credit, 1935, anti-Eastern business in Alberta CCF, 1933, which became NDP (Cont’d) Canadian Social Structure and Collective Action (cont’d) Ethnic cleavage: Quebec nationalism has been around for a long time; la survivance (survival as a distinct society) Quiet Revolution, begun by Premier Lesage in early 1960s, to extend government powers Parti Quebecois, first elected in 1976, enacted language legislation and lost two referendums Less enthusiasm for separation now, with Charest Liberal government, but it may return Social Movements of the Future Status movements are on the increase, especially because of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, (e.g., Disability Rights, Prisoners’ Rights, Gays and Lesbians, etc.). Proliferation of groups will dilute advantages, but groups will likely form status blocs, especially if a group is perceived to have gained an advantage, (e.g., groups to challenge purported discrimination against white males and heterosexuals). Click to edit Master title style Click to edit Master subtitle style * * *