12. Social Movement

Definitions of Social Movement Theories on Social Movement Decline of Trade Union Movement Rise of New Social Movement (NSM) The Theory of Post-materialism The Evaluation of the NSM Thesis

Questions of Social Movement

Is trade union movement declining in contemporary societies?

What’s difference between traditional social movement (such as trade unionism) and new social movement (such as ecology movement)?

Social Movement

Social movement refers to various forms of collective actionaimed at social change.

The term was first used by Saint-Simon in France at the early eighteenth century, to characterize the movements of social protest that emerged there and later elsewhere.

It is applied to new political forces opposed to the status quo. It is now widely used with reference to groups and organizations

outside the mainstream of the political system.

Henri de Saint-Simon (1760-1825)

Saint-Simon regarded the French Revolution as an upheaval driven by economic change and class conflict.

He argued that the solution to the problem of post-revolutionary society would be the creation of an industrial society where hierarchy of merit for productive work would be the basis of society

He also argued that ranks of hereditary and military hierarchy would weaken.

Social Movement and Collective Behavior

Social movement must be distinguished from collective behavior. Social movement is purposeful and organized; collective

behavior is random and chaotic. Social movement would include those supporting civil rights,

trade unionism, environmentalism, and feminism. Collective behavior would include riots, fads and crazes, panics,

cultic religions, rumors, and mass delusions.

Classification of Social Movements

The American sociologist David Aberle (1966) distinguished four types of movement:

Transformative movements aim at far-reaching, often violent change in the society. Examples are revolutionary movements and some radical religious movements.

Reformative movements aspire to alter only some aspects of the existing social order. They concern themselves with specific kinds of inequality or injustice.

Redemptive movements seek to rescue people from ways of life seen as corrupting. Many religious movements belong in this category.

Alterative movements aim at securing partial change in individuals. They are concerned with changing certain specific habits. An example is Alcoholics Anonymous.

Marxism

Karl Marx argued that the working class would play an important role in changing capitalist society by abolishing private property through socialist revolution.

It is arguable that trade union movement becomes “revolutionary agency” to change the existing society as whole.

The Marxist assumption faced two opposing views on trade union movement led by working class: collective action and post-industrialization.

Functionalism Functionalist theorists explored the effects of relative deprivation

and rising expectation on the mobilization of citizens. Other studies followed the stages of social movement

development, from the initial recognition of a grievance to the fully developed movement organization: Neil Smelser’s value-added theory remains a classic of this type (Theory of Collective Behavior, 1963).

Six sequential determinants include structural conduciveness (the broadest social conditions necessary for the movement to occur); structural strain (a sense of injustice or malaise); the growth and spread of a generalized belief (such as an ideology which offers answers to peoples’ problems); precipitating factors (events that trigger action); mobilization of participants for action; and finally the operation of social control.

Mancur Olson on Collective Action

The American Economist Mancur Olson (1965) focused on the logical basis of interest group membership and participation. (The Logic of Collective Action: Public Goods and the Theory of Groups, 1965)

Olson argued that individuals in any group attempting collective action will have incentives to be “free rider” on the efforts of others if the group is working to provide public goods. Without selective incentives to motivate participation, collective action is unlikely to occur even when large groups of people with common interests exist.

Olson expected that large groups will face relatively high costs when attempting to organize for collective action while small groups will face relatively low costs. Therefore, in the absence of collective incentives, the incentive for group action diminishes as group size increases, so that large groups are less able to act in their common interest than small ones.

Post-industrial Society

Employees established their organization to substitute, or attempt to substitute collective bargaining for individual bargaining in the labor market.

Unions seek generally to ensure that earnings and conditions are governed by rules applied consistently across their membership, though many unions also have broader social and political aims.

Since the Second World War trade union movement appears to tolerate inequalities of condition and does not organize more effectively to reduce the depth of class divisions.

Trade union movement has declined as the populations of working class are getting smaller, and the increasing numbers of immigration make homogeneity less.

Rise of New Social Movement

Since the Second World War a distinctive form of social movement has arisen in the West, first coming to prominence with the radical student movements of the 1960s.

The new social movements (NSMs) are distinguished from interest groups, which represent a small group pursuing a narrow economic interest, and political movements, such as political parties aiming at social change through the political process.

Examples of NSMs are ecological, feminist, black, gay right, animal right, and various peace movements.

The first International Women’s Day was observed on 28 February 1909 in the United States following a declaration by the Socialist Party of America. Among other relevant historic events, it commemorates the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire (New York, 1911), where over 140 women lost their lives.

American Civil Rights Movement is one of the most famous social movements of the 20th century. Here, Martin Luther King (1929-68) is giving his "I Have a Dream" speech, in front of the Lincoln Memorial during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

American Civil Rights Movement

New Social Movement in Korea

1970 Consumer Association (한국소비자연맹) 1972 Amnesty International (국제엠네스티 한국지부) 1982 Pollution Research Institute (한국공해문제연구소) 1983 Women’s Phone (여성의전화) 1985 Democratic Family Movement (민주화실천가족운동협의회) 1987 Women’s Friends Society (환경운동연합) 1989 Economic Justice Civic Coalition (경제정의실천시민연합) 1993 Environment Movement Alliance (환경운동연합) 1994 Green Alliance (녹색연합) 1994 Participatory Democracy for People’s Solidarity (참여연대) 1994 Green Consumer Solidarity (녹색소비자연대) 1995 Homosexual Human Right Movement Association (남성동

성애자인권운동협의회) 2001 Animal Freedom Solidarity (동물자유연대)

The Comparison of Social Movements

Aims: NSMs tend to emphasize the alteration of social and cultural values and lifestyle, especially concerning individual autonomy, rather that the transformation of social structure.

Social base: traditional political movements are based in social classes; NSMs are based in other groupings centered on identity and values, women for example. Some NSM theorists argue that the key actors in these movements are members of the new middle class, or professionals such as academics and lawyers.

The Comparisons: action, organization, issue

Means of action: NSMs do not use the traditional political means of influencing the state, but rely on mass mobilization to change values and attitudes, as in the utilization of Green social action. Green Peace is famous for ‘direct action’, inspired by the idea of Gandhi.

Organization: NSMs reject formal and bureaucratic modes of organization, preferring loosely organized and flexible networksthat actively involve ordinary members, the grass roots.

Issue and scope: NSMs tend to be single issue based, and are often local in terms of the scope of change. However, NSMs may adopt the tactic of a protest campaign as part of its strategy for achieving wider-ranging change, and wish to see change on national and international levels.

Resource Mobilization Theory

The resource mobilization theory is exemplified in the work of Mayer N. Zald and John D. McCarthy, who discuss movements as organizations, and focus especially on the needs of such organizations to mobilize resources (The Dynamics of Social Movement, 1979).

This theory examine the range of resources that have to be mobilized by groups, examine the ways in which such resources are deployed, and consider the actions by which authorities my attempt to limit such resources.

The term ‘resource’ takes on a wide array of meanings, including economic resources, ideologies, rhetoric, and symbols. Factors like leadership, communications are seen as crucial in explaining the growth and success or failure of social movement.

Identity-Oriented Theory

Identity oriented theories see social movements as a special type of social conflict which is at the heart of modern society and social change. The French sociologist Alan Touraine argued that the concept of social movement (should be) a center of sociology (The Return of the Actor, 1988).

This perspective sees social movements as the central groups in the new social politics and realignments (i.e. women’s movement and ecological movement) and as sources of new political identities.

Touraine’s method of intervention not only treats social movements as fundamental forms of citizen action, but also requires that sociologists join the action no just to study but to encourage it.

Post-materialist Value

The American political sociologist Ronald Inglehart discovered a major intergenerational shift in the values of the populations of advanced industrial societies (The Silent Revolution: Changing Values and Political Styles Among Western Publics, 1977)

The theory of post-materialism assumes a continual transformation of individuals and societies which liberate them gradually from the emphasis of basic acquisitive and materialistic needs.

This hypothesis would imply that a growing part of society becomes more post-materialist given long periods of material affluence.

Measuring Post-materialist Value

If you had to choose among the following things, which are the two that seem the most desirable to you? Maintaining order in the nation. Giving people more say in important political decisions. Fighting rising prices. Protecting freedom of speech.

Source: Ronald Inglehart, 1971. The Silent Revolution in Post-Industrial Societies. p. 994. In American Political Science Review 65: 991-1017.

Acquisitive and Post-bourgeois Values

In relation to my hypotheses, two of the items (the first and third) were regarded as indicating traditional "acquisitive" value preferences.

The other two items in this set were regarded as indicating a preference for "post-bourgeois" values.

Criticism of The New Social Movement Thesis

The distinctiveness of New Social Movements are arguable. Some scholars criticize NSM theory for a number of reasons: These movements existed during the industrial period and

traditional movements still exist today. There is a lack of empirical evidence showing the differences

between these movements. NSMs do use traditional political process and their mode of organization is becoming more formal.

NSM focuses almost exclusively on left-wing movements and does not consider right-wing.

It might be better viewed as a certain instance of social movement theory rather than a brand new one.

Summary

Social movement can be defined as a collective attempt to further a common interest or secure a common goal, through collective action outside the sphere of established institutions.

These new social movements (NSMs) are distinguished from interest groups pursuing the economic interest. NSMs attempt to change social and cultural values and lifestyle in the society.

Sociology not only studies such movements but also responds to the issues they raise.