21.2. Social Movements Demonstrate awareness of socialmovements on a state, national, and global level Distinguish between different types of socialmovements Identify stages of socialmovements Discuss theoretical perspectives on socialmovements, like resource mobilization, framing, and new socialmovement theory 21.3. Social Change -- -- Introduction to Social Movements and Social Change In January 2011, Egypt erupted in protests against the stifling rule of longtime President Hosni Mubarak. The protests were sparked in part by the revolution in Tunisia, and, in turn, they inspired demonstrations throughout the Middle East in Libya, Syria, and beyond. This wave of protest movements travelled across national borders and seemed to spread like wildfire. There have been countless causes and factors in play in these protests and revolutions, but many have noted the internet-savvy youth of these countries. Some believe that the adoption of social technology—from Facebook pages to cell phone cameras—that helped to organize and document the movement contributed directly to the wave of protests called Arab Spring. The combination of deep unrest and disruptive technologies meant these socialmovements were ready to rise up and seek change. What do Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the anti-globalization movement, and the Tea Party have in common? Not much, you might think. But although they may be left-wing or right-wing, radical or conservative, highly organized or very diffused, they are all examples of socialmovements. Social movements are purposeful, organized groups striving to work toward a common goal. These groups might be attempting to create change (Occupy Wall Street, Arab Spring), to resist change (anti-globalization movement), or to provide a political voice to those otherwise disenfranchised (civil rights movements). Social movements create social change. -- Social movements are purposeful, organized groups striving to work toward a common goal. These groups might be attempting to create change (Occupy Wall Street, Arab Spring), to resist change (anti-globalization movement), or to provide a political voice to those otherwise disenfranchised (civil rights movements). Social movements create social change. Consider the effect of the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This disaster exemplifies how a change in the environment, coupled with the use of technology to fix that change, combined with anti-oil sentiment in socialmovements and social institutions, led to changes in offshore oil drilling policies. Subsequently, in an effort to support the Gulf Coast’s rebuilding efforts, changes occurred. From grassroots marketing campaigns that promote consumption of local seafood to municipal governments needing to coordinate with federal cleanups, organizations develop and shift to meet the changing needs of the society. Just as we saw with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, socialmovements have, throughout history, influenced societal shifts. Sociology looks at these moments through the lenses of three major perspectives. The functionalist perspective looks at the big picture, focusing on the way that all aspects of society are integral to the continued health and viability of the whole. A functionalist might focus on why socialmovements develop, why they continue to exist, and what social purposes they serve. On one hand, socialmovements emerge when there is a dysfunction in the relationship between systems. The union movement developed in the 19th century when the economy no longer functioned to distribute wealth and resources in a manner that provided adequate sustenance for workers and their families. On the other hand, when studying socialmovements themselves, functionalists observe that movements must change their goals as initial aims are met or they risk dissolution. Several organizations associated with the anti-polio industry folded after the creation of an effective vaccine that made the disease virtually disappear. Can you think of another socialmovement whose goals were met? What about one whose goals have changed over time? The critical perspective focuses on the creation and reproduction of inequality. Someone applying the conflict perspective would likely be interested in how socialmovements are generated through systematic inequality, and how social change is constant, speedy, and unavoidable. In fact, the conflict that this perspective sees as inherent in social relations drives social change. For example, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in the United States in 1908. Partly created in response to the horrific lynchings occurring in the southern United States, the organization fought to secure the constitutional rights guaranteed in the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, which established an end to slavery, equal protection under the law, and universal male suffrage (NAACP 2011). While those goals have been achieved, the organization remains active today, continuing to fight against inequalities in civil rights and to remedy discriminatory practices. The symbolic interaction perspective studies the day-to-day interaction of socialmovements, the meanings individuals attach to involvement in such movements, and the individual experience of social change. An interactionist studying socialmovements might address socialmovement norms and tactics as well as individual motivations. For example, socialmovements might be generated through a feeling of deprivation or discontent, but people might actually join socialmovements for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with the cause. They might want to feel important, or they know someone in the movement they want to support, or they just want to be a part of something. Have you ever been motivated to show up for a rally or sign a petition because your friends invited you? Would you have been as likely to get involved otherwise? 21.1. Collective Behaviour -- -- Forms of Collective Behaviour Flash mobs are examples of collective behaviour, non-institutionalized activity in which several people voluntarily engage. Other examples of collective behaviour can include anything from a group of commuters travelling home from work to the trend toward adopting the Justin Bieber hair flip. In short, it can be any group behaviour that is not mandated or regulated by an institution. There are four primary forms of collective behaviour: the crowd, the mass, the public, and socialmovements. It takes a fairly large number of people in close proximity to form a crowd (Lofland 1993). Examples include a group of people attending a Neil Young concert, attending Canada Day festivities, or joining a worship service. Turner and Killian (1993) identified four types of crowds. Casual crowds consist of people who are in the same place at the same time, but who are not really interacting, such as people standing in line at the post office. Conventional crowds are those who come together for a scheduled event, like a religious service or rock concert. Expressive crowds are people who join together to express emotion, often at funerals, weddings, or the like. The final type, acting crowds, focus on a specific goal or action, such as a protest movement or riot. In addition to the different types of crowds, collective groups can also be identified in two other ways (Lofland 1993). A mass is a relatively large and dispersed number of people with a common interest, whose members are largely unknown to one another and who are incapable of acting together in a concerted way to achieve objectives. In this sense, the audience of the television show Game of Thrones or of any mass medium (TV, radio, film, books) is a mass. A public, on the other hand, is an unorganized, relatively diffused group of people who share ideas on an issue, such as social conservatives. While these two types of crowds are similar, they are not the same. To distinguish between them, remember that members of a mass share interests whereas members of a public share ideas. -- -- As useful as this is for understanding the components of how crowds come together, many sociologists criticize its lack of attention on the large cultural context of the described behaviours, instead focusing on individual actions. 21.2. Social Movements Social movements are purposeful, organized groups striving to work toward a common social goal. While most of us learned about socialmovements in history classes, we tend to take for granted the fundamental changes they caused —and we may be completely unfamiliar with the trend toward global socialmovement. But from the anti-tobacco movement that has worked to outlaw smoking in public buildings and raise the cost of cigarettes, to uprisings throughout the Arab world, contemporary movements create social change on a global scale. Levels of Social Movements -- Levels of Social Movements Movements happen in our towns, in our nation, and around the world. The following examples of socialmovements range from local to global. No doubt you can think of others on all of these levels, especially since modern technology has allowed us a near-constant stream of information about the quest for social change around the world. Local -- Local Winnipeg’s inner city is well known for its poor aboriginal population, low levels of income and education, and concerns about drugs, gangs, and violence. Not surprisingly, it has been home to a number of socialmovements and grassroots community organizations over time (Silver 2008). Currently, the Winnipeg Boldness Project is a socialmovement focused on providing investment in early childhood care in the Point Douglas community to try to break endemic cycles of poverty. Statistics show that 40 percent of Point Douglas children are not ready for school by age five and one in six are apprehended by child protection agencies. Through programs that support families and invest in early childhood development, children could be prepared for school and not be forced into the position of having to catch up to their peers  (Roussin, Gill, and Young 2014). The organization seeks to “create new conditions to dramatically transform the well-being of young children in Point Douglas” (Winnipeg Boldness Project 2014). Regional -- Regional Figure 21.5. The flag of the Western Independence Party, one of several regional socialmovements that advocated separation from Canada, represents Western Canada. (Photo courtesy of HarleyKing/Wikimedia Commons) At the other end of the political spectrum from the Winnipeg Boldness Project is the legacy of the numerous conservative and extreme right socialmovements of the 1980s and 1990s that advocated the independence of western Canada from the rest of the country. The Western Canada Concept, Western Independence Party, Confederation of Regions Party, and Western Block were all registered political parties representing socialmovements of western alienation. The National Energy Program of 1980 was one of the key catalysts for this movement because it was seen as a way of securing cheap oil and gas resources for central Canada at the expense of Alberta. However, the seeds of western alienation developed much earlier with the sense that Canadian federal politics was dominated by the interests of Quebec and Ontario. One of the more infamous leaders of the Western Canada Concept was Doug Christie who made a name for himself as the lawyer who defended the Holocaust-deniers Jim Keegstra and Ernst Zundel in well-publicized trials. Part of the program of the Western Canada Concept, aside from western independence, was to end non-European immigration to Canada and preserve Christian and European culture. In addition to these extreme-right concerns, however, were many elements of democratic reform and fiscal conservativism, such as mandatory balanced-budget legislation and provisions for referenda and recall (Western Canada Concept N.d.), which later became central to the Reform Party. The Reform Party was western based but did not seek western independence. Rather it sought to transform itself into a national political party eventually forming the Canadian Alliance Party with other conservative factions. The Canadian Alliance merged with the Progressive Conservative Party to form the Conservative Party of Canada. National -- National A prominent national socialmovement in recent years is Idle No More. A group of aboriginal women organized an event in Saskatchewan in November 2012 to protest the Conservative government’s C-45 omnibus bill. The contentious features of the bill that concerned aboriginal people were the government’s lack of consultation with them in provisions that changed the Indian Act, the Navigation Protection Act, and the Environmental Assessment Act. A month later Idle No More held a national day of action and Chief Theresa Spence of the Attawapiskat First Nation began a 43-day hunger strike on an island in the Ottawa River near Parliament Hill. The hunger strike galvanized national public attention on aboriginal issues, and numerous protest events such as flash mobs and temporary blockades were organized around the country. One of Chief Spence’s demands was that a meeting be set up with the prime minister and the Governor General to discuss aboriginal issues. The inclusion of the Governor General—the Queen’s representative in Canada—proved to be the sticking point in arranging this meeting, but was central to Idle No More’s claims that aboriginal sovereignty and treaty negotiations were matters whose origins preceded the establishment of the Canadian state. Chief Spence ended her hunger strike with the signing of a 13-point declaration that demanded commitments from the government to review Bills C-45 and C-38, ensure aboriginal consultation on government legislation, initiate an enquiry into missing aboriginal women, and improve treaty negotiations, aboriginal housing, and education, among other commitments (CBC 2013a;  2013b). Comparisons between Idle No More and the recent Occupy Movement emphasized the diffuse, grassroots natures of the movements and their non-hierarchical structures. Idle No More emerged outside, and in some respects in opposition to, the Assembly of First Nations. It was more focused than the Occupy Movement in the sense that it developed in response to particular legislation (Bill C-45), but as it grew it became both broader in its concerns and more radical in its demands for aboriginal sovereignty and self-determination. It was also seen to have the same organizational problems as the Occupy movement in that the goals of the movement were left more or less open, the leadership remained decentralized, and no formal decision-making structures were established. Some members of the Idle No More movement were satisfied with the 13-point declaration, while others sought more radical solutions of self-determination outside the traditional pattern of negotiating with the federal government. It is not clear that Idle No More, as a socialmovement, will move toward a more conventional social-movement structure or whether it will dissipate and be replaced by other aboriginal movements (CBC 2013c; Gollom 2013). Taiaiake Alfred’s post-mortem of the movement was that “the limits to Idle No More are clear, and many people are beginning to realize that the kind of movement we have been conducting under the banner of Idle No More is not sufficient in itself to decolonize this country or even to make meaningful change in the lives of people” (2013). Figure 21.6. The Idle No More movement. (Photo courtesy of AK Rockefeller/flickr) Global -- -- Figure 21.6. The Idle No More movement. (Photo courtesy of AK Rockefeller/flickr) Global Despite their successes in bringing forth change on controversial topics, socialmovements are not always about volatile politicized issues. For example, the global movement called Slow Food focuses on how we eat as means of addressing contemporary quality-of-life issues. Slow Food, with the slogan “Good, Clean, Fair Food,” is a global grassroots movement claiming supporters in 150 countries. The movement links community and environmental issues back to the question of what is on our plates and where it came from. Founded in 1989 in response to the increasing existence of fast food in communities that used to treasure their culinary traditions, Slow Food works to raise awareness of food choices (Slow Food 2011). With more than 100,000 members in 1,300 local chapters, Slow Food is a movement that crosses political, age, and regional lines. Types of Social Movements -- Types of Social Movements We know that socialmovements can occur on the local, national, or even global stage. Are there other patterns or classifications that can help us understand them? Sociologist David Aberle (1966) addresses this question, developing categories that distinguish among socialmovements based on what they want to change and how much change they want. Reform movements seek to change something specific about the social structure. Examples include anti-nuclear groups, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), and the National Action Committee on the Status of Women (NAC). Revolutionary movements seek to completely change every aspect of society. These would include Cuban 26th of July Movement (under Fidel Castro), the 1960s counterculture movement, as well as anarchist collectives. Redemptive movements are “meaning seeking,” and their goal is to provoke inner change or spiritual growth in individuals. Organizations pushing these movements might include Alcoholics Anynymous, New Age, or Christian fundamentalist groups. Alternative movements are focused on self-improvement and limited, specific changes to individual beliefs and behaviour. These include groups like the Slow Food movement, Planned Parenthood, and barefoot jogging advocates. Resistance movements seek to prevent or undo change to the social structure. The Ku Klux Klan and pro-life movements fall into this category. Stages of Social Movements -- Stages of Social Movements Later sociologists studied the life cycle of socialmovements—how they emerge, grow, and in some cases, die out. Blumer (1969) and Tilly (1978) outline a four-stage process. In the preliminary stage, people become aware of an issue and leaders emerge. This is followed by the coalescence stage when people join together and organize in order to publicize the issue and raise awareness. In the institutionalization stage, the movement no longer requires grassroots volunteerism: it is an established organization, typically peopled with a paid staff. When people fall away, adopt a new movement, the movement successfully brings about the change it sought, or people no longer take the issue seriously, the movement falls into the decline stage. Each socialmovement discussed earlier belongs in one of these four stages. Where would you put them on the list? Making Connections: the Big Pictures -- -- Social Media and Social Change: A Match Made in Heaven Figure 21.7. In 2008, Obama’s campaign used social media to tweet, like, and friend its way to victory. (Photos courtesy of bradleyolin/flickr) Chances are you have been asked to tweet, friend, like, or donate online for a cause. Maybe you were one of the many people who, in 2010, helped raise over $3 million in relief efforts for Haiti through cell phone text donations. Or maybe you follow political candidates on Twitter and retweet their messages to your followers. Perhaps you have “liked” a local nonprofit on Facebook, prompted by one of your neighbours or friends liking it too. Nowadays, woven throughout our social media activities, are socialmovements. After all, socialmovements start by activating people. Referring to the ideal type stages discussed above, you can see that social media has the potential to dramatically transform how people get involved. Look at the first stage, the preliminary stage: people become aware of an issue and leaders emerge. Imagine how social media speeds up this step. Suddenly, a shrewd user of Twitter can alert thousands of followers about an emerging cause or an issue on his or her mind. Issue awareness can spread at the speed of a click, with thousands of people across the globe becoming informed at the same time. In a similar vein, those who are savvy and engaged with social media emerge as leaders. Suddenly, you do not need to be a powerful public speaker. You do not even need to leave your house. You can build an audience through social media without ever meeting the people you are inspiring. At the next stage, the coalescence stage, social media also is transformative. Coalescence is the point when people join together to publicize the issue and get organized. U.S. President Obama’s 2008 campaign became a case study in organizing through social media. Using Twitter and other online tools, the campaign engaged volunteers who had typically not bothered with politics, and empowered those who were more active to generate still more activity. It is no coincidence that Obama’s earlier work experience included grassroots community organizing. What is the difference between this type of campaign and the work that political activists did in neighbourhoods in earlier decades? The ability to organize without regard to geographical boundaries becomes possible using social media. In 2009, when student protests erupted in Tehran, social media was considered so important to the organizing effort that the U.S. State Department actually asked Twitter to suspend scheduled maintenance so that a vital tool would not be disabled during the demonstrations. -- -- Theoretical Perspectives on Social Movements Most theories of socialmovements are called collective action theories, indicating the purposeful nature of this form of collective behaviour. The following three theories are but a few of the many classic and modern theories developed by social scientists. Resource mobilization theory focuses on the purposive, organizational strategies that socialmovements need to engage in to successfully mobilize support, compete with other socialmovements and opponents, and present political claims and grievances to the state. Framing theory focuses on the way socialmovements make appeals to potential supporters by framing or presenting their issues in a way that aligns with commonly held values, beliefs, and commonsense attitudes. New socialmovement theory focuses on the unique qualities that define the “newness” of postmaterialist socialmovements like the Green, feminist, and peace movements. Resource Mobilization -- Resource Mobilization Social movements will always be a part of society as long as there are aggrieved populations whose needs and interests are not being satisfied. However, grievances do not become socialmovements unless socialmovement actors are able to create viable organizations, mobilize resources, and attract large-scale followings. As people will always weigh their options and make rational choices about which movements to follow, socialmovements necessarily form under finite competitive conditions: competition for attention, financing, commitment, organizational skills, etc. Not only will socialmovements compete for our attention with many other concerns—from the basic (our jobs or our need to feed ourselves) to the broad (video games, sports, or television), but they also compete with each other. For any individual, it may be a simple matter to decide you want to spend your time and money on animal shelters and Conservative Party politics versus homeless shelters and the New Democratic Party. The question is, however, which animal shelter or which Conservative candidate? To be successful, socialmovements must develop the organizational capacity to mobilize resources (money, people, and skills) and compete with other organizations to reach their goals. McCarthy and Zald (1977) conceptualize resource mobilization theory as a way to explain a movement’s success in terms of its ability to acquire resources and mobilize individuals to achieve goals and take advantage of political opportunities. For example, PETA, a socialmovement organization, is in competition with Greenpeace and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), two other socialmovement organizations. Taken together, along with all other socialmovement organizations working on animals rights issues, these similar organizations constitute a socialmovement industry. Multiple socialmovement industries in a society, though they may have widely different constituencies and goals, constitute a society’s socialmovement sector. Every socialmovement organization (a single socialmovement group) within the socialmovement sector is competing for your attention, your time, and your resources. The chart in Figure 21.9 shows the relationship between these components. Figure 21.9. Multiple socialmovement organizations concerned about the same issue form a socialmovement industry. A society’s many socialmovement industries comprise its socialmovement sector. With so many options, who will you give your time or money to? Framing/Frame Analysis -- Framing/Frame Analysis The sudden emergence of socialmovements that have not had time to mobilize resources, or vice versa, the failure of well-funded groups to achieve effective collective action, calls into question the emphasis on resource mobilization as an adequate explanation for the formation of socialmovements. Over the past several decades, sociologists have developed the concept of frames to explain how individuals identify and understand social events and which norms they should follow in any given situation (Benford and Snow 2000; Goffman 1974; Snow et al. 1986). A frame is a way in which experience is organized conceptually. Imagine entering a restaurant. Your “frame” immediately provides you with a behaviour template. It probably does not occur to you to wear pajamas to a fine dining establishment, throw food at other patrons, or spit your drink onto the table. However, eating food at a sleepover pizza party provides you with an entirely different behaviour template. It might be perfectly acceptable to eat in your pajamas, and maybe even throw popcorn at others or guzzle drinks from cans. Similarly, socialmovements must actively engage in realigning collective social frames so that the movements’ interests, ideas, values, and goals become congruent with those of potential members. The movements’ goals have to make sense to people to draw new recruits into their organizations. Successful socialmovements use three kinds of frames (Snow and Benford 1988) to further their goals. The first type, diagnostic framing, states the socialmovement problem in a clear, easily understood way. When applying diagnostic frames, there are no shades of grey: instead, there is the belief that what “they” do is wrong and this is how “we” will fix it. The anti-gay marriage movement is an example of diagnostic framing with its uncompromising insistence that marriage is only between a man and a woman. Any other concept of marriage is framed as sinful or immoral. Prognostic framing, the second type, offers a solution and states how it will be implemented. When looking at the issue of pollution as framed by the environmental movement, for example, prognostic frames would include direct legal sanctions and the enforcement of strict government regulations or the imposition of carbon taxes or cap-and-trade mechanisms to make environmental damage more costly. As you can see, there may be many competing prognostic frames even within socialmovements adhering to similar diagnostic frames. Finally, motivational framing is the call to action: what should you do once you agree with the diagnostic frame and believe in the prognostic frame? These frames are action-oriented. In the aboriginal justice movement, a call to action might encourage you to join a blockade on contested aboriginal treaty land or contact your local MP to express your viewpoint that aboriginal treaty rights be honoured. With so many similar diagnostic frames, some groups find it best to join together to maximize their impact. When socialmovements link their goals to the goals of other socialmovements and merge into a single group, a frame alignment process (Snow et al. 1986) occurs—an ongoing and intentional means of recruiting a diversity of participants to the movement. For example, Carroll and Ratner (1996) argue that using a social justice frame makes it possible for a diverse group of socialmovements—union movements, environmental movements, aboriginal justice movements, gay rights movements,  anti-poverty movements, etc.—to form effective coalitions even if their specific goals do not typically align. This frame alignment process involves four aspects: bridging, amplification, extension, and transformation. Bridging describes a “bridge” that connects uninvolved individuals and unorganized or ineffective groups with socialmovements that, though structurally unconnected, nonetheless share similar interests or goals. These organizations join together creating a new, stronger socialmovement organization. Can you think of examples of different organizations with a similar goal that have banded together? In the amplification model, organizations seek to expand their core ideas to gain a wider, more universal appeal. By expanding their ideas to include a broader range, they can mobilize more people for their cause. For example, the Slow Food movement extends its arguments in support of local food to encompass reduced energy consumption and reduced pollution, plus reduced obesity from eating more healthfully, and other benefits. -- In the amplification model, organizations seek to expand their core ideas to gain a wider, more universal appeal. By expanding their ideas to include a broader range, they can mobilize more people for their cause. For example, the Slow Food movement extends its arguments in support of local food to encompass reduced energy consumption and reduced pollution, plus reduced obesity from eating more healthfully, and other benefits. In extension, socialmovements agree to mutually promote each other, even when the two socialmovement organization’s goals do not necessarily relate to each other’s immediate goals. This often occurs when organizations are sympathetic to each others’ causes, even if they are not directly aligned, such as women’s equal rights and the civil rights movement. Figure 21.10. Extension occurs when socialmovements have sympathetic causes. Women’s rights and racial equality are united as human rights issues. (Photos (a) and (b) courtesy of Wikimedia Commons) Transformation involves a complete revision of goals. Once a movement has succeeded, it risks losing relevance. If it wants to remain active, the movement has to change with the transformation or risk becoming obsolete. For instance, when the women’s suffrage movement gained women the right to vote, they turned their attention to equal rights and campaigning to elect women. In short, it is an evolution to the existing diagnostic or prognostic frames generally involving a total conversion of movement. New Social Movement Theory -- -- Transformation involves a complete revision of goals. Once a movement has succeeded, it risks losing relevance. If it wants to remain active, the movement has to change with the transformation or risk becoming obsolete. For instance, when the women’s suffrage movement gained women the right to vote, they turned their attention to equal rights and campaigning to elect women. In short, it is an evolution to the existing diagnostic or prognostic frames generally involving a total conversion of movement. New Social Movement Theory New socialmovement theory emerged in the 1970s to explain the proliferation of postindustrial, quality-of-life movements that are difficult to analyze using traditional socialmovement theories (Melucci 1989). Rather than being based on the grievances of particular groups striving to influence political outcomes or redistribute material resources, new socialmovements (NSMs) like the peace and disarmament, environmental, and feminist movements focus on goals of autonomy, identity, self-realization, and quality-of-life issues. As the German Green Party slogan of the 1980s suggests—“We are neither right nor left, but ahead”—the appeal of the new socialmovements also tends to cut across traditional class, party politics, and socioeconomic affiliations to politicize aspects of everyday life traditionally seen as outside politics. Moreover, the movements themselves are more flexible, diverse, shifting, and informal in participation and membership than the older socialmovements, often preferring to adopt nonhierarchical modes of organization and unconventional means of political engagement (such as direct action). Melucci (1994) argues that the commonality that designates these diverse socialmovements as “new” is the way in which they respond to systematic encroachments on the lifeworld, the shared inter-subjective meanings and common understandings that form the backdrop of our daily existence and communication. The dimensions of existence that were formally considered private (e.g., the body, sexuality, interpersonal affective relations), subjective (e.g., desire, motivation, and cognitive or emotional processes), or common (e.g., nature, urban spaces, language, information, and communicational resources) are increasingly subject to social control, manipulation, commodification, and administration. However, as Melucci (1994) argues, These are precisely the areas where individuals and groups lay claim to their autonomy, where they conduct their search for identity…and construct the meaning of what they are and what they do (pp. 101-102). 21.3. Social Change -- -- These are precisely the areas where individuals and groups lay claim to their autonomy, where they conduct their search for identity…and construct the meaning of what they are and what they do (pp. 101-102). 21.3. Social Change Collective behaviour and socialmovements are just two of the forces driving social change, which is the change in society created through socialmovements as well as external factors like environmental shifts or technological innovations. Essentially, any disruptive shift in the status quo, be it intentional or random, human-caused or natural, can lead to social change. Below are some of the likely causes. Causes of Social Change Changes to technology, social institutions, population, and the environment, alone or in some combination, create change. Below, we will discuss how these act as agents of social change and we’ll examine real-world examples. We will focus on four agents of change recognized by social scientists: technology, social institutions, population, and the environment. -- -- The Environment Turning to human ecology, we know that individuals and the environment affect each other. As human populations move into more vulnerable areas, we see an increase in the number of people affected by natural disasters, and we see that human interaction with the environment increases the impact of those disasters. Part of this is simply the numbers: the more people there are on the planet, the more likely it is that people will be impacted by a natural disaster. But it goes beyond that. We face a combination of too many people and the increased demands these numbers make on the Earth. As a population, we have brought water tables to dangerously low levels, built up fragile shorelines to increase development, and irrigated massive crop fields with water brought in from far away. How can we be surprised when homes along coastlines are battered and droughts threaten whole towns? The year 2011 holds the unwelcome distinction of being a record year for billion-dollar weather disasters, with about a dozen falling into that category. From twisters and floods to snowstorms and droughts, the planet is making our problems abundantly clear (CBS News 2011). These events have birthed socialmovements and are bringing about social change as the public becomes educated about these issues. Making Connections: Sociology in the Real World -- -- Key Terms acting crowds crowds of people who are focused on a specific action or goal alternative movements socialmovements that limit themselves to self-improvement changes in individuals assembling perspective a theory that credits individuals in crowds as behaving as rational thinkers and views crowds as engaging in purposeful behaviour and collective action casual crowds people who share close proximity without really interacting -- -- modernization the process that increases the amount of specialization and differentiation of structure in societies motivational framing a call to action new socialmovement theory theory that attempts to explain the proliferation of postindustrial and postmodern movements that are difficult to understand using traditional socialmovement theories prognostic framing when socialmovements state a clear solution and a means of implementation public an unorganized, relatively diffuse group of people who share ideas redemptive movements movements that work to promote inner change or spiritual growth in individuals -- -- reform movements movements that seek to change something specific about the social structure resistance movements movements that seek to prevent or undo change to the social structure resource mobilization theory theory that explains socialmovements’ success in terms of their ability to acquire resources and mobilize individuals revolutionary movements movements that seek to completely change every aspect of society -- revolutionary movements movements that seek to completely change every aspect of society social change the change in a society created through socialmovements as well as through external factors like environmental shifts or technological innovations socialmovement a purposeful organized group hoping to work toward a common social goal socialmovement industry the collection of the socialmovement organizations that are striving toward similar goal socialmovement organization a single socialmovement group socialmovement sectorthe multiple socialmovement industries in a society, even if they have widely varying constituents and goals value-added theorya functionalist perspective theory that posits that several preconditions must be in place for collective behaviour to occur -- -- Section Summary 21.1. Collective Behaviour Collective behaviour is non-institutionalized activity in which many people voluntarily engage. There are four different forms of collective behaviour: crowd, mass, public, and socialmovement. There are three main theories of collective behaviour. The first, the emergent-norm perspective, emphasizes the importance of social norms in crowd behaviour. The next, the value-added theory, is a functionalist perspective that states that several preconditions must be in place for collective behaviour to occur. Finally the assembling perspective focuses on collective action rather than collective behaviour, addressing the processes associated with crowd behaviour and the life cycle of various categories of gatherings. 21.2. Social Movements -- 21.2. Social Movements Social movements are purposeful, organized groups, either with the goal of pushing toward change, giving political voice to those without it, or gathering for some other common purpose. Social movements intersect with environmental changes, technological innovations, and other external factors to create social change. There are myriad catalysts that create socialmovements, and the reasons that people join are as varied as the participants themselves. Sociologists look at both the macro- and microanalytical reasons that socialmovements occur, take root, and ultimately succeed or fail. 21.3. Social Change There are numerous and varied causes of social change. Four common causes, as recognized by social scientists, are technology, social institutions, population, and the environment. All four of these areas can impact when and how society changes. They are all interrelated: a change in one area can lead to changes throughout. Modernization is a typical result of social change. Modernization refers to the process of increased differentiation and specialization within a society, particularly around its industry and infrastructure. While this assumes that more modern societies are better, there has been significant pushback on this western-centric view that all peripheral and semi-peripheral countries should develop according to the model of North America and western Europe. -- -- Section Quiz 21.1. Collective Behaviour 1. Which of the following organizations is not an example of a socialmovement? National Football League -- -- 2. Sociologists using critical perspective might study what? How socialmovements develop What social purposes a movement serves What motivates inequitably treated people to join a movement -- -- What social purposes a movement serves What motivates inequitably treated people to join a movement What individuals hope to gain from taking part in a socialmovement 3. Which of the following is an example of collective behaviour? -- -- 21.2. Social Movements 7. If we divide socialmovements according to their competitive position among all socialmovements in a society, we are using the __________ theory to understand socialmovements. Framing -- -- Framing New socialmovement Resource mobilization Value-added -- -- Value-added 8. While PETA is a socialmovement organization, taken together, the animal rights socialmovement organizations PETA, ALF, and Greenpeace are a __________. Social movement industry -- -- All of the above 16. In addition to socialmovements, social change is also caused by technology, social institutions, population, and ______ . The environment -- -- Modernization Social structure New socialmovements -- -- 21.2. Social Movements Think about a socialmovement industry dealing with a cause that is important to you. How do the different socialmovement organizations of this industry seek to engage you? Which techniques do you respond to? Why? Do you think social media is an important tool in creating social change? Why or why not? Defend your opinion. -- Do you think social media is an important tool in creating social change? Why or why not? Defend your opinion. Describe a socialmovement in the decline stage. What is its issue? Why has it reached this stage? 21.3. Social Change -- -- 21.3. Social Change Consider one of the classical socialmovements of the 20th century, from the 1960s civil rights in the United States to Gandhi’s nonviolent protests in India. How would technology have changed it? Would change have come more quickly or more slowly? Defend your opinion. Discuss the digital divide in the context of modernization. Is there a real concern that poorer communities are lacking in technology? Why or why not? Do you think that modernization is good or bad? Explain, using examples.