Key Concepts in Social Movements and Collective Action

Social Movement Industry

The collection of organizations within a movement

Social Movement Sector

all the industries in a society

Contentious Politics

use of disruptive techniques to make a political point or change government policy, including actions like protests, strikes, and civil disobedience. It involves interactions where actors make claims that affect the interests of others, with governments often acting as targets or initiators. 

Social Movement Organization (SMO)

a complex formal organization which identifies its goals with preferences of a social movement or a countermovement and attempts to implement those goals

collective behavior

a means of bringing about social change and emergent forms of social order develop through the interactions of individuals in social movements

Resource Mobilization Theory

focuses on the resources, organization, and opportunities needed for social movement mobilization and outcomes of social movements.

Political Process Theory

focuses on the interactions of social movement actors with the state and the role of political opportunities in the mobilization and outcomes of social movements.

Movement Entrepreneurs

mobilize people with similar preferences in a movement or movement organization

Conscience Constituents

contribute to movements but do not personally benefit from their achievements

Beneficiary Constituents

persons or groups that stand to benefit from the success of a movement

Mobilizing

The process whereby a group that shares grievances or interests gains collective control over tangible and intangible resources.

Adherents

Those who believe in a cause and want to see movement goals achieved.

Constituents

Those who believe in a cause and want to see movement goals achieved and contribute resources and support.

Free-rider Problem

The problem of getting individuals to participate in social movements or other collective action when they will reap the benefits of the collective action regardless of their personal participation or contributions.

Master Frames

Generic types of frames available for use by a number of different social movements

Collective Identity

A sense of shared experiences and values connecting individuals to movements and making them feel capable of effecting change through collective action.

Collective Action Frames

interpretations of issues and events that inspire and legitimate collective action and framing is an important activity of movement leaders and organizations.

Protest Cycle

a period of heightened conflict when a number of social movements are mobilized and engaged in collective action

Law of Oligarchy

No matter what the political persuasion is, once an organization starts to become more formalized, they start to preserve resources

Public Process

creates leverage to increase the power of marginalized people to create change and builds off success of previous actions

Classical Model

movements like other forms of extreme collective behavior emerge during periods of social disruption, when grievances are deeply felt, rather than being a standard part of the political process.

Frame Bridging

SMOs reaching out to people with shared orientation

Frame Amplificaiton

SMOs links values and beliefs to movement issues

Frame Extension

social movement organization enlarges a frame by including some other issue to enlarge importance

Frame Transformation

when frame doesn't resonate with targeted recruits, then needs to change it. Makes frame better match values, beliefs, meanings, and experiences of possible participants

Selective Incentives

Providing rewards only to active participants to eliminate free-riders

Grievances

a real or imagined wrong or other cause for complaint or protest, especially unfair treatment. Feeling of strain when you feel like you don't get what you deserve.

Diagnostic Framing

identifies problem and target and attributes blame

Prognostic Framing

identifies solution and appropriate strategies and tactics

Motivational Framing

calls for rationale and action

National Woman's Party

used militant tactics to fight for women's suffrage and later for the Equal Rights Amendment.

Exchange Relationships

interactions where participants give something and receive something in return.

Coalition

when multiple groups coordinate their resources, efforts, or strategies to increase their collective impact on an issue.

Fungibility and Resources

The ability of a resource to be used for multiple purposes or transferred between different uses without losing value.

Repertoires of collective action

The set of routines, tactics, and forms of protest that groups commonly employ to express grievances, exert pressure, or achieve movement goals.

Biographical Availability

The likelihood that someone will join in on a protest with how available they are

Goffman on Framing

Framing entails focusing on some bounded phenomenon by

imparting meaning and significance to elements within the frame and setting them apart from what is outside the frame

Goldberg Social Movement

a formally recognized group that acts consciously and with continuity to promote or resist change through collective action

McCarthy and Zald

a set of opinions and beliefs in a population which represent preferences for changing some elements of social structure or reward distribution in a society

Tarrow

a collective challenge based on common purposes and social solidarities in sustained interaction with elites and authorities

Diani

a network of informal interactions between a plurality of individuals, groups and/or organizations, engaged in a political or cultural conflict, on the bases of a shared collective identity

Socioeconomic pre-conditions

factors that exist before a project or event that shape an individuals or community’s position and opportunities in a society 

Political alignments of groups within large poli-enviro

relationships and positions that social groups, elites, or organizations occupy within the political system which affect their ability to support or oppose social movements

level of “insurgent consciousness”

cognitive liberation. need for response and prospects for success

levels of indigenous organizational strength

level of organizational readiness