Social Change and Social Movements

What is a social movement?

An organized collective action motivated by the desire to provoke some sort of social change.

What is the connection between social movement and the course theme?

The course theme is that people are a cause and consequence of society and social movements involve society undergoing change.

What are alternative social movements?

An organization seeks change for specific individuals and focuses on one aspects of their lives.

What are redemptive social movements?

An organization seeks radical change for their supporters. Sometimes these group have religious bias and are described as cults.

However, New Religious movements are a more fitting term. NRMs have high tension with dominant religious but have the potential to become mainstream religions.

What are reform social movements?

An organization seeks to overthrow an entire social system and replace it with a new one.

What are some social movement tactics?

• Persuasion

• Bargaining

• Coercion

What are some consequences of social movements?

• Changed social policies and attitudes

• New organizations

• Biographical change for participants

What is an ideology?

A system of beliefs, values and ideas used to explain how things are or how they should be.

What role does ideology play in social movements?

Ideology is used in social movements to justify what change they seek.

What are social movement frames?

Shared meanings that explain what is wrong and what should be done about it.

What is a master frame?

A frame used by many social movements in society.

What is a frame alignment?

Link between social movement frame and frame of social movement recruits.

What are the types of frame alignments?

• Bridging: Ways to appeal to potential members that are thought to be sympathetic towards the frame.

• Amplification: Ways to appeal to potential members by arguing their frame is consistent with popular belief.

• Extension: Ways to appeal to potential members by extending the fram to include concerns of supporters.

• Transformation: Ways to appeal to potential members by encouraging them to reject other views and adopt the activists perspective.