week 2: theories of social movements

collective behaviour theories (CBT)

object of study: crowds, panics, mobs, riots, fads, social movements, revolutions

• strain or breakdown theory of social movements - emerge out of significant significant societal distruption

• views movements as irrational and abnormal

four kinds

• chicago school and emergent norm

• smelser’s theory of collective behaviour

• mass society theory

• relative deprivation theory

central assumptions

• unstructured situations unbound by established norms

• arise from structural or cultural breakdown

• structured by shared beliefs of participants

Chicago School Approach and Emergent Norm Theory

emergence of social movements and creation of new forms of meaning, activity, and organization

• initiated in 1920s by Robert Park and Ernest Burgess, developed by other sociologists from University of Chicago

• emergent norm - shared view of reality, create emotional response necessary for political action

• iterative process that both inspires action and comes from collective action

Chicago School Approach and Emergent Norm Theory: symbolic interactionism

how actors construct meaning through social interactions

• collective behaviour develops in situations where established systems of meaning or sources of info have broken down, forcing participants to construct new behaviour

Chicago School Approach and Emergent Norm Theory: critiques

• fails to fully account for norms that people bring with them to collective actions

• not all collective behaviour leads to emergence of new norms

Smelser’s Theory of Collective Behaviour

model of 6 determinants

• structural conduciveness

• structural strain (conditions that create feelings of deprivation)

• growth and spread of a generalized belief (similar to emergent norm)

• precipitating factors (dramatic event)

• mobilization for action (leadership, movement entrepreneur)

• social control

Smelser’s Theory of Collective Behaviour: critiques

• no clear criteria exists for identifying strain in a society

• assumes that strains are unusual, some argue that strain is a constant feature of society

Mass Society Theory

views collective behaviour as an extreme response to social isolation

• social change uproots people, leads to isolation from social and political institutions

• alienated people involve themselves in movements to find an identity and sense of belonging within society (Eric Hoffer, 1951)

context: historical period in which alienation and societal uninvolvement was abnormal, thus conceivably being isolated could have larger impact on individuals and propel them to seek identity elsewhere

mass society theory: critiques

• premise is wrong - it is not isolated people who mobilize but rather people that are tied into social networks and participate in organizations (empirically)

• authors did not have access to mass survey data, so they had to rely on assumptions of behaviour which led them to this incorrect theory

relative deprivation theory

popular in the 60s and 70s, based on observation by Alexis de Tocqueville and others that people often rebel when things are generally improving - perceived deprivation from this

• it is those who seem to be improving their positions or who are among the best off within an aggrieved group that engage in collective action

deprivation is relative due to what people think they deserve and compare themselves to other groups

• leads to feelings of anger and frustration, and thus collective action and mobilization

relative deprivation theory: critiques

• little empirical evidence that objective measures of material deprivation always lead to feelings of deprivation

• feelings of relative deprivation may emerge from participation in a movement, rather than the other way around

resource mobilization and political process theories

emerged in the 70s, critical of collective behaviour theories which shaped new perspectives - view social movements as political and cultural entities aiming to create social change

• movements as part of politics as usual, just happen to employ disruptive means but they are continuations of existing politics

resource mobilization theory

strains or grievances can nearly always be found, mobilization of social movements require resources, organization, and opportunities for collective action

• while strain always exists, social movements don’t because they require resources in order to succeed

resource mobilization theory: kinds of resources

broad conception of resources, includes:

• moral resources (ex: legitimacy)

• cultural resources (ex: strategic knowledge)

• social-organization resources (ex: existing organizational structures)

• human resources (ex: labour, experience of activists)

• material resources (ex: money)

resource mobilization theory: movement actors

• movement entrepreneurs

• beneficiary constituents - members of aggrieved group who stand to gain from movement directly

• conscience constituents - members of social movements who don’t stand to particularly gain from actions of movement directly

resource mobilization theory: mobilizing structures

• political movement organizations

• formal and informal networks

  • organizations with more formalized or bureaucratic structures tend to last longer

  • smaller more informal organizations are more flexible, able to respond quicker and more specifically

• cultural groups

political process theory

builds off resource mobilization theory, developed by Tilly and Tarrow

emphasizes interactions of social movement actors with the state, and role of political opportunities in mobilization and outcomes of social movements

• social movements likely to emerge when potential collective actors perceive that conditions are favourable

political opportunity structure refers generally to features of political environment that influence movement emergence and success

• specific definitions differ considerably

political process theory: kinds of political opportunity

• openness of polity

• shift in political alignments

• divisions among elites

• influential allies

political process theory: critiques

opportunities is very broadly defined and therefore not a useful concept of analysis

framing perspective

Benford & Snow, concept of collective action frames as a way of capturing importance of meanings and ideas in stimulating protest (2000)

emphasis on the role of movements in constructing cultural meanings

• movement leaders and organizations frame issues in particular ways to identify injustices, attribute blame, propose solutions, and motivate collective action

• master frames, collective action frames

framing can also be a source of conflict

movements that succeed in creating persuasive and coherent movements:

• attract movement participants

• form coalitions

• win public approval

• media attention

• influence authorities

framing perspective: master frames

generic types of frames available for use by number of social movements

• ex: rights-based, injustice, sovereignty

• broad, can be applied to any kind of movement

framing perspective: collective action frames

movement-specific, derived from master frames

• ex: the personal is political (second-wave feminism)

new social movement theory

developed in europe in 70s and 80s, but eventually influenced north american theories - emphasis on new types of social movements that emerged in post industrial or advanced capitalist societies

• idea that new movements mobilize because there are new grievances in a post-industrial society, resulting in new values and forms of actions, and new constituencies

new social movement theory: collective identity

creation of collective identity as a new key process

• freedom of expression, human rights, environmental concerns - all more cultural than political

• refers to sense of shared experiences and values that connects individuals to movements and gives participants sense of collective agency

• consciousness raising

new social movement theory: critiques

“new” social movements have the same concerns as older movements

• identity concerns present in both

• new movements use many of the same tactics and strategies as older movements

critical perspectives

concern from some that critiques of capitalism and neoliberalism have disappeared from social movement studies

• situates the study of social movements within a critique of the politics of exploitation, domination, and oppression

• drawn from Marx’s critique of capitalist dialectic and approach framed by theory of class struggle

• theorists seeks to combine empirical knowledge of society and politics with emancipatory vision of social transformation