A

Social Movement Emergence, Organizations, Strategies, and Media

Movement Emergence and Growth

  • Focus: mobilization and recruitment as the core processes of how movements emerge and grow.

  • Mobilization: the process whereby a group that shares grievances or interests gains collective control over resources.

  • Recruitment: part of mobilization; involves committing individual resources (time, money, skills) to a cause.

  • Mobilization and recruitment are ongoing processes, not one-time events; groups challenging the social/political status quo must continually maintain control over resources and keep individuals involved after initial participation. (Staggenborg, 2021)

The Role of Media

  • Media is central to social movements; chapters discuss the general types of issues studied by movement theorists and how theories guide empirical studies.

  • Mass media and, increasingly, social media play key roles in modern social movements.

Theoretical Perspectives on Movement Emergence

  • Relative deprivation theory: movements emerge in response to perceived injustice, inequality, or unmet needs; resource availability also influences emergence and growth.

  • Political context theory (Political Process Theory): political opportunities and the structure of political opportunity influence emergence; weak governments and divided elites create opportunities for mobilization.

  • Examples: Arab Spring, Russian Revolution (unrest and weak state control) illustrate how political opportunities and grievances interact.

Movement Emergence and Growth / Mechanisms

  • Movements emerge when multiple factors align: grievances, resources, mobilization potential, political opportunities, and framing of issues.

  • The role of media: communication and dissemination of frames accelerate mobilization and growth (especially via social media).

Grievances, Triggers, and Resource Mobility

  • Grievances do not automatically lead to mobilization; some grievances are constant, while others, such as unemployment rates, vary over time and can trigger mobilization and participation.

  • Example statistical contrast: 5\% \text{ unemployment} \quad vs \quad 25\% \text{ unemployment} as potential mobilization triggers.

Political Opportunities and Contingent Dynamics

  • Political process theory suggests that opportunities arise when external resources become accessible and when people believe they can end injustices using these resources.

  • When rifts appear within powerful elites, allies become available, and state capacity for repression declines; such conditions, combined with high threat and lower repression, can lead to contentious politics and regime changes.

  • People are more likely to engage in collective action when they believe they have a real chance of success.

Framing Issues

  • Framing is crucial for success: movements succeed when they frame issues to resonate with people’s values and concerns.

  • Example: Environmental movements framed climate change as a moral and health issue; clear and compelling framing creates emotional energy that motivates participation (Tarrow, 2011).

  • The ability to identify a transferable and resonant cause helps attract supporters and sustain engagement.

Integrative View on Emergence and Growth

  • No single factor explains emergence; a combination of grievances, resources, mobilization, political opportunities, and issue framing drives growth.

  • Growth depends on organization and communication (use of media) to mobilize and resonate with broader publics.

  • Social media accelerates growth and can broaden reach (BLM, Arab Spring).

Social Movement Organization (SMO)

  • Definition: "An organized component of a social movement that has clear leadership, membership, and a strategy to achieve specific goals related to the movement’s cause" (Resource Mobilization Theory).

  • SMOs mobilize participants for collective action, organize events, campaigns, and media outreach, and develop strategies and tactics (protests, lobbying, legal action).

  • An SMO is typically part of a larger social movement; a movement is usually composed of many SMOs.

  • Movements and SMOs are related but not interchangeable; loose networks can sustain movements when formal SMOs are absent.

Prominent SMOs and Movements

  • Civil rights movement was composed of SMOs such as:

    • Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

    • Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)

    • National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

  • Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa was led by the African National Congress (ANC), a major SMO at the time.

  • Environmental Movement includes SMOs like Greenpeace and Human Rights Watch; many movements also include local, community-based groups (tenant unions, preserve environmental groups, local conservation groups).

  • The Civil Rights context shows how SMOs interrelate with broader social movements and how leadership and strategy shape outcomes.

Formal and Informal Organizational Structures

  • Traditional Nonprofit Organizational Structure (typical layout):

    • Internal Affairs: Governance, Finance & HR, Accounting

    • External Affairs: Marketing & PR, Fundraising, Effectiveness & KPIs

    • C-suite: COO, CEO/Executive Director, CFO, CMO, other C-level roles and directors

  • Formal structure vs informal structure:

    • Formal (bureaucratic) SMOs have established procedures, division of labor, clear membership criteria, standing committees or chapters, constitution, bylaws, paid staff, and volunteers (e.g., Greenpeace).

    • Informal SMOs rely more on local volunteers, fewer established rules, ad hoc decision-making, and flexible structures; leadership is often fluid and responsive to local conditions.

  • Benefits of bureaucratization and centralization: helps keep organizations combat-ready and reduces internal conflict and factionalism.

  • Staggenborg (1988) documented the role of the centralized National Women’s Party (NWP) in sustaining the American women’s movement during the slow period between 1920 suffrage and the 1960s rebirth.

Leadership and Participation

  • Leadership matters for mobilization: leaders inspire commitment, devise strategies, shape structures, recruit activists, and provide opportunities for participation in decision-making.

  • Effective SMOs create accountable leadership teams and provide meaningful routes for members to engage in action, which sustains commitment and solidarity.

  • When individuals can contribute to strategic decisions (petitions, marches, planned activities, lawsuits, lobbying), they develop greater solidarity and commitment to the SMO.

Movement Strategies and Tactics

  • A broad repertoire of strategies and tactics is available: demonstrations, rallies, marches, public meetings, petitions, press statements, etc. These form a "collective campaign" (Staggenborg, 2021, p. 44).

  • A collective campaign is an aggregate of collective events or activities aimed at a relatively specific goal and directed at government officials or authorities (e.g., Civil Rights Movement targeting public authorities; Civil Disobedience movement in India targeting the British government).

  • Movement activists also engage in "contentious performances" (e.g., civil disobedience, boycotts) that are often part of campaigns (Staggenborg, 2021, p. 44).

  • Notable examples of strategies:

    • Nonviolent resistance inspired by Gandhi (India) and Martin Luther King Jr. (United States).

  • Strategies used in important movements:

    • NAACP legal challenges to influence policy and lawmakers (e.g., Civil Rights Act of 1964).

    • Mass mobilization to pressure governments (examples include women’s rights movements such as the Women’s March 2017).

Hunter’s Tactics Typology (Resource: Daniel Hunter)

  • A table of tactics illustrating a range of strategic purposes and potential impacts; link provided in the slides.

  • Key categories include:

    • SYMBOLIC PROTEST: Used to raise public awareness and persuade targets to act; socially acceptable and often legal; can lead to follow-on actions.

    • NONCOOPERATION (economic and political): Undermines the authority of an unjust system by refusing to cooperate; channels frustration into more spirited action; leverages small numbers to grow a larger movement; highlights injustices within the system.

    • ALTERNATIVE COOPERATION: Act as if an alternative institution/policy is already in place; educates participants through experiential, participatory action; does not require large numbers to begin; prepares for repression because outcomes are clear.

Hunter’s Typology and Nonviolent Action

  • Hunter argues that nonviolent direct action often arises when institutional methods fail to resolve disputes; for example, the U.S. civil rights movement turned to nonviolent action after years of litigation failed to end segregation.

  • This shift to nonviolent direct action reflects a strategic adaptation to the limits of institutional channels (read Daniel Hunter typology).

Media, Mobilization, and Public Perception

  • Media are essential for spreading movement messages; traditional media (TV, radio, print) historically prominent (e.g., TV coverage of MLK speeches).

  • Modern movements increasingly rely on social media tools (Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram, TikTok) to disseminate frames, mobilize supporters, and coordinate actions.

  • Movements generally require media coverage more than mass media require movements; coverage is often limited or distorted due to gatekeeping (frames that downplay grievances or portray activists as radicals).

  • Gatekeeping role of traditional media shapes public perception and the framing of movement demands.

  • Social media enables movements to deploy their own frames and compete with traditional media for audiences; however, mainstream media coverage remains valued for broad public influence (e.g., Civil Rights framing as a moral issue of equality).

  • Two types of influence via social media:

    • Accelerating recruitment, mobilization, and dissemination of information (e.g., Arab Spring, Black Lives Matter).

    • Expanding spaces of mobilization (hashtags and slogans like #BlackLivesMatter, #Icantbreath) that rally support and coordinate actions.

  • Social media can replace or redefine traditional mobilization structures, becoming new coordinating tools for many movements in recent years (Shirky, 2011).

  • See the linked tactic typology and Shirky (2011) references in the course materials for deeper reading.

Readings and References

  • McAdam, Doug; McCarthy, John D.; Zald, Mayer N. (1988). Social Movements. In Handbook of Sociology, Smelser (ed.). Pp. 695–737. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Extracts in notes.

  • Hunter, Daniel. Tactic Typology (see commonslibrary link) – a guide to understanding the diversity of tactics, their strategic purposes, and potential impacts.

  • Shirky, Clay (2011). The impact of social media on social movements. Extracts referenced in notes.

  • Staggenborg, Suzanne (1988, 2021). Works cited for centralized vs informal structures and the role of leadership in social movements.

Practical Implications and Discussion

  • Do social media tools fundamentally transform the effectiveness of social movements? Consider recruitment speed, global reach, and potential gatekeeping/ distortion in traditional media coverage.

  • What balance should movements strike between centralized organization (for strategic consistency) and flexible, locally driven action (for legitimacy and adaptability)?

  • How do framing and moral narratives influence participation rates and long-term commitment among supporters?

  • Consider ethical implications of tactics that may undermine social order (e.g., civil disobedience vs. destructive actions) and how organizations justify these choices to supporters and the public.

Connections to Foundational Concepts

  • Relative deprivation, political opportunities, resource mobilization, and framing collectively explain why movements emerge and how they grow.

  • The integration of SMOs within broader movements demonstrates how organizational design (bureaucratization, centralization) shapes tactics and outcomes.

  • Media theory (gatekeeping, framing, agenda-setting) explains both the visibility of movements and the reception by broader publics.

  • The evolution of mobilization ecosystems from traditional mass media to social networks reflects ongoing shifts in communication technologies and collective action.

Key Terms to Remember

  • Relative deprivation theory

  • Political process theory

  • Resource mobilization theory

  • Framing (Tarrow, 2011)

  • SMO (Social Movement Organization)

  • Bureaucratization / Centralization (Gamson 1990)

  • Collective campaign (Staggenborg, 2021)

  • Contentious performances

  • Nonviolent resistance (Gandhi, MLK)

  • Tactical typology (Daniel Hunter)

  • Gatekeeping (media theory)

  • Hashtag campaigns (e.g., #BlackLivesMatter, #Icantbreath)

  • Civil Rights Act (1964)

  • Greenpeace, NAACP, SNCC, CORE, ANC

  • Shirky (2011) on social media and movements

  • Arab Spring, BLM, Civil Rights Movement as case references

Endnote

  • For further detail, consult the linked tactic typology PDF and the cited readings to explore how these theories are applied in empirical studies of specific movements.