Chapter 16 Summary

Chapter 16 looks at social movements, which vary substantially in size and scope. Different movements also reflect distinct social movement histories and commitments. Some are organized around dominant social concerns such as environmental issues, social class, gender, and race and ethnicity. Social movements are a response to power imbalances in society, and are a mechanism by which relatively powerless individuals are able to exercise political power through collective action. Movements can be understood in terms of specific characteristics: movement strategies and tactics, how people become social movement participants, and movement life cycles.

Conflict theory notes how many social movements seek not only to exercise power but to do so in the service of producing a new social order grounded in equality. Feminist social theory is reflected in the three waves of feminism where each wave addressed specific forms of gendered inequality. Network theory is interested in how new ICTs enable decentralized social movement networks, which are emerging alongside more traditional centralized networks. New social movement theory looks at identity as a central factor explaining the aims of, and participation in, new social movements.

Social movements have applied various tactics to achieve their aims, and these include long-standing strategies such as petitions and public protests. Such tactics indicate to powerful actors that these movements have strength and unity behind them. More recent developments in social movements tactics include 'smart mobs' and 'hacktivism', enabled by ICTs.

Social movements by nature must learn to mobilize resources to achieve their aims, and in that sense they are not radically different from more formal organizations. Furthermore, as social organizations, social movements are not static. They go through definite stages: emergence, coalescence, bureaucratization, and potentially decline. Decline may occur due to success, thus vindicating the movement as a cause. Decline can also occur due to organizational failure, being coopted by alternative or competing interests, or being subordinated to control of existing authorities in society.