SOCIAL MOVEMENT

loosely organized but sustained campaign in support of a social goal, typically either the implementation or the prevention of a change in society's structure or values. Although social movements differ in size, they are all essentially collective. That is, they result from the more or less spontaneous coming together of people whose relationships are not defined by rules and procedures but who merely share a common outlook on society. Collective behaviour in crowds, panics, and elementary forms (milling, etc.) are of brief duration or episodic and are guided largely by impulse. When short-lived impulses give way to long-term aims, and when sustained association takes the place of situational groupings of people, the result is a social movement. loosely organized but sustained campaign in support of a social goal, typically either the implementation or the prevention of a change in society's structure or values. Although social movements differ in size, they are all, essentially, collective. That is, they result from the more or less spontaneous coming together of people whose relationships are not defined by rules and procedures but who merely share a common outlook on society. Social movements have existed throughout history, but those of the last several centuries are best understood. In the 18th century, Methodism swept across England and America in one of the many examples of a religious social movement. In the 19th century, the international Socialist movement grew out of smaller political struggles in individual European countries. The issue of slavery spawned several social movements in the United States, most notably Abolitionism in the North and Secessionism in the South. The 20th century has seen fascistic movements in Europe and the continued movement for civil rights in America. Recently, many countries have seen a revival of the movement against nuclear arms. As noted, social movements are directed toward a social goal. In most cases, movements exist to promote changes in the existing social order, but sometimes they hope to preserve the status quo in the face of threatened changes. Thus, social movements are testimony to the belief that people can effectively shape their societies to fit a desired pattern. Two areas are looked to for the causes of social movements. First, researchers examine the conditions within the given society. Apparently, discontentdue, perhaps, to poverty or a conflict in valuesis alone not sufficient for generating a movement. The people who are dissatisfied must also have hope. That is, they must believe they have a genuine chance to change societysay, because they feel that the authorities are vulnerable or they themselves are well organized. Second, researchers consider the psychological factors that lead individuals to join social movements. The satisfaction gained from participation in a group seems particularly important, especially for people who lack significant attachments in their daily lives. Because social movements are goal-directed, they are held together primarily by their members' shared possession of the goal, not by a framework of codified agreements. Thus, movements do not operate according to fixed procedures; instead, they are fluid in structure, and their operations are guided by standards that appear at a given moment to serve their long-range goals. For this reason, social movements usually lack formal leaders. An individual rises to power by persuading the members that he or she best comprehends the goals of the movement and has the most effective plan for achieving them. In keeping with the informality of social movements, membership is determined merely by a person's belief in the goal of the movement. Members of a movement, however, typically share a sense of group identity, which manifests itself in a number of ways. For example, members often behave differently with other members than they do with nonmembers, and they tend to espouse uncritically the ideological positions sanctioned by the movement. There is wide variation in the duration of social movements, though a lower limit can be fixed at several weeks. Within their life span, social movements commonly undergo certain shifts. First, leadership tends to shift among charismatic visionaries who inspire the membership, intellectuals who formulate ideology, and organizers who handle practical affairs. Second, membership tends to grow, causing a shift from a small core of highly dedicated people to a more varied group whose commitment is less absolute. Third, the movement's goals themselves can shift, generally becoming wider in scope than when the movement began. Corresponding to their causes, social movements have two sorts of effects. At the psychological level, participation in a movement can have profound effects on a person's life. But whereas a person might experience satisfaction in belonging to a group, an observer might think that the member has surrendered his or her freedom of thought. Activity within a movement can, however, prepare a person for activity outside it; in particular, social movements can provide trained leaders for the society at large. Also at the social level, movements sometimes achieve specific social changes. But even short of the implementation of a given social policy, a social movement can be successful if it convinces society to adopt its moral values. Additional reading Rudolf Heberle, Social Movements: An Introduction to Political Sociology (1951), develops general theories but focuses on the relationship between social movements and political parties. Clarence W. King, Social Movements in the United States (1956), develops general principles from the analysis of selected social movements. Hans Toch, The Social Psychology of Social Movements (1965); and Muzafer Sherif and Carolyn W. Sherif, Social Psychology (1969), represent theoretical approaches, placing greater emphasis on individual motivational and perceptual processes. Lyford P. Edwards, The Natural History of Revolution (1927, reprinted 1970); Crane Brinton, The Anatomy of Revolution, rev. ed. (1965); and George S. Pettee, The Process of Revolution (1938, reissued 1971), represent attempts to develop general theories of revolution as a type of social movement through the analyses of American and European revolutions. A similar effort based on studies of revolutions in Latin America and the Middle East is found in Carl Leiden and Karl M. Schmitt, The Politics of Violence (1968, reprinted 1980). There are numerous studies of particular social movements. Representative of those that include theoretical propositions, as well as historical descriptions, are E.J. Hobsbawm, Primitive Rebels: Studies in Archaic Forms of Social Movement in the 19th and 20th Centuries, 3rd ed. (1971); Cora Du Bois, The 1870 Ghost Dance (1939, reprinted 1976); Kenelm Burridge, Mambu: A Melanesian Millennium (1960, reissued as Mambu: A Study of Melanesian Cargo Movements and Their Ideological Background, 1970), studies of nativistic movements; and Frederick Krantz (ed.), History from Below: Studies in Popular Protest and Popular Ideology in Honour of George Rud (1985). Analyses of Communism and Nazism are found in Philip Selznick, The Organizational Weapon: A Study of Bolshevik Strategy and Tactics (1952, reissued 1979); and Theodore Abel, Why Hitler Came into Power (1938, reprinted 1986). Essays on the Algerian revolution are found in Frantz Fanon, Studies in a Dying Colonialism (1965; originally published in French, 1959). Analyses of social movements in the United States are found in Thomas H. Greer, American Social Reform Movements: Their Pattern Since 1865 (1949, reprinted 1980); Lewis M. Killian, The Impossible Revolution? Black Power and the American Dream, 2nd ed. (1975); Jerome H. Skolnick, The Politics of Protest (1969); and Alec Barbrook and Christine Bolt, Power and Protest in American Life (1980). A source on the new social movements is Jrgen Habermas, Die Neue Unbersichtlichkeit: Kleine politische Schriften V (1985). Lewis M. Killian Neil J. Smelser