Political Sociology - Social Movements

Social movements - a type of collective behavior Collective behavior also includes: * Crowd Behavior – gatherings – stopping to watch someone in the street – at a concert – protest Gustave le Bon – contagion theory – mob mentality – football hooligans, riots * Mass behavior – people engaged in similar activities without necessarily being in the same place. Fads – practices followed enthusiastically for a relatively short time period – Atkins diet, certain phrasesFashions - style of behavior or appearance widespread

Social Movements :Sociologists begin studying movements in the 40s/50sWhat were they concerned about? Fascism/communism – Mass society theory – need to find meaning/belong to something bigger than themselves. (DOESN”T explain earlier either but challenged by 60s, civil rights)

Civil rights movement– tactics, strategies, leaders…. Not people with a weird psychological need – rational response to oppression/ exclusion Activism as a rational response by oppressed groups to address their circumstances: Relative deprivation theory.... What else might this explain? Labor movements, suffrage…. Women’s vote 1920.... (other examples...)

So sociologists started to think about social movements as rational actors – what did they need to do to win? Resources, volunteers, organizational capacity - Resource Mobilization Theory (later) Political Process Model - importance of 'political opportunity structure' – favorable internal and external constraints – expanded political opportunities, indigenous organizational strength, shared cognitions (ideas about injustice). Focuses heavily on structure, downplays emotions and culture.

New Social Movement theory (mainly European) - What is different about social movements now? Wave of protest in the 60s – anti-war, new left, women, lgbt, free speech Identity, environment – Broader concerns – POST-materialism – not just material conditions a la Marx, relative deprivation DISAGREE about how ‘NEW’ – BUT just looking at resources doesn’t explain how or why people get involved….http://www.lse.ac.uk/middleEastCentre/Events/events2014/New-Social-Movements-and-the-Question-of-Org...

Postmaterialism - related to Maslow's hierarchy of needs - New Social Movements concerned with more abstract values rather than basic material needs