10.3c1 Relative Deprivation Theory

Relative deprivation theory argues that social movements appear when the standard of living drops relative to its earlier level or when people believe their standard of living should be improving or better than it is (Staggenborg, 2016; DeFronzo & Gill, 2020). People may organize and form a social movement when they believe their circumstances ought to be better than they are.

For instance, the number of people in the middle class has grown in Beijing, China, and as a result, more people are becoming homeowners. Due to how housing is constructed and bought in Beijing, many new homeowners did not visit the property before purchase. Many new homeowners were shocked to learn that they bought homes near landfills. Lin (2023) studied what motivated some of these homeowners to engage in environmental protest and learned that the landfills created a considerable stench during the warmer months. In this case, these homeowners expected their living standards to be better than they were, which prompted them to engage in environmental social movement organizing.

Photo 10.12

A Burning Landfill