10.3 Social Movements
LO 10.3: Summarize how social movements work.
This chapter focuses on one form of collective behavior: social movements. Social movements are ongoing and organized efforts that mobilize people to promote or resist real or perceived social change. The United States resulted from a social movement whereby the colonists (or patriots) won their independence from Great Britain through protests, including the Boston Tea Party and the Revolutionary War. Since then, much social change has occurred because of social movements, including abolition (to end slavery), temperance (to reduce alcohol consumption), women’s suffrage (women’s voting), and more. During the 1950s and 1960s, the civil rights movement secured equal rights under the law for Black Americans (such as voting). The 1960s and 1970s saw the expansion of rights for women (such as the ability to obtain credit or a loan).
The 2020s have seen social movements related to COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, and more. Social movements, however, occur worldwide. Some may be geographically bound, such as the election-denial movement, which promotes the conspiracies that the 2020 U.S. presidential election was rigged, and that there is widespread voter fraud in the United States. Other social movements are transnational. For example, social movements appeared in 2023 to protest the Israel-Hamas War (2023 – present). People protested Israel’s military actions against civilians in Gaza as well to put pressure on governments to secure the release of the hostages that were taken by Hamas in October of 2023.
Through the 2023-2024 academic year, college students in the United States and abroad set up encampments on dozens of college campuses, demanding their leaders divest from investments with Israel. Police arrested students and faculty on at least 60 campuses in the United States (Rubin et al., 2024). Some universities in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada agreed to divest from companies associated with Israel (Al Jazeera, 2024). Many universities have since made their policies on protesting more restrictive (Touré & Quilantan, 2024). Israeli college students have also engaged in protests to pressure their government to secure a deal to rescue the hostages held by Hamas and to end the war in Gaza (Summers, 2024).
Photo 10.5
The Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia University, 2024
Individuals, groups, and formal organizations make up social movements. For example, an individual might take part in a social movement by signing a petition, donating money, or protesting for a particular cause. A person might engage in collective action by belonging to a group that supports a specific issue. For instance, their school might raise money for a cause by selling t-shirts, and they help by selling the t-shirts.
Social movements, however, consist of multiple events and actions that occur over time (Tilly & Wood, 2020). Moreover, a social movement can include formal “organizations that support or invoke a particular action” (Tilly & Wood, 2020, p. 9). These social movement organizations devote all their resources to a specific cause. Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund, and Fridays for Future are all examples of social movement organizations that advocate for policies that protect the environment. These organizations are largely made up of volunteers but also use paid staff and identifiable leaders.
Photo 10.6
Fridays for Future is a Social Movement Focused on Slowing Human-Caused Climate Change
