Transcript social movement - Redlands Community College

Chapter 21
Collective Action and
Social Movements
Chapter Outline
How to Spark a Riot
Nonroutine Collective Action: The Lynch Mob
Social Movements
Case Study: Strikes and the Union Movement in
America
Framing Discontent
Social Movements From the 18th to the 21st
Century
*Collective Action
Occurs when people act in unison to bring about
or resist social, political, and economic change.
Routine collective actions typically follow
established patterns of behavior in existing
social structures.
Nonroutine collective actions take place when
usual conventions cease to guide social action
and people bypass or subvert established
structures.
Frequency of Lynching,
United States, 1882–1935
*Breakdown Theory of Nonroutine
Collective Action
Three Factors:
A group of people must be economically
deprived or socially rootless.
Their norms must be strained or disrupted.
They must lose the capacity to act rationally by
getting caught up in the madness of crowds.
Question
Civil disobedience is better to use than militant
activity for groups to get their point across for
social change.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Strongly agree
Agree somewhat
Unsure
Disagree somewhat
*Deprivation, Crowds, and the
Breakdown of Norms
Most pre-1970 sociologists would have said
lynchings were caused by:
1.
Background of economic deprivation
experienced by impoverished and marginal
members of the community.
2.
The inherent irrationality of crowd behavior.
3.
The serious violation of norms.
*Deprivation and Poverty
Absolute deprivation is a condition of
extreme poverty.
Relative deprivation is an intolerable gap
between the social rewards people feel
they deserve and the social rewards they
actually receive.
*Assessing Breakdown Theory:
Lynchings
Deprivation

Research shows no association between
fluctuations in economic well-being and
lynchings that took place between the 1880s
and the 1930s.
*Assessing Breakdown Theory:
Lynchings
Contagion is the process by which
extreme passions supposedly spread
rapidly through a crowd like a contagious
disease.

Many lynchings were neither spontaneous or
unorganized.
*Assessing Breakdown Theory:
Lynchings
Strain refers to breakdowns in
traditional norms that precede
collective action.

Lynching was a means by which black
farm workers were kept tied to the
southern cotton industry after the abolition
of slavery threatened to disrupt the
industry’s traditional, captive labor supply.
Question
What flaws have sociologists uncovered in
breakdown theory?
a.
b.
c.
d.
Elected leaders generally do not play a part in mob
actions.
Levels of deprivation are not commonly associated
with the frequency or intensity of outbursts of
collective action.
Even nonroutine collective action is usually structured.
b. and c. only
Answer: d
Sociologists uncovered the following flaws
in breakdown theory:


Levels of deprivation are not commonly
associated with the frequency or intensity
of outbursts of collective action.
Even nonroutine collective action is
usually structured.
Social Disorganization and
Collective Action: Prison Riots
Prison riots tend to occur under certain
circumstances:
1.
2.
Government officials make new
demands of prison administrators
without providing resources.
Corrections staff oppose the reforms.
Social Disorganization and
Collective Action: Prison Riots
Prison riots tend to occur under certain
circumstances:
3.
4.
Prison administrators take actions that inmates
perceive as unjust.
Inmates decide that living conditions should be
better and that rioting will draw attention to those
conditions.
*Rumors and Riots
Rumors are claims about the world that
are not supported by authenticated
information.
They are a form of communication that
takes place when people try to construct a
meaningful interpretation of an ambiguous
situation.
While rumor transmission is a form of
collective action, it typically intensifies just
before and during riots.
The Social Determinants
of Rumors
Question
Have you ever participated in an
organized protest?
a.
b.
Yes
No
*Solidarity Theory
Holds that social movements are social
organizations that emerge when
potential members:



mobilize resources
take advantage of new political
opportunities
avoid high levels of social control by
authorities.
*Resource Mobilization
Resource mobilization refers to the
process by which social movements
crystallize due to increasing
organizational, material, and other
resources of movement members.
*Political Opportunities
Political opportunities for collective action
and social movement growth occur during
election campaigns, when influential allies
offer insurgents support, when ruling
political alignments become unstable, and
when elite groups become divided and
conflict with one another.
*Social Control
Social control refers to the means by
which authorities seek to contain
collective action, including co-optation,
concessions, and coercion.
Question
According to solidarity theory, which of the following
factors is not among those that influence collective
action and the emergence of social movements?
a.
b.
c.
d.
social breakdown
resource mobilization
political opportunity
social control
Answer: a
According to solidarity theory, social
breakdown is not among the factors that
influence collective action and the
emergence of social movements.
Union Density
The number of union members in a given
location and time as a percentage of
nonfarm workers.
It measures the organizational power of
unions.
Unionization as % of Nonfarm Workers,
United States, 1925–2004
Frequency of Strikes with
1000+ Workers
Unemployment and
Frequency of Big Strikes, 1948–2004
*Framing Discontent
Frame alignment is the process by which
social-movement leaders make their
activities, ideas, and goals congruent with
the interests, beliefs, and values of
potential new recruits to their movement or fail to do so.
*Encouraging Frame Alignment
1. Social-movement leaders can reach out to
other organizations that contain people who are
sympathetic to the cause.
2. Movement activists can stress popular values
that have not been prominent in the thinking of
potential recruits.
3. Social movements can stretch their objectives
to win recruits who aren’t initially sympathetic to
the movement’s aims.
*Determinants of Collective Action and
Social Movement Formation
*History of Social Movements
1700 - social movements were small, localized,
and violent.
Mid-20th century - social movements were
large, national, and less violent.
Late 20th century - social movements
developed broader goals, recruited highly
educated people, and developed global potential
for growth.
Question
Examples of old and new social movements
are, respectively:
a.
b.
c.
d.
the labor movement and peasant movements
peasant movements and the environmental movement
the women’s movement and the environmental movement
the environmental movement and the women’s movement
Answer: b
Examples of old and new social
movements are, respectively peasant
movements and the environmental
movement.
*Social Movements and
Citizenship Rights
The history of social movements is a
struggle for the citizenship rights including:




civil citizenship - the right to free speech,
religion, and justice
political citizenship - the right to vote and
run for office
social citizenship - the right to a certain level
of economic security and full participation in
the life of society.
universal citizenship - the right of marginal
groups to full citizenship and the right of
humanity as a whole to peace and security.
*Social Movements and
Citizenship Rights
The history of social movements is a
struggle for the citizenship rights including:




civil citizenship - the right to free speech,
religion, and justice
political citizenship - the right to vote and
run for office
social citizenship - the right to a certain level
of economic security and full participation in
the life of society.
universal citizenship - the right of marginal
groups to full citizenship and the right of
humanity as a whole to peace and security.
*Social Movements and
Citizenship Rights
The history of social movements is a
struggle for the citizenship rights including:




civil citizenship - the right to free speech,
religion, and justice
political citizenship - the right to vote and
run for office
social citizenship - the right to a certain level
of economic security and full participation in
the life of society.
universal citizenship - the right of marginal
groups to full citizenship and the right of
humanity as a whole to peace and security.
*Social Movements and
Citizenship Rights
The history of social movements is a
struggle for the citizenship rights including:




civil citizenship - the right to free speech,
religion, and justice
political citizenship - the right to vote and
run for office
social citizenship - the right to a certain level
of economic security and full participation in
the life of society.
universal citizenship - the right of marginal
groups to full citizenship and the right of
humanity as a whole to peace and security.
*Social Movements and
Citizenship Rights
The history of social movements is a
struggle for the citizenship rights including:




civil citizenship - the right to free speech,
religion, and justice
political citizenship - the right to vote and
run for office
social citizenship - the right to a certain level
of economic security and full participation in
the life of society.
universal citizenship - the right of marginal
groups to full citizenship and the right of
humanity as a whole to peace and security.
Quick Quiz
1. Forms of collective action that are
usually nonviolent and follow
established patterns of behavior in
bureaucratic social structures are
called:
a. social movements
b. routine
c. petition drives
d. lobby formation
e. party formation
Answer: b
Forms of collective action that are usually
nonviolent and follow established patterns
of behavior in bureaucratic social
structures are called routine.
2. _________________ occurs when
people act in unison to bring about or
resist social, political, and economic
change.
Answer: collective action
1. Collective action occurs when people
act in unison to bring about or resist
social, political, and economic change.
3. A(n) _________________ is an
enduring collective attempt to change all
or part of the social order.
Answer: social movement
A social movement is an enduring
collective attempt to change all or part of
the social order.
4. According to breakdown theory, collective
action and social movements result from:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
economic deprivation
the irrationality of crowd behavior
instigation on the part of political leaders
all of these choices
economic deprivation and the irrationality of
crowd behavior
Answer: e
According to breakdown theory, collective
action and social movements result from
economic deprivation and the
irrationality of crowd behavior.
5. Frame alignment is the process by
which individual interests, beliefs, and
values either become congruent with
the activities, ideas, and goals of the
movement or fail to do so.
a.
b.
True
False
Answer: a
Frame alignment is the process by
which individual interests, beliefs, and
values either become congruent with
the activities, ideas, and goals of the
movement or fail to do so.
6. Around 1700 in Europe and North America,
social movements were typically:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
large, national in scope, and non-violent
large, local in scope, and violent
small, local in scope, and violent
small, local in scope, and non-violent
small, national in scope, and non-violent
Answer: c
Around 1700 in Europe and North
America, social movements were
typically small, local in scope, and
violent.