What Is a Social Movement?
“We are living through unprecedented, historic events.”
You’ve probably heard that phrase more than once over the last few years. Between the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement against police brutality, and the growing urgency around climate change, it’s fair to say that these are significant times.
That said, there are few moments in American history that aren’t significant. Most Americans, across time, have witnessed history in the making. That’s because America has played host to many social movements led by renowned activists. Change is woven into its fabric.
What constitutes a social movement? Are the political campaigns of our times considered social movements? Today, we’re going to break down the classic characteristics of a social campaign, its various types, and look at some examples from American history.
Characteristics of Social Movements
Social movements can take many forms.
A number of different societal and psychological conditions can pre-date the growth of a social movement. One we’ve already mentioned is inequity. Whether due to race, class, gender, or any other identifying feature, when we notice that some people are not afforded the same opportunities as other people, we get frustrated.
Widespread discontent can inspire everyday, ordinary people to discuss what changes can be made and unite for a common purpose. Those discussions become written words. Those words spread far and wide, and new social movements begin.
There are also psychological conditions that can lead to the growth of a social movement. Being a part of a group and rallying around a cause can help people feel included and important. For people experiencing alienation and a sense of disenfranchisement, this type of group action can provide healing and community.
Typically, social movements also include a sense of hope that change is possible within the current system, or more radically, within a new, rebuilt system.
Let’s take a closer look at the conditions that help define a social movement.
Multiple Organizations in Pursuit of the Same Goals
It’s rare for a social movement to have one singular organization or leader. Usually, social movements contain several leaders, multiple organizations, and a diverse group of people.
Social movements frequently tackle large-scale, complicated issues that require a number of solutions to help address. As such, some members of the movement may be more attracted to certain solutions more than others. Their goals and values may be the same, but their actions, the politics they support, and the literature they read can vary.
Still, people feel a sense of membership when confronting social issues, like they’re a part of something bigger than themselves.
A Collective Mission To Bring About Change
You don’t often hear about social movements fighting to keep things exactly the same as they are. Change is an essential component of what makes a social movement spark.
Often, we associate change like that with movements that look to make progress for a more equitable society. The Civil Rights Movement certainly operated with that goal in mind.
That said, there are other types of changes a movement can look for. Conservative movements, for example, may look to restore elements of the past that have been lost or argue against social change advocated by other groups. Widespread political actions of every kind are often part of social movements.
In both cases, though, there is a belief that change is possible. The group does not accept the idea that our societal norms are set in stone.
The Sustained March Towards Progress
Last but not least, social movements frequently last for sustained periods of time. They do not have an abrupt life cycle and are not flashes in the pan.
Because of the nature of our democracy, real change in legislation or societal acceptance of an idea can take a long time. A real social movement is prepared for the hurry up and wait game. During different stages of social movements, we may see our causes hit milestones, then go quiet, rally up, and then go quiet again.
The biggest social movements in American history are the ones that endure. It sticks it out over short attention spans, retains members and participation, and walks the long road to change.
Different Types of Social Movements
Earlier, we mentioned that social movements don’t always necessarily air on the side of progress. In truth, there are a number of types of social movements, and we can distinguish one from another with a few key distinguishing points.
Reformist vs. Revolutionary Movement
Most social movements need to believe that change is possible. Whether or not they believe change is possible within the current system is a different story.
A reform movement believes that the current state of society — government, policing, economy, etc. — can be tweaked, edited, and altered to reach the goals of that movement.
Revolutionary social movements believe the current state of society cannot be repaired to reach the goals of that movement. Therefore, they often advocate for the upheaval and rebuilding of the status quo.
Revolutionary social movements can often be a harder sell to the wider population as a powerful change of that level can be disruptive to day-to-day life and shared values. Still, there are plenty of examples of revolutionary social movements.
Reactionary vs. Progressive
Remember that change can move in either direction. Another way of classifying social movements is to examine whether they’re arguing for something or against something.
Reactionary social movements respond to change. They argue that laws, values, and the general order of things from before the change should be restored.
Progressive social movements promote the change itself. They want to issue a new order and introduce new values to society.
Radical vs. Moderate
Finally, there is a question of how the social movement brings about its intended goals. Some movements take more extreme measures to spread their message and fight against the status quo. Others work within the existing structures.
On the surface, this may look like a question of violence vs. non-violence. It’s true that many social movements over the last few centuries have grappled with the question of whether to invoke violence in pursuit of its objectives. A violent social movement would be considered a radical one.
However, some movements that are non-violent would also be considered radical. Take, for example, the Civil Rights Movement’s tradition of civil disobedience. By breaking the law — unjust as it was — the movement disobeyed the order of things. Remember, radical doesn’t necessarily mean violent or dangerous. It can also mean refusing to move to the back of the bus.
Historic Examples of Social Movements
On that note, let’s take a look at some historic examples of social movements, all of which played a significant role in shaping the country we live in today.
The Civil Rights Movement
We’ve already mentioned the Civil Rights Movement several times, and it’s no wonder why. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the movement sought to address systemic issues of racism in the country, including segregation, discrimination, and the disenfranchisement of Black Americans.
Importantly, the Civil Rights Movement included a number of leaders, scholars, and organizations. The Black Panthers (Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton), The Nation of Islam (Malcolm X), and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (Martin Luther King Jr.) all worked towards the mission of equal rights in different ways and with different rhetoric.
Hundreds of thousands of people participated in marches and sit-ins to help bring about the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Women’s Right To Vote
The women's suffrage movement, which secured women the right to vote, is a good example of how some social movements take a lot of time to realize their goals.
The campaign for the vote started as early as the 1820s but did not get ratified into the constitution until 1920. That law, however, did not guarantee the right to vote for all women.
The Suffragettes, led by women like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, often left Black American women out of the conversation. The Suffragettes even argued against amendments that extended equal citizenship to Black men, but not white women.
Black women didn’t fully secure the right to vote until the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which is unbelievably recent. It’s a shocking example of how two social movements, seemingly with similar goals, can overlap and experience friction.
Black Lives Matter
One of the more recent examples of a social movement is Black Lives Matter, which shows us what can happen when a social movement is powered by the internet.
The movement started in 2013, following the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who targeted and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The movement, which began on social media with a hashtag, seeks to highlight a pattern of inequality when it comes to police violence against Black Americans.
Black Lives Matter grew exponentially in 2020 following yet another police killing, this time of George Floyd, an unarmed man in Minnesota. The video of Floyd’s death spread everywhere and sparked a national reaction the likes of which the country had never seen.
Floyd’s killing and others like it received international attention and prompted the biggest protests in American history. More than 40 percent of counties in the United States held a Black Lives Matter event.
Collective Challenges and Collective Action
It’s disappointing that we as a nation are still dealing with so much inequality and hardship, but the success of past and current social movements can inspire us to keep fighting.
Sources:
Social Movement | Encyclopedia Britannica
Black Lives Matter May Be the Largest Movement in U.S. History | The New York Times
Woman Suffrage and the 19th Amendment | National Archives
21.3 Social Movements – Sociology | University of Michigan Libraries