Social Movements and Social Change Chapter 18
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada 18-2 Early Explanations of Collective Behaviour Charles MacKay ( ) Herd Mentality Gustav LeBon ( ) Collective Mind Crowds and feelings of anonymity Feelings of invincibility Contagion
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada 18-3 Early Explanations of Collective Behaviour Herbert Blumer ( ) “Acting Crowd” An excited group that moves toward a goal Tension or unrest Exciting event Milling A common object of attention Common impulses
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada 18-4 Blumer’s Model of How an Acting Crowd Develops
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada 18-5 Contemporary Theories of Collective Behaviour The Minimax Strategy Costs and rewards of participation
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada 18-6 Contemporary Theories of Collective Behaviour Emergent Norms New definitions of “right and wrong” The ego-involved The concerned The insecure The curious spectators The exploiters
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada 18-7 Forms of Collective Behaviour Riots and Demonstrations Violent crowd behaviour aimed against people and property Panics Unable to function properly due to fear; may flee Moral Panics Large numbers of people become concerned with some behaviour thought to threaten morality
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada 18-8 Forms of Collective Behaviour Rumours Thrive in conditions of ambiguity; fill in missing information Short-lived Fads and Fashions Fad: Behaviour that briefly catches people’s attention Spreads by suggestion, imitation, & identification with people already involved in the fad Fashion: A fad that lasts Urban Legends Stories with an ironic twist; sound realistic, but are false
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada 18-9 Social Movements Large numbers of people who organize to promote or resist social change Proactive Social Movements Reactive Social Movements Social Movement Organizations
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada Types of Social Movements Alterative Social Movements Seek only to alter a particular behaviour of individuals e.g., MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) Redemptive Social Movements Total change of individuals e.g., Christianity
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada Types of Social Movements Reformative Social Movements Reform a specific aspect of society e.g., environmental movements Transformative Social Movements Seek to transform the social order itself e.g., revolutions
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada Types of Social Movements
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada Tactics of Social Movements Membership The Publics Relationship to Authorities Other Factors
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada The Membership and Publics of Social Movements
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada Social Movements & the Media Public Opinion Propaganda
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada Why People Join Social Movements Mass Society Theory Mass society: an impersonal, industrialized, highly bureaucratized society Effects of social isolation Deprivation Theory The desire to achieve money, justice, status, or privilege “Relative deprivation theory”
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada Why People Join Social Movements Moral Issues and Ideological Commitment “moral shock” “ideological commitment” The Agent Provocateur “Insider” whose job it is to infiltrate social movements, perhaps sabotage activities
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada The Life Course of Social Movements 5 Stages Initial unrest and agitation Resource mobilization Organization Institutionalization Organizational decline and possible resurgence
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada Social Change The alteration of culture and society over time Brought about by people organized into social movements
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada How Technology Changes Society Technology Tools Skills or procedures to make and use tools Postindustrial or Postmodern Societies Technology: Artificial means of extending human abilities New Technologies
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada How Technology Changes Society Modernization The changes brought about by industrialization Effects on social life
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada Comparing Traditional & Modern Societies
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada Technology: Ogburn’s Theory of Social Change Invention Discovery Diffusion Cultural Lag A Two-Way Process?
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada Technology: Transforming Society Transformation of Existing Technologies Changes in Social Organization Changes in Ideology Transformation of Values Transformation of Social Relationships
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada Technology: Transforming Society The Automobile Displacement of Existing Technology Effects on Cities Changes in Architecture Changed Courtship Customs and Sexual Norms Effects on Women’s Roles
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada Technology: Transforming Society The Computer Medicine Education The Workplace
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada Technology: Transforming Society Cyberspace and Social Inequalities in the 21st Century Information superhighway Information haves and have-nots Who controls the superhighway?
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada Contemporary Theories of Social Change Evolutionary Theories Unilinear Theories Multilinear Theories Marxist Conflict Theories Cyclical Theories Feminist Theories Postmodern Theories
Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education Canada Contemporary Theories of Social Change