1. Social Movements

2. Social Movements
Social Movements: Long-term conscious effort to promote or prevent social change
May develop around any issue of public concern
Factors that distinguish social movements from other forms of collective behavior are that social movements:
Are long-lasting
Possess a highly structured organization with formally recognized leaders
Make a deliberate attempt to institute or block societal change

3. Types of Social Movements
Reactionary: Main goal is to reverse current social trends (turn back the clock)
Members are suspicious of and hostile toward social change
Ex: Ku Klux Klan
Conservative: Attempt to protect what they see as society’s prevailing values from change that they consider to be a threat to those values
Ex: Religious Right seeks to uphold traditional family and social values
Revisionary: Goal is to improve, or revise, some part of society through social change
Usually use legal channels to seek change
Ex: Women’s suffrage
Revolutionary: Goal is a total and radical change of the existing social structure
Ultimate aim is to overthrow existing government and replace it
Ex: American Revolution

4. Stages in the Life Cycle of Social Movements
Agitation
Small group of people attempts to stir up public awareness of the issue, often with the intention of gaining widespread support for the social movement
Legitimation
Social movement becomes more respectable as it gains increasing acceptance among the population
Leaders are now seen as legitimate spokespeople of a just cause (and not radicals)
Movement will often begin to attract media attention
Bureaucratization
Movement has developed a ranked structure of authority, official policies, and efficient strategies for the future
Institutionalization
Movement has become an established part of society

5. Life Cycle Example: Labor Union Movement
Agitation
Low pay and harsh conditions led many workers to seek support for unions
Legitimation
After years of violent confrontations and resistance, labor unions finally received official governmental recognition
Bureaucratization
Over the years, labor unions grew in size and number. Today they are firmly established and powerful organizations
Institutionalization
Labor unions are now so well established in society that they resist attempts to change their operating procedures

6. Explaining Social Movements
Relative Deprivation Theory: People join social movements because they feel deprived relative to other people or groups with whom they identify
Social movements arise when large numbers of people feel economically or socially deprived of what they think they deserve
Through movements, people seek to gain access to things they lack but others have
Often used to explain revolutionary social movements

7. Explaining Social Movements
Resource-Mobilization Theory : States that even the most ill-treated group with the most just cause will not be able to bring about change without resources
Resources necessary to generate a social movement include a body of supporters, financial resources, and access to the media
Body of supporters must include talented people who have the time and skills necessary to work toward change
Social movements must also be able to mobilize financial resources
Media coverage is the surest way to bring the movement to the attention of the most people possible
Has been criticizing for minimizing the importance of deprivation and dissatisfaction (both of which are necessary for the creation of social movements)

8. Social Change and Modernization

9. Social Change
Since sociology grew out of the social turmoil of the 1700s and 1800s, it is not surprising that sociologists devote much attention to the study of social change
Social Change: Alterations in various aspects of a society over time
Sociologists have suggested theories to explain the process of social change
Most significant theories are:
Cyclical Theory
Evolutionary Theory
Equilibrium Theory
Conflict Theory

10. Cyclical Theory
Cyclical Theory of Social Change: Views change from a historical perspective
Societies arise, go through various stages of development, and then decline.
Social change is a result of the natural tendency for societies to pass through stages of development
They view change as part of a continuing process
In some theories, societies are seen as passing through stages of development that mirror human life cycle
Societies are born, grow to maturity, decline in old age, and eventually die
Other theories hold that societies develop to a certain point and then reverse their development and will advance again in the future
Oswald Spengler and Pitrim Sorokin are the most notable theorists

11. Evolutionary Theory
Evolutionary Theory of Social Change: Views change as a process that moves in one direction, toward increasing complexity
As members of society attempt to adapt to social and physical conditions in their environment, they push society forward in development
Each new adaptation serves as the basis for future adaptations and change is seen as an additive process

12. Equilibrium Theory
Equilibrium Theory of Social Change: A change in one part of the system produces changes in all of the other parts of the system
This occurs because a social system attempts to maintain stability
When stability is disrupted by change in one part of the system, the other parts adjust to the degree needed to bring the system back into balance (equilibrium)
Although order has been restored, the new system is different from the old system which is social change
Critics argue that the emphasis on social order makes it difficult for equilibrium theory to explain widespread social change within or between societies

13. Conflict Theory
Conflict Theory of Social Change: Change results from conflicts between groups with opposing interests.
In most cases, conflicts arise from disputes over access to power and wealth
Social change is inevitable and therefore societies are in a constant state of change or potential change

14. Modernization

15. The Process of Modernization
Modernization: Process by which a society’s social institutions become increasingly complex as the society moves toward industrialization
Social scientists divide countries into 2 groups
More Developed: US, Canada, Japan, Australia
Less Developed: Nations in Latin America, Africa, and Asia
More developed countries have modernized more rapidly that less-developed nations and 2 theories help to explain why:
Modernization Theory
World-System Theory

16. Modernization Theory
Modernization Theory: The more-developed nations modernized because they were the first to industrialize
Modernized countries serve as a model and a source for technology and information for those undergoing modernization
It is believed that modernization will produce the same social changes in less-developed nations that it produced in more- developed nations
To help speed up the process, many industrialized nations established assistance programs, but they had little effect
Critics argue that the theory was doomed to failure because it did not take into account that less-developed nations face conditions that are different from those faced by more- developed nations such as:
Population differences
Economic dependence on the West
Antimodernization sentiments that view modernization as a threat to values

17. World-System Theory
World-System Theory: Views modernization in terms of the world economy
World system comprises of 3 types of nations
Core Nations: Most powerful developed nations that form the center of the world economy and control most of the world’s resources
US, Canada, Japan
Semiperipheral Nations: Between core and peripheral; they may be industrialized but may not play a central role in the world economy
Smaller Western European countries (Spain, Portugal) and newly developed Asian countries (South Korea, Taiwan)
Peripheral Nations: Control few productive resources and depend on the core nations for goods and to buy their main products
Poor countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia
Lack of economic growth in peripheral nations is a problem because it slows economic growth

18. Consequences of Modernization
Positive
Negative
An increase in a country’s standard of living
Longer life expectancies, lower birthrates, higher rates of literacy, decrease in economic and social inequality, and more personal comforts
Growth of industry and expansion of technology
Often accompanied by the arrival of electricity and communication technology
Establishment of education institutions
Family and religion lose some of their traditional authority
Government takes a larger role in directing people’s lives
Social relationships are likely to be weakened causing feelings of social isolation
Conflicting norms and role expectations
Soil, water, and air pollution