Social movements refer to any group alliances that are formed to react to a change in society by either carrying out one, resisting or undoing it. The individuals have a connection as a result of common interests they share and majorly focus on issues that are political or social; current social areas focus on four major problems i.e. environmental problems, political rights, rights of employees at workplaces and peace movements aimed at achieving peace. Social movements have a life cycle in which they develop, they make their target or fail at it and eventually stop existing. Sociologists have come up with several theories to explain the emergence of social movements over time. This paper aims at expounding on three theories of social movements using examples of social movements that can be explained by the theories. The three theories are; Resource Mobilization Theory, Culture theory and New Social Movements Theory (Staggenborg, 2016)
Resource Mobilization Theory focuses on the importance of resources to ensure the growth and success of a social movement. These resources include time, media, money, labor among other factors that affect the implementation and functioning of a social movement. The assumptions of this theory include the fact that the success of this movement depends on the pooling of resources and the kind of resources that influences the activities of the movement. The theory has however received criticism that there is an exaggeration on the dependence of money yet most of the social movements depend on other factors. An example of a social movement explained by the Resource Mobilization theory is the African-American Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s commonly referred to as the Civil Rights Movement whose goals was to end the rampant racial segregation. The movement entailed the Montgomery bus boycotting which involved mobilization of other means of transportation for the achievement of the protest (Roose et al. 2016)
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Culture Theory is built upon the Political Process Theory and Resource Mobilization but expands them in two ways. The two theories factor in the aspect of injustice in their concepts but Culture theory places that issue on the forefront claiming that for an active social movement there is the need for the development of an injustice frame. The structure comprises of ideas and symbols that clearly exemplify the problem and ways in which it can be solved. Culture theory talks about the free-rider problem and assures that it will provide motivation for people to join a movement as much as they can still benefit without even participating. An example of a social movement explained by the culture theory is the Environmental Movement which is an international movement aimed at addressing environmental issues. Environmental protection societies help in creating awareness and legislations encourage individuals to join movements that aim at environmental conservation (Staggenborg, 2016)
The final form of theory is the New Social Movements Theory which aims at explaining the new social movements that emerged after the 1960s which are different from the past social movements. The new movements are based on factors such as gender, race, ethnicity, human rights, and environmentalism among other factors. The actors in this theory are majorly the middle-class individuals and mostly are locally organized to focus on human rights and not on materialistic issues such as economic wellbeing. The people running such movements tend to focus on single issues and are regarded as anti-authoritarian. An example of social movement explained by this theory is Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer social movement that advocates for reception of such people in the society with a common goal of social equality. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century sexual behavior by these people was unacceptable and was considered as a crime, but over the years movements have been created to fight for their rights (Buechler, 2016)
To sum it up, social movements have been in existence over time, and new movements will emerge in the coming years depending on the changing and emerging trends across the globe. Sociologists have the task to come up with theories that explain the existence of social movements is order to provide information behind their emergence. Social movements tend to get better with time because of the advancement in technologies and communication that have created an enabling ground to mobilize people around the world. The theories developed by sociologists form a basis for the emergence of social movements, their failures, and successes, created by individuals aimed at ensuring their good.
References
Buechler, S. M. (2016). Understanding social movements: theories from the Classical Era to the present . New York: Routledge
Roose, Jochen, & Dietz, Hella. (2016). Social Theory and Social Movements . Vs Verlag Fur Sozialwissenschaften.
Staggenborg, S. (2016). Social movements .
http://cnx.org/contents/AgQDEnLI@3.53:zqE5zZje@5/Social-Movements
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Introduction_to_Sociology/Social_Movements#Resource-Mobilization_Theory
