sociology Unit 4 ASOS 2 - social movements

purpose of social movements

- Social movements emerge in response to perceived inequality, injustice, oppression, and/or demands that go unfulfilled. •They engage in collective actions and activities in pursuit of the movement's goals and hope to raise public awareness of key issues that they view as important

Co-optation

A social movement can also decline if it is highly dependent on a central authority or charismatic leader. Co-optation occurs whenleaders leave or are significantly influenced by others outside of the movement. This influence may involve offers of money, prestige or power Some leaders of social movements may also use their position of power to serve their own interests May occur when there is a perception that the group/ leader has 'sold out' to industry groups

social movement

A social movement involves a group engaged in an organised effort to achieve social change. - They usually form in order to promote or resist social change

Failure

A social movement may end due to organizational failures, such as poor leadership, loss of interest among members or inadequate financial resources • additionally, Division can occur due to internal conflicts over goals, tactics, and strategies

alternative social movements

Alternative social movements encourage individuals to change their own behaviour. Their aim is to help specific people to alter their lives by changing certain attitudes &/or types of behaviour

how did animals australia use power

Animals Australia has a petition available on its website (animalsaustralia.org, date accessed 20/08/2020) that calls for a complete ban to be imposed on the live export of animals. Right under the confronting photos of animals being tortured though live exports , a petition can be found which underlines how individuals who want to stop live exports can act to create change; the petition calls for them to "condemn the inherent cruelty of live export." And calls for them to sign the petition in order to "urge the Australian government to end this unacceptable trade". -The creation of the petition itself is a show of power because it is a proactive step forward to make a genuine change and correspondingly is a commanding move as it brings the movement closer to its objective. This is because an increase in signatures on the petition is directly correlated to the likelihood of live export of animals being banned as the more signatures the movement has, the harder it gets for the government to ignore the petition and its demands giving Animals Australia more leverage in influencing the government to completely Ban Live Exports. - Therefore, the petition is utilized as a form of power through which the campaign is able to widen their membership, giving Animals Australia more resources and popularity to "achieve desired ends" (Weber) and extend "kindness, compassion, and respect extend to all living beings" and strive to " shine a light in the darkness and illuminate the pathway to a kinder world for all." (animalsaustralia.org).

make mainstream

Beyond the reasons outlined by Miller, a fifth reason for the decline of social movements is that it becomes established within the 'mainstream' - That is, their goals or ideologies are adopted by the mainstream and there is no longer any need for a movement

THE STAGES IN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Despite the differences in their structure, values and goals, sociologists have identified four stages in the lifecycle of most social movements --> emergence, coalescence, bureaucratization, decline

emanuel expots use of power

Emanuel Exports, which is one of the largest live export companies in Australia, resisted the Animals Australia 's Ban Live Exports campaign through the use of illegitimate power. Illegitimate power refers to power that requires coercion to force compliance or power that is not sanctioned or approved by society Emanuel Exports utilised illegitimate power to resist the Ban Live Exports movement as they actively evaded the imposition of suspension on licence to continue live export. After "More than 2,400 sheep died of heat stress on the Awassi Express voyage in August 2017" (The Guardian 2019) the government took away the exporting licence of the export compony the following year in August. However, Emanuel Exports resisted this suspension of their licence. In an attempt to "sidestep the first suspension" (The Guardian 2018), Emanuel Exports worked to continue their trade through a fully owned subsidiary EMS Rural Exports. However, to do so the company had to reshuffle its directors by removing Graham Daws and appointing his son as the new director. By utilising a licence through their subsidiary company EMS Rural Exports Emanuel Exports intended to illegally "export the 60,000 sheep stranded in a feedlot in Perth using a separate licence." (The Guardian 2018) However, this resistance to the social movement to Ban Live Exports was ultimately rendered futile. This is because the agricultural department of Australia eventually suspended Emanuel Exports as well as their subsidiary and their plan to trade 60 000 sheep stranded in Perth. As such the company has been ineffective in the ability to 'resist' the desired social change of Animal's Australia.

COALESCENCE

It involves leaders determining policies, deciding on tactics, building morale, and recruiting new members. Often more people become involved in the activities of the original small group due to the publicity surrounding an initial protest.. They join together, to organise the activities required to achieve their goal

DECLINE

Most social movements end at some point Frederick Miller (1983) outlined four reasons why this occurs: success, failure, co-optation, and repression

Redemptive social movements

Redemptive social movements seek radical change in individuals. They wish to help people 'redeem' or completely change their lives. Want to radically change many things about a person

reformative social change

Reformative social movements aim for limited social change, but target all members of society. Involves groups who are generally satisfied with the existing society, but who seek limited change in some specific areas. They generally work within the existing political system to promote moderate change. Aim to change specific parts of a social system for the better

Relative Deprivation Theory

Relative deprivation theory argues that social movements occur when a relatively large number of individuals feel deprived of what they consider to be necessary for their well-being and happiness. The Sociologist Alexis de Tocqueville et al (2011) noted that people often rebel when things are improving. When social and economic conditions begin to improve so too do expectations . It is when the rate of improvement does not match expectations that people feel deprived

Repression

Repression occurs when authorities, or agents acting on behalf of the authorities, use measures (sometimes violent) to control or destroy a social movement The more revolutionary the social movement, the more likely authorities will attempt to repress it

Revolutionary social movements

Revolutionary social movements are the most extreme of all the groups and emerge from a strong dissatisfaction within an existing society. They seek to apply a specific ideology or belief system to drastically change a society's fundamental structure or practice

social change

Social Change refers to the alteration of culture and social institutions over time, reflected in social behavior - The overall purpose of a social movement is to achieve social change

EMERGENCE

Social movements emergein response to a belief that social injustice or environmental concerns exist within society Some groups, such as the civil rights and women's movements, are the result of widespread social dissatisfaction • Other groups address broad social issues, including people who feel they do not have adequate financial resources or housing, and those who advocate for the human rights of other • There are also social movements that are formed by a small group of activists wanting to increase public awareness about an issue, and then grow into larger movements (e.g. the Australian suffragettes)

BUREAUCRATISATION

The third stage It is common for a social movement to become bureaucratic as it develops in order to establish itself as a political force E.g. it may create a set of rules and procedures, maintain files, allocate specialized roles, engage paid staff and develop a hierarchical leadership and management structure Some sociologists have noted that at this stage, the bureaucratic requirements of the movement take away 'energy' that would otherwise have been directed towards the group's original goals (e.g. attending protest rallies or environmentalists chaining themselves to trees)

Publicity

advertisements, posters, graffiti or other means of spreading a movement's message E.g. Animal Australia's online advertisements and postcards lobbying the Federal Government to ban live export of animals

Redemptive Social Movements example

alcoholics anonymous--> fellowship of people who share "experience strength and hope" so they may solve their common problem and assist individuals recovering from alcoholism specifically targets alcoholics who want to recover from drinking. And they seek radical change in individuals in that they want to create widespread change within the individual by assisting them in achieving and maintaining sobriety

revolutionary movement example

french revolution ( 1789-99) eg. of actions is people storming bastille palace on july 14th 1789 affected all people = as it completey restrucured the whole society therefore every one in society was influenced Radical change= ended monarchy and fuedlism in france - introduced the idea of liberty therefore completely changing politicla structuringa and social structuing of the country.

coordinated demands

letters, emails, or other messages to the social movement's target(s)/opposition E.g. letter-writing by Amnesty International supporters who oppose capital punishment

civil disobedience

members of a group defying the law to show how strongly they feel about an issue E.G, current protests in Hong Kong or damaging logging equipment

example of alternative social movements

nikki's foundation- people against distracted driving - What --> established on October 10th, 2012 in memory of Nikki Kellenyi an 18-year-old victim of distracted driving - purpose of PADD is " prevention of distracted driving through public awareness and education" - example of action --> sign in American schools "don't drive distracted" alternative social movement as it targets specific individuals "those who want a safer future" on the roads by not being distracted while driving. Additionally, they aim for a specific change to "eliminate" distracted driving behaviors and therefore distracted driving fatalities

protest marches

public gatherings to express how people feel about an issue E.g. BLM, climate change

reformative social movements example

suffragettes - womens suffrage movement was a woldwide social movement that was predominatly active from the late 19th centuary to early 20th cetuary in australia--> brache of feminism movemnt - movement is reformative as it desires limited change reguarding equal right to vote but targets all of society - they accomplished change theorgh the Women's suffarage petition in 1891 which gained 30,000 signitures and was presented to the Victorian parliamnet. -->filfills idea of reformative not revolutionary as women utalising the govenment to gain vote

Success

• In some rare cases the social movement accomplishes its goals and has no reason to continue • For example, the suffrage movement ceased after it won the right for women to vote • Another example is the Australian Marriage equality movement

use of power

•All sociological discussion about the concept of power begins with Max Weber's (1978) definition •Power, he said, is the ability to achieve desired ends despite resistance from others •Power may be derived from a number of sources--> Such as physical sources, people power, economic resources, access to and use of ICT, media, intellectual or political resources •Individuals with power find it easier to create OR resist social change compared to those without power- Social movements with more power have greater access to resources and are therefore more likely to achieve social change--> Likewise, those individuals with power are more able to resist and/or repress the actions of social movements which have less power.

NSM according to Jurgen Habermas (1984)

•German theorist Jurgen Habermas (1984) argued that NSMs are concerned with defense of the "life world" •It is Habermas' view that social movements form to defend against bureaucracy and to raise awareness about quality of life, democratic participation and identity

New Social Movements theory

•New social movements theory suggests that post- industrial social movements differ from older movements in terms of how they negotiate the distribution of power in society.Most new social movements emerge with a desire to focus on improving social and physical conditions. Mario Diani (1992) has identified three common characteristics shared by most new social movements: an informal network of interactions between activist groups, individuals and organisations--> a sense of collective identity--> a sense of opposition to or conflict with mainstream politics about the need for social change

example of Relative Deprivation Theory

•The deprivation theory can be used to explain the emergence of Australian Marriage Equality as it refers to when a relatively large number of people feeling as if they are being deprived of their wishes upon unfavourable comparison to another group. AME first emerged in 2004 when Former PM John Howard changed the wording of the Marriage Act 1961, to state that marriage was between 'a man and a woman'. This led to a feeling of inequality for same-sex couples when comparing their social status to other Australians as well as the rights afforded to them . Seeking the legalisation of same sex marriage and the "health benefits and resources" that heterosexual couples were getting, Australian Marriage Equality began with the aim of attaining the "equal treatment" of all couples. In addition, as members of AME compared themselves and their situations to that of heterosexual couples both married and with children, as well as the rights of same-sex couples in countries that had already achieved marriage equality, they believed they were being deprived of their "rights" - this being the right to marry. As members of the group saw these factors as ones which were essential to their well-being and happiness, and feel as if their happiness was being impaired, a sense of deprivation is evident.