Rural social movements

PROJECT ABSTRACT/ SYNOPSIS

TITLE OF THE PROJECT: Rural social movements

INTRODUCTION: In a society a large number of changes have been brought about by efforts exerted
by people individually and collectively. Such efforts have been called social movements. A social
movement is defined as a collectively acting with some continuity to promote or resist a change in the
society or group of which it is a part. Social movement is a form of dynamic pluralistic behavior that
progressively develops structure through time and aims at partial or complete modification of the
social order. A social movement may also be directed to resist a change. Some movements are
directed to modify certain aspects of the existing social order whereas others may aim to change it
completely. The former are called reform movements and the latter are called revolutionary
movements. Social movements may be of numerous kinds such as religious movements, reform
movements or revolutionary movements. Lundberg defined social movement as a voluntary
association of people engaged in concerted efforts to change attitudes, behavior and social
relationships in a larger society.

Main features of social movement may be:

It is an effort by a group.

Its aim is to bring or resist a change in society

It may be organized or unorganized.

It may be peaceful or violent

Its life is not certain. It may continue for a long period or may die out soon.

Reform Movements:

1. Arya Samaj

Main principals of Arya Samaj

2. Satya Sodhak Samaj

Main Principles of Satya Sodhak Samaj

3. Ram Krishna Mission

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 Main principles of Shri Rama Krishna Paramahansa

4. Sri Narayanguru Dharma Paripalana Sabha

Peasant Movements

Backward Castes Movement

1. Self -respect Movement

2. Backward caste mobilization in North India

1. Mahar Movement

Middle Class Movements

Nativist Movement

Indian Environment Movement

LITERATURE REVIEW:

For this study, information from various primary and secondary sources has been taken.

RESEARCH QUESTION:

1 Whether these social movements have an impact on the rural side of india?

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY:

The researcher help to know about the rural social movements that take place in our country. Thre
researcher also focuses on the movements and their effect on the society.

SCOPE OF STUDY:

The scope of this research is vast. The researcher seeks to constrain the study within the ambit of
general notions, facts and case studies in relation to rural social movements.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:

The objective of the study is to focus on all the rural social movements that took place in our country.
And to learn why these movements have taken place in our country, the reason behind these
movements.

HYPOTHESIS:

Yes, social movements are effective on the rural side of india they do have an impact.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

Doctrinal method of study; descriptive.

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 CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………….. 6

HISTORY OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS…………………………………………... 7

GROWTH AND SPREAD OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS…………………………. 8

TYPES OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS……………………………………………… 9

ACTS AND MOVEMENTS………………………………………………………..10

DYNAMICS OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS………………………………………...14

THEORIES OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS………………………………………….15

CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………..21

BIBILIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………….22

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 INTRODUCTION

A social movement is a type of group action. Social movements can be defined as "organizational
structures and strategies that may empower oppressed populations to mount effective challenges and
resist the more powerful and advantaged elites". They are large, sometimes informal, groupings of
individuals or organizations which focus on specific political or social issues. In other words, they
carry out, resist, or undo a social change. They provide a way of social change from the bottom within
nations.

Modern Western social movements became possible through education (the wider dissemination of
literature) and increased mobility of labor due to the industrialization and urbanization of 19th-century
societies. It is sometimes argued that the freedom of expression, education and relative economic
independence prevalent in the modern Western culture are responsible for the unprecedented number
and scope of various contemporary social movements. However, others point out that many of the
social movements of the last hundred years grew up, like the Mau Mau in Kenya, to oppose Western
colonialism. Either way, social movements have been and continued to be closely connected with
democratic political systems. Occasionally, social movements have been involved in democratizing
nations, but more often they have flourished after democratization. Over the past 200 years, they have
become part of a popular and global expression of dissent.

In a society a large number of changes have been brought about by efforts exerted by people
individually and collectively. Such efforts have been called social movements. A social movement is
defined as a collectively acting with some continuity to promote or resist a change in the society or
group of which it is a part. Social movement is a form of dynamic pluralistic behavior that
progressively develops structure through time and aims at partial or complete modification of the
social order. A social movement may also be directed to resist a change. Some movements are
directed to modify certain aspects of the existing social order whereas others may aim to change it
completely. The former are called reform movements and the latter are called revolutionary
movements. Social movements may be of numerous kinds such as religious movements, reform
movements or revolutionary movements. Lundberg defined social movement as a voluntary
association of people engaged in concerted efforts to change attitudes, behavior and social
relationships in a larger society.

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 HISTORY OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

The early growth of social movements was connected to broad economic and political changes in
England in the mid-18th century, including political representation, market capitalization, and
proletarianization. The first mass social movement catalyzed around the controversial political figure,
John Wilkes. As editor of the paper The North Briton, Wilkes vigorously attacked the new
administration of Lord Bute and the peace terms that the new government accepted at the 1763 Treaty
of Paris at the end of the Seven Years' War. Charged with seditious libel, Wilkes was arrested after
the issue of a general warrant, a move that Wilkes denounced as unlawful - the Lord Chief Justice
eventually ruled in Wilkes favour. As a result of this episode, Wilkes became a figurehead to the
growing movement for popular sovereignty among the middle classes - people began chanting,
"Wilkes and Liberty" in the streets.

After a later period of exile, brought about by further charges of libel and obscenity, Wilkes stood for
the Parliamentary seat at Middlesex, where most of his support was located. When Wilkes was
imprisoned in the King's Bench Prison on 10 May 1768, a mass movement of support emerged, with
large demonstrations in the streets under the slogan "No liberty, no King." Stripped of the right to sit
in Parliament, Wilkes became an Alderman of London in 1769, and an activist group called the
Society for the Supporters of the Bill of Rights began aggressively promoting his policies.This was
the first ever sustained social movement; -it involved public meetings, demonstrations, the
distribution of pamphlets on an unprecedented scale and the mass petition march. However, the
movement was careful not to cross the line into open rebellion; - it tried to rectify the faults in
governance through appeals to existing legal precedents and was conceived of as an extra-
Parliamentary form of agitation to arrive at a consensual and constitutional arrangement. The force
and influence of this social movement on the streets of London compelled the authorities to concede
to the movement's demands. Wilkes was returned to Parliament, general warrants were declared as
unconstitutional and press freedom was extended to the coverage of Parliamentary debates.

A much larger movement of anti-Catholic protest was triggered by the Papists Act 1778, which
eliminated a number of the penalties and disabilities endured by Roman Catholics in England, and
formed around Lord George Gordon, who became the President of the Protestant Association in 1779.
The Association had the support of leading Calvinist religious figures, including Rowland Hill,
Erasmus Middleton, and John Rippon. Gordon was an articulate propagandist and he inflamed the
mob with fears of Papism and a return to absolute monarchical rule. The situation deteriorated rapidly,
and in 1780, after a meeting of the Protestant Association, its members subsequently marched on the
House of Commons to deliver a petition demanding the repeal of the Act, which the government
refused to do. Soon, large riots broke out across London and embassies and Catholic owned
businesses were attacked by angry mobs.

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Other political movements that emerged in the late 18th century included the British abolitionist
movement against slavery (becoming one between the sugar boycott of 1791 and the second great
petition drive of 1806), and possibly the upheaval surrounding the French and American Revolutions.
In the opinion of Eugene Black (1963), "...association made possible the extension of the politically
effective public. Modern extra parliamentary political organization is a product of the late eighteenth
century [and] the history of the age of reform cannot be written without it.

GROWTH AND SPREAD OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

From 1815, Britain after victory in the Napoleonic Wars entered a period of social upheaval
characterised by the growing maturity of the use of social movements and special-interest
associations. Chartism was the first mass movement of the growing working-class in the world.It
campaigned for political reform between 1838 and 1848 with the People's Charter of 1838 as its
manifesto – this called for universal suffrage and the implementation of the secret ballot, amongst
other things. The term "social movements" was introduced in 1848 by the German Sociologist Lorenz
von Stein in his book Socialist and Communist Movements since the Third French Revolution (1848)
in which he introduced the term "social movement" into scholarly discussions - actually depicting in
this way political movements fighting for the social rights understood as welfare rights. The labor
movement and socialist movement of the late 19th century are seen as the prototypical social
movements, leading to the formation of communist and social democratic parties and organisations.
These tendencies were seen in poorer countries as pressure for reform continued, for example in
Russia with the Russian Revolution of 1905 and of 1917, resulting in the collapse of the Czarist
regime around the end of the First World War.

In 1945, Britain after victory in the Second World War entered a period of radical reform and change.
In the post-war period, Feminism, gay rights movement, peace movement, Civil Rights Movement,
anti-nuclear movement and environmental movement emerged, often dubbed the New Social
Movements They led, among other things, to the formation of green parties and organisations
influenced by the new left. Some find in the end of the 1990s the emergence of a new global social
movement, the anti-globalization movement. Some social movement scholars posit that with the rapid
pace of globalization, the potential for the emergence of new type of social movement is latent—they
make the analogy to national movements of the past to describe what has been termed a global
citizens movement.

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 TYPES OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Sociologists distinguish between several types of social movement:

Scope:

reform movement - movements advocating changing some norms or laws. Examples of such a
movement would include a trade union with a goal of increasing workers rights, a green movement
advocating a set of ecological laws, or a movement supporting introduction of a capital punishment or
the right to abortion. Some reform movements may aim for a change in custom and moral norms, such
as condemnation of pornography or proliferation of some religion.

radical movement - movements dedicated to changing value systems in a fundamental way.

Examples would include the Civil Rights Movement which demanded full civil rights and equality
under the law to all Americans, regardless of race; the Polish Solidarity (Solidarność) movement
which demanded the transformation of a Stalinist political and economic system into a democracy; or
the South African shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo which demands the full
inclusion of shack dwellers into the life of cities.

Type of change:

innovation movement - movements which want to introduce or change particular norms, values, etc.
The singularitarianism movement advocating deliberate action to effect and ensure the safety of the
technological singularity is an example of an innovation movement.

conservative movement - movements which want to preserve existing norms, values, etc. For
example, the anti-technology 19th century Luddites movement or the modern movement opposing the
spread of the genetically modified food could be seen as conservative movements in that they aimed
to fight specific technological changes.

Targets:

group-focus movements - focused on affecting groups or society in general, for example, advocating
the change of the political system. Some of these groups transform into or join a political party, but
many remain outside the reformist party political system.

individual-focused movements - focused on affecting individuals. Most religious movements would

fall under this category.

Methods of work:

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peaceful movements - various movements which use nonviolent means of protest as part of a
campaign of nonviolent resistance, also often called civil resistance. The American Civil Rights
movement, Polish Solidarity movement or the nonviolent, civil disobedience-orientated wing of the
Indian independence movement would fall into this category.

violent movements - various movements which resort to violence; they are usually armed and in
extreme cases can take a form of a paramilitary or terrorist organization. Examples: the Rote Armee
Fraktion, Al-Qaida.

Old and new:

old movements - movements for change have existed for many centuries. Most of the oldest
recognized movements, dating to late 18th and 19th centuries, fought for specific social groups, such
as the working class, peasants, whites, aristocrats, Protestants, men. They were usually centered
around some materialistic goals like improving the standard of living or, for example, the political
autonomy of the working class.

new movements - movements which became dominant from the second half of the 20th century.
Notable examples include the American civil rights movement, second-wave feminism, gay rights
movement, environmentalism and conservation efforts, opposition to mass surveillance, etc. They are
usually centered around issues that go beyond but are not separate from class.

Range:

global movements - social movements with global (transnational) objectives and goals. Movements
such as the first (where Marx and Bakunin met), second, third and fourth internationals, the World
Social Forum, the Peoples' Global Action and the anarchist movement seek to change society at a
global level.

local movements - most of the social movements have a local scope. They are focused on local or
regional objectives, such as protecting a specific natural area, lobbying for the lowering of tolls in a
certain motorway, or preserving a building about to be demolished for gentrification and turning it
into a social center.

Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) is a social movement consisting of adivasis, farmers,

environmentalists and human rights activists against the number of large dams being built across the
Narmada River, which flows through the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Sardar
Sarovar Dam in Gujarat is one of the biggest dams on the river and was one of the first focal points of
the movement. It is one of the many dams under the Narmada Dam Project. The main aim of the
project is to provide irrigation and electricity to people in these states.

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Their mode of campaign includes court actions, hunger strikes, rallies, and gathering support from
notable film and art personalities. Narmada Bachao Andolan, with its leading spokespersons Medha
Patkar and Baba Amte, have received the Right Livelihood Award in 1991 1.

The Dam Safety Bill, 2010 The Dam Safety Bill, 2010 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August
30, 2010 by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Water Resources, Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal.
The Bill was referred to the Standing Committee on Water Resources, which is scheduled to submit
its report within three months. The Bill seeks to provide for the surveillance, inspection and operation
of all dams of certain parameters to ensure their safe functioning.

The law is applicable to Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal (and Union Territories) because their
Legislatures passed a resolution for an Act of Parliament. It may apply to any other state if they pass a
resolution on the matter.

The Self-Respect Movement is a movement with the aim of achieving a society where backward
castes have equal human rights, and encouraging backward castes to have self-respect in the context
of a caste-based society that considered them to be a lower end of the hierarchy. It was founded in
1921 by S.Ramanathan who invited E. V. Ramasamy (also called as Periyar by his devoted followers)
to head the movement in Tamil Nadu, India against Brahminism. The movement was extremely
influential not just in Tamil Nadu, but also overseas in countries with large Tamil populations, such as
Malaysia and Singapore. Among Singapore Indians, groups like the Tamil Reform Association, and
leaders like Thamizhavel G. Sarangapani were prominent in promoting the principles of the Self-
Respect Movement among the local Tamil population through schools and publications.

A number of political parties in Tamil Nadu, such as Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All
India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) owe their origins to the Self-respect
movement,2 the latter a 1972 breakaway from the DMK. Both parties are populist with a generally
social democratic orientation.3

The cow protection movement has been a religious and political movement aiming to protect the
cows, whose slaughter has been broadly opposed by Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs.While the
opposition to slaughter of animals, including cows, has extensive and ancient roots in Indian history,
the term refers to modern movements dating back to the colonial era British India 4. The earliest such

1
"Medha Patkar and Baba Amte / Narmada Bachao AndolanThe RightLivelihood Award". www.right
livelihoodaward.org.
2
Shankar Raghuraman; Paranjoy Guha Thakurta (2004). A Time of Coalitions: Divided We Stand. Sage
Publications.
3
Christopher John Fuller (2003). The Renewal of the Priesthood: Modernity and Traditionalism in a South Indian
Temple. Princeton University Press. p. 118.
4
Religious Nationalism, Hindus and Muslims in India, Peter van der Veer, pp. 83-94

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activism is traceable to Sikhs of Punjab who opposed cow slaughter in the 1860s 5. The movement
became popular in the 1880s and thereafter, attracting the support from the Arya Samaj founder
Swami Dayananda Saraswati in the late 19th century. and from Mahatma Gandhi in the early 20th
century.

The cow protection movement gained broad support among the followers of Indian religions
particularly the Hindus, but it was broadly opposed by Muslims. Numerous cow protection-related
riots broke out in the 1880s and 1890s in British India. The 1893 and 1894 cow killing riots started on
the day of Bakri-id, a Muslim festival where animal sacrifices are a part of the celebration. Cow
protection movement and related violence has been one of the sources of religious conflicts in India.
Historical records suggest that both Hindus and Muslims have respectively viewed "cow protection"
and "cow slaughter" as a religious freedom.

The cow protection movement is most connected with India, but has been active since the colonial
times in predominantly Buddhist countries such as Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

Cow protection bill 2017. BJP member Dr Subramanian Swamy on Friday introduced the Cow
Protection Bill, 2017 that could invite controversy for providing death penalty for slaughter of the
‘revered’ bovine.

Lok Satta is a non-partisan movement for democratic reforms in the country of India, led by Dr.
Jayaprakash Narayan, a former I. A. S. officer and renowned activist from Andhra Pradesh, India. The
movement was started in 1996 with the founding of Lok Satta, a non-governmental organization. In
2006, the movement transformed into Lok Satta Party6.

The Honour for Women National Campaign is a nationwide movement in India to end violence
against women. The movement was founded by women’s rights activist Manasi Pradhan in the year
2009 Launched under the aegis of OYSS Women, the movement galvanized in the aftermath of the
2012 Delhi gang rape incident.

The movement employs a multi-pronged strategy to fight the menace of violence against women in
India. It uses a plethora of vehicles i.e. women’s rights stall, women’s rights festival, women’s rights
meets, women’s rights literature, audio-visual displays, street plays etc. to raise awareness on legal
and institutional provisions to fight atrocities on women.

On the other hand, it puts pressure on the state by mobilizing public opinion and sustained
campaigning for institutional changes and correctional measures to contain violence against women.

5
Barbara D. Metcalf; Thomas R. Metcalf (2012). A Concise History of Modern India. Cambridge University
Press. pp. 152–153.
6
"Lok Satta's warning against corruption". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 2006-10-16.

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The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act is an Act of the Parliament of India
enacted to protect women from domestic violence. It was brought into force by the Indian government
from 26 October . The Act provides for the first time in Indian law a definition of "domestic
violence", with this definition being broad and including not only physical violence, but also other
forms of violence such as emotional/verbal, sexual, and economic abuse. It is a civil law meant
primarily for protection orders and not meant to penalize criminally. The act does not extend to
Jammu and Kashmir, which has its own laws, and which enacted in the Jammu and Kashmir
Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.

Based on Gandhian principles, the Chipko Movement or Chipko Andolan saw people protesting
against deforestation by hugging trees to stop them from being cut. Led by Chandni Prasad Bhatt and
Sunderlal Bahuguna, the protest started in the early 1970s when a group of women opposed the
cutting down of trees. Their actions spread like wildfire and hundreds and thousands of people across
India came out in support of the green movement :

The Indian Forest Act, 1992 was largely based on previous Indian Forest Acts implemented under
the British. The most famous one was the Indian Forest Act of . Both the act and the one sought to
consolidate and reserve the areas having forest cover, or significant wildlife, to regulate movement
and transit of forest produce, and duty leviable on timber and other forest produce. It also defines the
procedure to be followed for declaring an area to be a Reserved Forest, a Protected Forest or a Village
Forest. It defines what is a forest offence, what are the acts prohibited inside a Reserved Forest, and
penalties leviable on violation of the provisions of the Act.

The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act, 1977:

1. This Act empowers the Central Water Board to collect cess on water consumed by persons carrying
on certain scheduled industries and by local Authorities responsible for supplying water.

2. The cess and the consent fees from the major sources of revenue to run the Central and State Water
Boards.

3. The Act has been amended in 1991 with a view to augment the resources of the Boards by
removing the lacunae in the Act and to provide rebate to the industries for complying with the
consumption and effluent quality standard.

Swadeshi movement The movement which started during India’s struggle for freedom focused on
removing the British Empire from power by becoming Swadesh i.e self sufficient. A lot of Indians
came forward in support of the movement and boycotted foreign goods. They burnt all the imported
clothes they had, boycotted British products and revived the production of domestic commodities. It
gave people the power to speak against the authority and the courage to express their views.

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Satyagraha Probably one of the most noted movements in Indian history, Satyagraha brought
thousands of people together in a peaceful way. The non-violence movement started by Mahatma
Gandhi to send the British back to their country and leave India free of foreign rule did eventually
taste success.

Jungle bachao movement When the government decided to replace the natural sal forest with highly
valued teak, the tribals of Bihar came out in strong numbers to protest against this decision. Having
started in Bihar, the movement spread to other states like Odisha and Jharkhand too.

Forests (Conservation) Act, 1980:The Act covers all types of forests including reserve forests,
protected forests or any forested land irrespective of its ownership. The Act has made ample
provisions to check deforestation and encourage afforestation of non-forest areas.

DYNAMICS OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Social movements are not eternal. They have a life cycle: they are created, they grow, they achieve
successes or failures and eventually, they dissolve and cease to exist.

They are more likely to evolve in the time and place which is friendly to the social movements: hence
their evident symbiosis with the 19th century proliferation of ideas like individual rights, freedom of
speech and civil disobedience. Social movements occur in liberal and authoritarian societies but in
different forms. However, there must always be polarizing differences between groups of people: in
case of 'old movements', they were the poverty and wealth gaps. In case of the 'new movements', they
are more likely to be the differences in customs, ethics and values. Finally, the birth of a social
movement needs what sociologist Neil Smelser calls an initiating event: a particular, individual event
that will begin a chain reaction of events in the given society leading to the creation of a social
movement. For example, the Civil Rights Movement grew on the reaction to black woman, Rosa
Parks, riding in the whites-only section of the bus (although she was not acting alone or
spontaneously—typically activist leaders lay the groundwork behind the scenes of interventions
designed to spark a movement). The Polish Solidarity movement, which eventually toppled the
communist regimes of Eastern Europe, developed after trade union activist Anna Walentynowicz was
fired from work. The South African shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo grew out of a
road blockade in response to the sudden selling off of a small piece of land promised for housing to a
developer. Such an event is also described as a volcanic model – a social movement is often created
after a large number of people realize that there are others sharing the same value and desire for a
particular social change.

One of the main difficulties facing the emerging social movement is spreading the very knowledge
that it exists. Second is overcoming the free rider problem – convincing people to join it, instead of

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following the mentality 'why should I trouble myself when others can do it and I can just reap the
benefits after their hard work'.

Many social movements are created around some charismatic leader, i.e. one possessing charismatic
authority. After the social movement is created, there are two likely phases of recruitment. The first
phase will gather the people deeply interested in the primary goal and ideal of the movement. The
second phase, which will usually come after the given movement had some successes and is trendy; it
would look good on a résumé. People who join in this second phase will likely be the first to leave
when the movement suffers any setbacks and failures.

Eventually, the social crisis can be encouraged by outside elements, like opposition from government
or other movements. However, many movements had survived a failure crisis, being revived by some
hardcore activists even after several decades later.

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS THEORIES

Sociologists have developed several theories related to social movements [Kendall, 2005]. Some of
the better-known approaches are outlined below. Chronologically they include:

collective behavior/collective action theories (1950s)

relative deprivation theory (1960s)

marxist theory (1880s)

value-added theory (1960s)

framing theory (1980s) (closely related to social constructionist theory)

new social movement theory (1980s)

Deprivation theory

Deprivation theory argues that social movements have their foundations among people who feel
deprived of some good(s) or resource(s). According to this approach, individuals who are lacking
some good, service, or comfort are more likely to organize a social movement to improve (or defend)
their conditions.

There are two significant problems with this theory. First, since most people feel deprived at one level
or another almost all the time, the theory has a hard time explaining why the groups that form social
movements do when other people are also deprived. Second, the reasoning behind this theory is

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circular – often the only evidence for deprivation is the social movement. If deprivation is claimed to
be the cause but the only evidence for such is the movement, the reasoning is circular.

Mass society theory

Mass society theory argues that social movements are made up of individuals in large societies who
feel insignificant or socially detached. Social movements, according to this theory, provide a sense of
empowerment and belonging that the movement members would otherwise not have.

Very little support has been found for this theory. Aho (1990), in his study of Idaho Christian
Patriotism, did not find that members of that movement were more likely to have been socially
detached. In fact, the key to joining the movement was having a friend or associate who was a
member of the movement.

Structural strain theory

Social strain theory, also known as value-added theory, proposes six factors that encourage social
movement development:

structural conduciveness - people come to believe their society has problems

structural strain - people experience deprivation

growth and spread of a solution - a solution to the problems people are experiencing is proposed and
spreads

precipitating factors - discontent usually requires a catalyst (often a specific event) to turn it into a
social movement

lack of social control - the entity that is to be changed must be at least somewhat open to the change;
if the social movement is quickly and powerfully repressed, it may never materialize

mobilization - this is the actual organizing and active component of the movement; people do what
needs to be done

This theory is also subject to circular reasoning as it incorporates, at least in part, deprivation theory
and relies upon it, and social/structural strain for the underlying motivation of social movement
activism. However, social movement activism is, like in the case of deprivation theory, often the only
indication that there was strain or deprivation.

resource mobilization (1970s)

political process theory (1980s)

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Resource mobilization theory

Resource mobilization theory emphasizes the importance of resources in social movement

development and success. Resources are understood here to include: knowledge, money, media, labor,
solidarity, legitimacy, and internal and external support from power elite. The theory argues that
social movements develop when individuals with grievances are able to mobilize sufficient resources
to take action.The emphasis on resources offers an explanation why some discontented/deprived
individuals are able to organize while others are not.

In contrast to earlier collective behavior perspectives on social movements—which emphasized the

role of exceptional levels of deprivation, grievance, or social strain in motivating mass protest—
Resource Mobilization perspectives hold "that there is always enough discontent in any society to
supply the grass-roots support for a movement if the movement is effectively organized and has at its
disposal the power and resources of some established elite group" Movement emergence is
contingent upon the aggregation of resources by social movement entrepreneurs and movement
organizations, who use these resources to turn collective dissent in to political pressure.Members are
recruited through networks; commitment is maintained by building a collective identity, and through
interpersonal relationships.

Resource Mobilization Theory views social movement activity as "politics by other means": a rational
and strategic effort by ordinary people to change society or politics. The form of the resources shapes
the activities of the movement (e.g., access to a TV station will result in the extensive use TV media).
Movements develop in contingent opportunity structures that influence their efforts to mobilize; and
each movement's response to the opportunity structures depends on the movement's organization and
resources[citation needed] Critics of this theory argue that there is too much of an emphasis on
resources, especially financial resources. Some movements are effective without an influx of money
and are more dependent upon the movement members for time and labor (e.g., the civil rights
movement in the U.S.).

Political process theory

Political process theory is similar to resource mobilization in many regards, but tends to emphasize a
different component of social structure that is important for social movement development: political
opportunities. Political process theory argues that there are three vital components for movement
formation: insurgent consciousness, organizational strength, and political opportunities.

Insurgent consciousness refers back to the ideas of deprivation and grievances. The idea is that certain
members of society feel like they are being mistreated or that somehow the system is unjust. The

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insurgent consciousness is the collective sense of injustice that movement members (or potential
movement members) feel and serves as the motivation for movement organization.

Organizational strength falls inline with resource-mobilization theory, arguing that in order for a
social movement to organize it must have strong leadership and sufficient resources. Political
opportunity refers to the receptivity or vulnerability of the existing political system to challenge. This
vulnerability can be the result of any of the following (or a combination thereof):

growth of political pluralism

decline in effectiveness of repression

elite disunity; the leading factions are internally fragmented

a broadening of access to institutional participation in political processes

support of organized opposition by elites

One of the advantages of the political process theory is that it addresses the issue of timing or
emergence of social movements. Some groups may have the insurgent consciousness and resources to
mobilize, but because political opportunities are closed, they will not have any success. The theory,
then, argues that all three of these components are important. Critics of the political process theory
and resource-mobilization theory point out that neither theory discusses movement culture to any
great degree. This has presented culture theorists an opportunity to expound on the importance of
culture. One advance on the political process theory is the political mediation model, which outlines
the way in which the political context facing movement actors intersects with the strategic choices
that movements make. An additional strength of this model is that it can look at the outcomes of
social movements not only in terms of success or failure but also in terms of consequences (whether
intentional or unintentional, positive or negative) and in terms of collective benefits.

Framing perspective

Reflecting the cultural turn in the social sciences and humanities more broadly, recent strains of social
movement theory and research add to the largely structural concerns seen in the resource mobilization
and political process theories by emphasizing the cultural and psychological aspects of social
movement processes, such as collectively shared interpretations and beliefs, ideologies, values and
other meanings about the world. In doing so, this general cultural approach also attempts to address
the free-rider problem. One particularly successful take on some such cultural dimensions is
manifested in the framing perspective on social movements.

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While both resource mobilization theory and political process theory include, or at least accept, the
idea that certain shared understandings of, for example, perceived unjust societal conditions must
exist for mobilization to occur at all, this is not explicitly problematized within those approaches. The
framing perspective has brought such shared understandings to the forefront of the attempt to
understand movement creation and existence by, e.g., arguing that, in order for social movements to
successfully mobilize individuals, they must develop an injustice frame. An injustice frame is a
collection of ideas and symbols that illustrate both how significant the problem is as well as what the
movement can do to alleviate it,

"Like a picture frame, an issue frame marks off some part of the world. Like a building frame, it holds
things together. It provides coherence to an array of symbols, images, and arguments, linking them
through an underlying organizing idea that suggests what is essential - what consequences and values
are at stake. We do not see the frame directly, but infer its presence by its characteristic expressions
and language. Each frame gives the advantage to certain ways of talking and thinking, while it places
others out of the picture."

Important characteristics of the injustice frames include:

Facts take on their meaning by being embedded in frames, which render them relevant and significant
or irrelevant and trivial.

People carry around multiple frames in their heads.

Successful reframing involves the ability to enter into the worldview of our adversaries.

All frames contain implicit or explicit appeals to moral principles.

In emphasizing the injustice frame, culture theory also addresses the free-rider problem. The free-rider
problem refers to the idea that people will not be motivated to participate in a social movement that
will use up their personal resources (e.g., time, money, etc.) if they can still receive the benefits
without participating. In other words, if person X knows that movement Y is working to improve
environmental conditions in his neighborhood, he is presented with a choice: join or not join the
movement. If he believes the movement will succeed without him, he can avoid participation in the
movement, save his resources, and still reap the benefits - this is free-riding. A significant problem for
social movement theory has been to explain why people join movements if they believe the movement
can/will succeed without their contribution. Culture theory argues that, in conjunction with social
networks being an important contact tool, the injustice frame will provide the motivation for people to
contribute to the movement.

Framing processes includes three separate components:

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Diagnostic frame: the movement organization frames what is the problem or what they are critiquing

Prognostic frame: the movement organization frames what is the desirable solution to the problem

Motivational frame: the movement organization frames a "call to arms" by suggesting and
encouraging that people take action to solve the problem.

CONCLUSION

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The researcher would like to conclude that social movements are effective and are helpful to the
society. It brings out the problems of the people and also puts forward the interest of the people. Many
social movements have been successful. Social movements is one of the best way to spread awareness
and brings about the various problems related to the country’s men and women. There have been
many social movements that have changed the people and also have bought up new acts, bills and
laws and amendments.

BIBILIOGRAPY

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ONLINE WEBSITES

https://en.wikipedia.org.

http://www.envfor.nic.in

http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com

https://www.ecologyandsociety.org

BOOKS

Social Movements, 1768-2004, Charles tilly,

Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious Politics

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