Social Movements Social Movements · Nicholls, 2007 - social movements are "collective forms of contentious politics activated for the purposes of achieving political goals through non-traditional means" . The term 'social movement' (1847) was primarily used by commentators living in Western liberal democracies, particularly with strong welfare institutions, to describe social transformations History of social movements . Earliest social movements developed out of early labour and socialist movements in 19th Century Europe ? E.g. Chartism - the first mass movement of working-class people in the world · Key processes behind growth of social movements o Industrialisation ? Urbanisation o Development of media and communication technologies o Spread of democracy and political rights "Old" social movements · Organised primarily around class, concerned with structures that perpetuate economic inequality · Urban cities were very key sites - demonstrations were made outside places of importance · Economic redistribution and "material" transformation were the goal · Formal organisation of workers into unions and political parties (e.g. Labour party) "New" social movements · Emergence from the 1960s ? Fainstein and Hirst, 1995 - these "cut across classes and are guided by non-material considerations" · E.g. environmental justice movements, feminism, anti-nuclear and peace movements, LGBT equality, civil rights movement . Shift in objectives from economic redistribution to social recognition of inequality and injustice; seek transformation of social, political and cultural life, often in new terms . Not based on party structures: the goal is not necessarily to form a political party . NSM don't define the root of all social inequalities or injustices as solely economic, but demand that economic relations be considered along with other aspects of social life · Aims are often described as "cultural" (i.e. not economic)
Old vs New Social Movements Orientation (towards) State (control of political institutions) Civil society Aims Political reform & economic redistribution Support base Homogenous Organisation Formal and hierarchical Informal network, grassroots Old New Alter social rules & gain social recognition Heterogenous New spaces of political activity · These days, social movements must be; ? Disruptive ? Concerned with building support o Innovative and newsworthy enough to echo in the mass media and in the wider public to gain public opinion Is occupy a 'new' social movement? · Began in 2011 in New York - Langman, 2013 - "enduring testaments to the oppressive inegalitarian economic system that has privileged the few" · Landman, 2013 - we cannot analyze these movements using the tools and concepts of the 20th Century · Lack of clear, concrete demands Theorising contemporary social movements . New scalar geographies of social movements (social movements transcends the boundaries of nation states) ? Castells - internationalisation of social movements in "the network society" - social movements are immediately global these days ? Gibson-Graham - foreground 'local and everyday' efforts and struggles to create new social relations · Spatialities of social movements: o New spaces of resistances (airports, malls, markets and squares); 'minor' or 'everyday' spaces of social action o 'Virtual'/Online spaces Theorising anonymous: complexity, self-organisation, rhizome