Chapter 8

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Women Win the Right to Vote

The actions of Angelina Grimké illustrate the struggle for women’s rights.– The first woman to speak before an American

legislative body– Addressed the Massachusetts legislature in February

1838 and presented a petition against slavery from an estimated 20,000 women

– Helped to inspire women who had entered political life through participation in the abolitionist movement also to press for women’s rights

The Seneca Falls Declaration (1848)– Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s declaration stated that

“all men and women are created equal” and presented a long list of violations of rights.

– It failed to have an immediate impact because most politically active people in the abolitionist movement believed that the first priority was to end slavery.

– Following the abolition of slavery, women’s rights leaders pressed for equal citizenship rights for all persons, regardless of race or gender.

– They were bitterly disappointed when the Fourteenth Amendment failed to include women.

Formation of women’s rights organizations soon after the Civil War– For more than two decades, the National

Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA) feuded over how to pressure male politicians.

– In 1890, the two main organizations joined together to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).

– The movement was now focused, mostly united, and growing more powerful every year.

The main instrument for winning the struggle to amend the Constitution admitting women to full citizenship was a powerful social movement that...– Dared to challenge the status quo– Used unconventional tactics to gain

attention and sympathy– Demanded bravery and commitment from

many women

What Are Social Movements?

Social movements are loosely organized collections of people and institutions who act outside established institutions to promote or resist social change.

Many social movements have influenced what government does and continue to play a significant role in the struggle for democracy.

Each of the most important social movements has tried to achieve social change, acting outside the normal channels of government and politics.

Tactics of Social Movements

– They use collective action to bring about social change.

– They are usually the political instruments of excluded or political outsiders.

– They attempt to gain a hearing from the public and from political decision makers.

– They have a strong shared sense of grievance against the status quo and a desire to bring about social change.

What Do Social Movements Do?

Social movements are mass grassroots phenomena that often use unconventional and even disruptive tactics such as demonstrations and sit-ins.

Many social movements have influenced what government does.

They often protect fundamental rights and encourage public awareness and participation in public affairs.

Participation in movement activity can be risky.

Social movements tend to occur when ...

A significant number of people come to define their own troubles and problems in general social terms...

And when they believe that the government can be moved to action on their behalf

Major Social Movements Abolitionist movement Populist movement Women’s suffrage Labor movement Peace movement

– conscientious objection Civil rights movement Anti-Vietnam War movement

Women’s movement– Equal Rights Amendment

Environmental movement Gay and lesbian movement Religious fundamentalist movements

– Pro-life (anti-abortion) movement Anti- (corporate) globalization

movement

The Place of Social Movements in a

Majoritarian Democracy

At first glance, social movements do not seem to fit very well with democratic theory.– They usually start out as minority

phenomena.– They often use disruptive tactics.

How Can Social Movements Help Make American Politics More

Democratic?

They can increase the degree of popular involvement that is essential to a democracy.

They encourage popular participation by dramatizing and bringing to public attention a wide range of issues.

They often allow those without substantial resources to enter the game of politics.

The collective-action aspects of social movements and the disruptive tactics associated with such mass mobilizations can serve as a substitute for political and economic resources.

Overcoming Political Inequality

Social movements sometimes allow those without substantial resources to enter the game of politics.

Social movements can convince the majority that new policies are needed.

Fashioning New Majorities

Social movements are the province of minorities. In a democracy, minorities win social and policy

changes only if they can convince enough of their fellow citizens that what they want is reasonable.

Many of the social reforms that most Americans today support were the result of social movements started by minorities.

Social movements can help to fashion new majorities in society.

Factors That Encourage the Creation of Social Movements

A certain combination of factors (mostly structural in nature) seems to be necessary for a social movement to develop.– Social distress– Resources for mobilization– Supportive environment– Sense of efficacy among the participants– Catalyst

Unconventional Tactics of Social Movements

Social movements tend to use dramatic gestures and are often disruptive.

The women’s suffrage movement effectively used mass demonstrations and hunger strikes.

The labor movement invented the sit-down strike and plant takeover as its most effective weapons in the 1930s.

Nonviolent civil disobedience was the most effective tool of the civil rights movement.

Why Social Movements Decline

The problem of success– The abolitionist movement became irrelevant

after the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified.– The women’s suffrage movement

disappeared after passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.

– Passage of the major civil rights bills in 1964 and 1965 that met the main goals of the civil rights movement caused significant declines in grassroots activity.

Factionalism– A social movement must meet several

objectives:• Maintain the enthusiasm of activists• Attract more activists and support from the

aggrieved group• Gain sympathy from the general public• Force a positive response from public officials.

– These often contradictory objectives tend to generate internal division over tactics and strategies.

Declining commitment among movement activists– It is difficult to sustain high levels of active

involvement for very long because social movements ask so much of their followers

• time• financial sacrifice• risk• only nonmaterial inducements

Erosion of public support The rise of opposition/counter-movements

Why Some Social Movements Succeed And Others Do Not

Low-impact social movements– A social movement will have little impact if

it has few followers and activists, little support among the general public, and is unable to significantly affect everyday life or the election prospects of politicians.

– A social movement is unlikely to have an impact on policy when it stimulates the formation of a powerful countermovement.

Repressed Social Movements– Social movements committed to radical changes

in society and the economy tend to threaten widely shared values and the interests of the powerful.

– Such movements rarely gain widespread popular support and often face repression of some sort.• Early labor movement• Pullman strike• Radical branch of the student antiwar

movement

Partially Successful Social Movements

Some social movements have enough power and public support to generate a favorable response from public officials but not enough to force them to go very far.

Government may respond in a partial or half-hearted way.– Anti-poverty measures– Christian conservatives and abortion– Gay and lesbian issues

Successful Social Movements

Social movements that have many supporters, wide public sympathy, do not challenge the basics of the economic and social order, and wield some electoral clout are likely to achieve a substantial number of their goals.– Women’s suffrage movement– Civil rights movement

Legislation and constitutional amendments are indicators that a social movement has made a major impact on politics and policy.

Success includes increased respect for members of the movement, changes in fundamental underlying values, and increased representation in decision-making bodies.