Lions and Tigers and Bears:How social movements are

structured, or, some typologies of social movements

Some commonly made distinctions between social

movements & other types of social pressure groups…

 

An “IDEAL TYPE” TYPOLOGY OF POLITICAL PRESSURE GROUPS

 

 

  Social Movements

Interest Groups Parties

Mode of Operation

Protest Actions Influence Peddling Holding Political Office

Main Resources

Committed adherents

Expertise, money, access

Voters

Structural Features

Networks of groups &organizations

Formal organizations

Formal organizations

 

4 types of social movements:

What is the main type of organization that promotes the

cause?

Who/what dominates the movement at particular periods

in time?

 1. grassroots model:

relatively informal and decentralized structure;

emphasis on protest politics and a reliance on committed adherents

 Examples-

Landless Workers Movement (Brazil)

anti-war movement in the 1960s

MST (Landless Workers Movement) action in Brazil. Photo: http://www.mstbrazil.org/background.html

2. interest-group modelemphasis on influencing policies (via

lobbying, for instance), and a reliance on formal organization.

 EXAMPLES: Human rights

movement; parts of the environmental

movementChildren in Colombia demonstrating for peace in their community. Photo: Amnesty International.

3. party-oriented modelemphasis on electoral process, party

politics, and a reliance on formal organization

 

 EXAMPLES: the Greens (of

Europe); the Christian Right (U.S.) in the late 1980s and beyond

4. Guerrilla-oriented model:

emphasis on armed contention, usually dominated by one

organization

Example: Tamil movement, Sri Lanka; Kurdish movement in Turkey, 1980s and early

1990s

Points to Remember:1- Many social movements are a mix of these types & don’t fit neatly into

“ideal type” categorizations2-Different models provide social

movements with different resources, opportunities, and constraints

3- Social movement types often vary & change over time.

4-Figuring out why #3 occurs makes for fascinating research