Social Movement: Causes

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

1. Social Movement is a collective effort to promote or resist change.

2. A social movement is a large group of people who are organized to promote or resist some social change. In 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.

3. According to Anderson and Parker, a social movement is “a form of dynamic pluralistic behaviour which progressively develops structure through time and aims at partial or complete modification of the social order.”

4. Lundberg and others define a social movement as “a voluntary association of people engaged in concerted efforts to change attitudes, behaviour and social relationships in a larger society.”

(Any one definition)

The causes of social movements are:

1. Cultural Drifts:

Society is undergoing constant changes. The values and behaviour are changing in all civilized societies. In the course of cultural drift, most people develop new ideas. To get these ideas operative in society, they organize a movement. For example, the development of a democratic society, the emancipation of women, the spread of mass education, the removal of untouchability, equality of opportunity for both the sexes, the growth of secularism, etc.

2. Social Disorganization:

Changing society is, to some extent, disorganized because changes in different parts of society do not take place simultaneously. One part changes more rapidly than the other, thereby producing numerous lags. The industrialization has brought urbanization which has, in turn, caused numerous social problems. On the other hand, the individual feels insecure, confused and frustrated because the old traditions no longer form a dependable guide to behaviour. The confusion and frustration produce social movements.

3. Social Injustice:

When a group of people feels that injustice has been done to it they become frustrated and alienated. Such feeling of injustice provides fertile soil for social movements. The feeling of social injustice is not limited to the miserable poor. Any group at any status level may feel like victims of social injustice. A wealthy class may feel a sense of injustice when faced with the urban property ceiling Act or high taxes intended to benefit the poor. Social injustice is a subjective value judgment. A social system is unjust when it is so perceived by its members.

4. Feeling of relative deprivation:

Individuals feel that they are deprived relative to some other group or to some ideal state they have not reached. When a deprived group perceives that social conditions are improving, they become hopeful that their lives are getting better. But if these conditions stop improving, they become frustrated and more apt to turn to protest, collective violence, and other social movement activity.

5. Strain in social relationships:

Society faces strain when the prevailing value system and the normative structure do not meet the people’s aspirations. At this time, a new value system is sought to replace the old. This leads to conflicts and tension. Usually, individuals in such a situation violate social norms.

For example, where inter-caste marriage is not permitted, we may still find a few cases of such marriage violating the norms. However, a social movement takes place only when individual actions are replaced by collective action.

Thus, the social movement is the effort by an association to bring about a change in society. Social Movement is a collective effort to promote or resist change.

Or

Causes of Social Movements:

1. Feeling of relative deprivation:

Social movements have their foundations among people who feel deprived of some goods or resources. According to this approach, individuals lacking some good, service, or comfort are more likely to organize a social movement to improve their conditions.

2. Strain in social relationships:

All social movements do not arise out of relative deprivation. They can also originate from strain in social relationships. When the prevailing value system and the normative structure do not meet the people's aspirations, society faces strain. This leads to conflicts and tension. Usually, individuals in such a situation violate social norms. For example, where inter-caste marriage is not permitted, we may still find a few cases of such marriage violating the norms. However, a social movement takes place only when individual actions are replaced by collective action.

3. To revitalize the causes and provide remedies to strained situations:

We find that relative deprivation and structural strain are related to each other. Though social movements express dissatisfaction and dissent against the system, they may offer a positive alternative. By revitalizing the social movement, the existing system, which is undergoing structural strain, can generate a movement which promotes patriotism and national pride. For example, young people help and organize the oppressed or the literacy movements. This movement starts to solve a problem collectively. They do not merely protest against what they define as wrong but also try to provide an alternative.

4. Introduction and establishment of new ideologies:

The ideology of a leader lured people to sustain their interest in the movement than mere promises for a short time. It denotes a set of related beliefs held by a group of people. It helps understand a movement’s situation and justifies its actions' implications. Further, it legitimizes actions pursued by the people. One can rarely conceive of a social movement without an ideology.

5. Dissatisfaction with the current situation and desire for reform:

In the nineteenth century, a large number of individuals, as well as a number of organizations, took an active role in the social reform movement. Due to that, age-old traditions and practices were degraded and these were replaced by many social evils like female infanticide, sati, child-marriage, caste system, purdah, ban on female education, widow re-marriage, etc. A selected group of individuals began to explore the nature of their own society and gradually emerged from public opinion. This situation led to a change in introspection about Indian traditions, institutions and culture.

As we understand it, a social movement is a collective effort to promote or resist change. It has a link between social change and social movements, which are the internal forces that contribute to change in society. Thus, helps us to locate which factors predominate and shows us how a movement takes a particular shape to re-define it.