Essay on Concept of Social Movement – “Social movement“—is one of the major forms of collective behaviour. In the recent years the study of social movements has attracted the attention of a large number of Sociologists not only in India, but also in the West. We hear of various kinds of social movements launched for one or the other purpose.
There are movements to demand more and more reservation for the SCs and STs and other backward classes and there are counter movements demanding its cancellation or at least the status quo. There are movements to “save environment”, to “save wildlife” and to “save world peace”. There are movements for and against the construction of Sri Ram Temple at the disputed place of Ayodhya.
There are Fascist Movements, Communist Movements, Naxalite Movements, Tribal Movements, Peasants’ Movements, Women’s Movements, Youth Movements, Labour Movements, Civil Rights Movements, Human Rights Movements, Aforestation Movements, and so on. What then do we mean by social movements?
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Definition of Social Movement:
1. A social movement is formally defined as “a collectively acting with some continuity to promote or resist change in the society or group of which it is a part” — Turner and Killian.
2. “A social movement is a collective effort to promote or resist change”— Horton and Hunt.
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3. Social movements car be defined as “organised group effort to generate or resist social change”—Neil J. Smelser.
4. “A social movement is a collective effort to transform established relations within a particular society”—Rudolf Herberle.