Social Movements

Social movements are notoriously difficult to define with any precision, at least for general purposes. Definitions are either too narrow, such that they appear to exclude certain obvious cases of what we take to be movements, or they are too wide and fail to exclude social forms that are not generally thought of as movements. In general terms, however, social movements emerge when social actors collectively oppose or resist some aspect of the status quo, seeking to bring about change, or alternatively, when they oppose change and seek either to preserve the status quo or restore the status qua ante. Social movements are networks of actors seeking either to bring about or oppose social change. Although social movements are not new to consumer culture, they represent politicized forms of consumption that can involve both direct and indirect means of protesting against consumerism, and the mobilization of consumers to demand particular goods and services for political or ethical purposes.

Insofar as movements raise and debate public issues, that is, debates about what we as a collective should do and how we should live, they are not [Page 1322]only social but also political forms. In addition, they may enjoy some representation within parliamentary political systems, where such systems exist. Social movement organizations such as Greenpeace sometimes operate within parliamentary systems in a similar way to pressure groups, for example, and most definitions of the environmental movement would include within their remit green parties who seek election and involve themselves directly in parliamentary politics. Most definitions of social movements stipulate that they take form and operate outside of parliamentary systems and states, however. This might entail seeking to put pressure on the state by way of protest activities, which signal and encourage public dissatisfaction, threatening a withdrawal of legitimacy. But it might equally entail activities that operate independently of the state altogether, either by challenging other elites and opponents or by seeking to construct alternative spaces within a society that are relatively free of state regulation or interference. In some cases, notably traditional Marxist-influenced movements, it may also entail a refusal to engage with a parliamentary system that is deemed a part of the problem, preferring instead to prepare for, cultivate, or even initiate revolutionary overthrow of the state.

Some definitions of social movements include among their criteria the claim that social movements necessarily challenge elites or opponents. Although this no doubt covers a majority of cases, it is problematic in at least two respects. First, some movements are primarily reflexive, in the respect that they pursue self-change, and many movements include a reflexive element. The men's movement, for example, was not opposed to women but rather sought to reconstruct masculinity from within, both as a means of furthering the cause of feminism and of adjusting to a new world where traditional masculinities were displaced. Similarly, the first wave of the anti-psychiatry movement in the United Kingdom consisted primarily of psychiatrists seeking to resist and change the forms of practice instituted and sustained by their own professional group. The anti-psychiatrists sought, among other things, to challenge their own practices and power as psychiatrists. And much of what they did centered on innovation and experimentation in therapeutic practice and medical relationships.

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