Social Movements, Collective Action and Activism

Millward, Peter; Takhar, Shaminder

doi:10.1177/0038038518817287

Cited by 34 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 41 publications

(49 reference statements)

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“…NSM literature viewed them ‘less as organisations of common interest and more as new forms of collective identity engaged in discursive struggles’ essentially over self-understandings and cultural codes (Carroll and Hackett, 2006: 87) rather than policy battles, guiding battles. This guided focus ‘away from focussing on the concrete aims of the movements’ (Millward and Takhar, 2019: NP2). For King and Pearce (2010: 253), social movements (especially environmental ones) ‘frequently mobilise to contest particular values, beliefs, or identities’ and so identity rather than policies was posited as the central mechanism, and a key outcome, of protest movements (Polletta and Jasper, 2001).…”

Section: Understanding Climate Protest and Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some scholars focused on organisational aspects of social movements (Della Porta and Diani, 2009) but until the 1960s, ‘observers used the obvious emotions of crowds to dismiss protesters as irrational’ (Jasper, 2014: 346). Subsequently, sociological research, particularly in a British context, was slow to include social movements or ‘collective action’ (Millward and Takhar, 2019). Building on Blumer (1951), social movements only slowly began to be framed as rational reactions to grievances or political opportunities and subsequently as identity projects (Cohen, 1985).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Protests and Policies: How Radical Social Movement Activists Engage with Climate Policy Dilemmas

Corry

Reiner

2020

Sociology

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How do radical movements seeking fundamental social change engage with nearer-term policy dilemmas? Disciplinary boundaries and practical obstacles have limited research into protester policy engagement. Using a hybrid method combining participant-observation and expert-led focus groups, we document activist attitudes concerning controversial climate policy options. Data gathered at ‘Climate Camps’ in six national contexts are presented alongside evidence from similar ‘participant-instigator’ events at Green Party conferences. We find activists engaged in direct action outside the established political system had policy knowledge and agendas comparable to or surpassing those active within the system. Support for radical change appears correlated with – rather than opposed to – knowledge and interest in policy agendas. As climate protests escalate it is important to understand ‘protester policy engagement’ – the processing, production and communication of changes proposed from a position outside the established political system and to theorise this with, rather than in contradistinction to, social movement identity.

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Section: Understanding Climate Protest and Policymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protests and Policies: How Radical Social Movement Activists Engage with Climate Policy Dilemmas

Corry

Reiner

2020

Sociology

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“…Social movements have interested scholars for decades (e.g., Horn, 2013; Millward & Takhar, 2019; Obregón & Tufte, 2017; Oliver, 1993; Oliver, Marwell, & Teixeira, 1985). Movements result from collective action (sometimes referred to as the critical mass; e.g., Diani, 1992; Oliver et al, 1985; Olson, 1965), which is when a common or shared societal interest among a group of people motivates them to take action (i.e., protest, march, boycott) (Horn, 2013; Oliver, 1993; Olson, 1965).…”

Section: Social Movements and Collective Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This model explores why and when social change occurs from the bottom up, and demonstrates that grassroots collective action drives public policy and legislative change (Wlezien, 1995; Wlezien & Soroka, 2012). Social movements also create change from the bottom up when “activists seek change by lobbying social spheres of society rather than the obvious political spheres of governments” (Millward & Takhar, 2019; p. NP3). This research on bottom‐up change is consistent with the theory of social change advanced by Angela Davis, political activist and scholar, who wrote that people must rise up to take collective action and cannot “rely on governments, regardless of who is in power, to do the work that only mass [social] movements can do” (Davis, 2016, p. 35).…”

Section: Social Movements and Collective Actionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Together We Rise: How Social Movements Succeed

et al. 2021

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Social movements, such as Black Lives Matter, surge when support grows for their social justice goals. At their core, social movements advance when people act collectively by rising in solidarity with a shared purpose to address injustice and inequality. Drawing on insights from consumer psychology, this review investigates how social movements succeed in creating social change. We build on an established 21st‐century framework for how social movements succeed to outline the promising practices of successful social movements. For each of these practices, we identify the consumer psychology mechanisms that motivate collective action and encourage people to transform from bystanders to upstanders, those who provide the grassroots momentum for successful social movements. We illustrate this framework with examples from the growth of the Black Lives Matter movement. Finally, we highlight insights from consumer psychology that promote an understanding of social movements, and we raise research questions to encourage more consumer psychologists to investigate how social movements succeed.

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“…To be successful in their operations, activists need to mobilize community resources (McAdam 1983). Millward and Takhar (2019) mention that oppressive practices and exclusionary policies catalyse participation in collective action, and generate a conscious move towards social, cultural, and political change. McPhail (1991) refers to the "madness of the crowd", and argues that collective behaviour explains the difference between the behaviour of a crowd and that of an isolated individual.…”

Section: Theoretical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

What Now for the Zimbabwean Student Demonstrator? Online Activism and Its Challenges for University Students in A COVID-19 Lockdown

Hove

Dube

2021

IJHE

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University student activism is generally characterized by protests and demonstrations by students who are reacting to social, political, and economic challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic revolutionized university student activism, and closed the geographical space for protests and demonstrations. The pandemic locked students out of the university campus, thus, rendering the traditional strategies of mass protests and demonstrations impossible. The COVID-19-induced lockdowns made it difficult, if not impossible, to mobilise for on-campus demonstrations and protests. It seems the pandemic is the last nail in the coffin of on-campus student protests. This theoretical paper uses a collective behaviour framework to explain the evolution of student activism in Zimbabwe, from the traditional on-campus politics to virtual activism. It discusses the challenges associated with cybernetic activism. The paper argues that, despite challenges, Zimbabwean university student activists need to migrate to a new world of digital technology and online activism. In the migration to online activism, students activists face a plethora of challenges. On top of the already existing obstacles, activists face new operational challenges related to trying to mobilise a constituency that has relocated to cyberspace. Student activists utilize the existing digital infrastructure to advance their politics, in spite of a hostile state security system and harsh economic environment, and other operational challenges.

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Social Movements, Collective Action and Activism

Cited by 34 publications

References 41 publications

Protests and Policies: How Radical Social Movement Activists Engage with Climate Policy Dilemmas

Protests and Policies: How Radical Social Movement Activists Engage with Climate Policy Dilemmas

Together We Rise: How Social Movements Succeed

What Now for the Zimbabwean Student Demonstrator? Online Activism and Its Challenges for University Students in A COVID-19 Lockdown

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