Sociology

Social Movements

2005 Outline

Introduction

Environmental Movement

Anti-War Movement

Conclusion Introduction

Social movement is defined as "an autonomous and self-conscious movement of people united by support of some ideal , rather than by pursuit of the material self-interest of its members " in the glossary available at www .marxists .org , although the authors note that material interests are usually not too far removed from the motives of such a movement . To add detail to the definition , examples of social movements can be the labor movement , the environmental movement , the anti-war

movement , the womens liberation movement , and the civil rights movement . In analysing the future of such movements , this will concentrate on the environmental movement and the anti-war movement as useful examples

The social movements gained prominence after the Second World War , and in particular , in the period of the Cold War , when they were at times more popular than political parties . Movements , in contrast to parties start out with a diffuse organisational structure and a wide program and often develop more institutionalized forms of existence and narrow down their programs as they evolve and gain scope

Environmental Movement

Social movements seem to hold a greater promise for the future . The main reason here is their broad character as these movements defend interests that transgress class boundaries . For instance , the environmentalists stand for ideas that appeal to all strata of society , from top to bottom , although the movement is at times portrayed as fighting the interests of tycoons that exploit natural resources without consideration of others . This allows the movement to grow its sphere of influence and expand its realm almost to any country of the world , a task too challenging for any existing political party . Moreover , in terms of political influence , the green movement has given rise to many 'green ' or similarly called parties throughout the world , many of which hold on to the same ideals of nature conservation

In 2050 , the environmental movement is likely to become more consolidated , as now many accuse it of fragmentation and dispersion of its actions . The movement may become more or less centered around one organisation , such as Greenpeace that for many has turned into a symbol of the movement . Greenpeace was established in Canada in 1971 . Now the organisation based in Amsterdam has branches in 41 nations and an assessed 2 .8 million financial donors throughout the world . The organization 's stated objective it to use "violent , creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems (Wikipedia Currently , Greepeace is using peaceful protests to struggle against Kleenex that damages boreal woods and the proliferation of genetically modified seeds , and their past actions were directed against whaling atmospheric nuclear testing , and bottom trawling . Greenpeace has been criticised by many for being too mainstream , but this is a reason that leads to the conclusion that this organisation has the potential to become the leader of the global environmental movement

Even more likely is the emergence of some 'umbrella ' environmental council that unites major 'green ' organisations and coordinates...