About the Localized Social Movement

Abstract

Social movements research has neglected small scale, localized social change efforts. This chapter addresses the questions of whether such small scale localized social change efforts can even be considered social movements and the extent to which theories and concepts developed from studies of large-scale social movements are applicable at the small scale, local level. A definition of a social movement can be developed from the existing literature that applies to the “localized social movement.” Likewise, the general social movement theories—namely resource mobilization theory and new social movement theory, are applicable to the localized social movement, but specific concepts of those theories need to be modified. Concepts such as social movement organization, social movement community, social movement structure, social movement identity and frames, and political opportunity structure take on changed levels of importance and different empirical characteristics in the localized social movement. The chapter also looks at the relationship between localized social movements and large scale social movements, showing how they may intersect, influence, or combine with each other.