New Social Movements: Theories and Approaches

Abstract

This chapter firstly highlights the existing plethora of research and discussions in social sciences that are devoted to examining continuous changes and understanding of the ongoing reconstruction of the social world in various discourses. The changing way of how society is organized, it’s believes, and practices signalize the ongoing tremendous social changes. It occurs worldwide in myriad discourses of different bigger and smaller social groups or, even though, societies, in alternating basic social structures, social institutions, rules of social behaviour, moreover—value systems of a whole society, a particular community, its social relations. Before getting deeper into the main aim of this monograph—the rural social movements as an emerging phenomenon itself and its role in changing the rural development paradigm, this chapter sets the place for new social movements in the overall scientific research, devoted to examine, explore and explain a myriad of attitudes concerning social change. This chapter calls the reader to get into the theoretical foundations of various attitudes that served in composing the grounding for social movements, defining the structure and areas of impact by new social movements, as well as the development process and distinctive points between the old and new, or industrial versus post-industrial social movements.