New Social Movements

Abstract

The term “social movement” was coined in the nineteenth century. However, it was only after the 1960s, when they were recognized as a major social phenomenon, that social movements became a central object of research. Some treated the upsurge of protest activity in the 1960s as a homogeneous social movement; others identified numerous “new social movements.” In each case, their unique characteristics were examined in relation to recent transformations in technology and the global economy. Still other social theorists argued at the time that social movements originated in the eighteenth century and were always central to democracy, but, without being identified as such, had not been properly studied or appreciated. Tracing these theoretical debates, this entry describes the major work on this topic. Through this it shows what are the nature and diversity of forms of social movements and describes how their transformations from the eighteenth century to the present are being conceptualized, and their successes and failures accounted for.