Social movements and politics

Abstract

Social movements are instances of collective action which vary in degrees of formal organisation, scale of mobilisation and forms of action. Even if focused on a single issue they often embody a philosophical alternative to established society and they are political because they make demands upon the state. As expressions of protest they flourish where the state is moderate and inconsistent in its use of repression. Recent eastern European experience demonstrates the importance of a coherent and strong state in stimulating social movement activity: where the state is powerless, as is the case in many eastern European countries today, social movements lose their point. The political opportunity structure determines the ease with which social movements become incorporated so that they lose their character: West German experience shows that radical social movements have the opportunity to consolidate only where their activists are effectively excluded. Social movements are also the product of social developments: in the West since the 1960s a major social movement syndrome has been propelled by dramatic changes in education, demographic shifts, and alterations in employment structure. In relating the emergence and behaviour of social movements to the political opportunity structure we need to distinguish between what is structural and what are contingent products of the political system. Moreover the state itself can change in response to social movements: social movements not only seize opportunities but they also create them. The extent to which social movements generate political parties seems to depend upon the constituency they mobilise but as with parties their membership is becoming increasingly volatile and their prospects of creating stable political organisations are becoming more limited. Different individuals, groups and classes of actors are differently resourced for different kinds of political action but their choices are also influenced by political values derived from national political cultures. To echo John Dunn, social movements are ‘performances of great complexity’