Transcript Chapter 16 Social Movements, Technology, And Social Change Chapter Outline    How Societies Change Social Movements Technology.

Chapter 16
Social Movements,
Technology, And Social
Change
Chapter Outline
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How Societies Change
Social Movements
Technology
Social Changes in the Last
Decade
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The fall of the Taliban
New drugs to treat AIDS
Wireless computer and communication
technologies
War and malnutrition in many developing
nations
Destruction of the Amazon rainforest
An epidemic of repetitive stress disorders
linked to computer use.
Collective Behavior and Social
Movements
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They are related in two ways:
– Social movements need and encourage
collective behavior to keep issues in the
public eye.
– Collective behavior can be part of a
repeated mass response to problematic
conditions and may be a force in
mobilizing social movements.
Gap between Expectations
and Rewards
Theories of Social Movements
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Relative Deprivation - reconciliation of
what people have and what they expect.
Resource mobilization - social
movements happen when groups are
competing for scarce resources.
Political process - a social movement
requires political opportunities and the
belief that change is possible.
Relative-deprivation Theory
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Can provide an explanation for social
movements occurring when objective
conditions are improving or showing a major
improvement over the past.
 Because this theory relies on the
disorganizing effects of social change, it is
often referred to as breakdown theory.
 Assumes that in normal circumstances
society functions smoothly.
Relative-deprivation theory
Two major criticisms
1.
2.
Empirical evidence does not bear out
the prediction that those who are most
deprived will be the ones most likely to
participate in social movement.
Fails to specify the conditions under
which relative deprivation will lead to
social movements.
Resource Mobilization Theory
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Social movements develop when organized
groups compete for scarce resources.
 The spark for turning deprivation into a
movement is not anger and resentment but
rather organization.
 Similarly, the building blocks of social
movements are organized groups, not
alienated, discontented individuals.
Political Process Theory
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A social movement needs two things:
– political opportunities
• preexisting organizations that can provide the
new movement with leaders, members, phone
lines, copying machines, and other resources
– an “insurgent consciousness.”
• the individual sense that change is needed and
possible.
Frame Alignment
Four mobilization strategies to attract
new members:
1. Frame bridging - targets groups with
similar interests.
2. Frame amplification or consciousness
raising.
Frame Alignment
3.
4.
Frame extension - attempts to include
more issues and problems in the
original frame.
Frame transformation - convincing
people that their previous views are
wrong while calling them to “salvation”
through a newer and truer perspective.
Social Movement Outcomes
Acceptance
New
Advantages
Full
None
Many
Full response
Preemption
None
Co-optation
Collapse
Outcomes of Social
Movements
Four possibilities:
1. A full response to the movement’s
goals.
2. Goals co-opted while the SMO is
discounted and dismissed.
3. Goals pre-empted and adopted by
those in power.
4. Total failure.
Three Conditions for a
Countermovement
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2.
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The original movement should have
achieved some measure of success.
The original movement, threatens the
self-esteem, values, and interests of a
significant number of people.
Those who feel threatened also feel
they can enlist powerful allies.
Social Movements and the
Media
Four factors are critical for media
coverage:
 Dramatic, visible events like
demonstrations may interest the media.
 Use of authoritative sources (like
government officials).
 Timing.
 Access to news nets.
Theories of Technologically
Induced Social Change
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Structural-functional theory sees
social change as evolutionary and
adaptive.
Conflict theory focuses on power and
social change.
The Sociologist’s Contribution
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3.
Study of conflict resolution and
techniques for negotiating peaceful
settlements.
Developing social justice perspectives.
Modeling practical development
strategies.