2. Elton Mayo
2
The “discontented” were irrational individuals
The „outbursts‟ of „irrational sentiment‟
Bolshevism/Socialism/Fascism were „dreams‟
and
„reveries‟ created by the monotony of industrial
labour
The solution: counselling and social support
3. 3
A “functionalist” model of
society…
assumes that present society was basically
okay
the “needs” of society are met be prevailing
relations
a REFUSAL to engage them on their own
terms....
pathological
assumption imposed from the
4. The social system…
4
mechanisms for solving social problems
political parties
government
parties
trade
unions
interest groups
associations
lobbies
pressure groups
5. 5
The theory of collective behaviour represented
the first explicit attempt to make sense of large
scale social movements
Its popular counterpart might be said to be the
notion of „rent-a-mob‟
the
idea that there is a pool of potential members or
supporters available to be drawn into all and any form
of activity
6. Social disturbances
6
people may become…
emotional
anxious
annoyed
jealous
this swells the numbers of those prepared to “step out
of line”
Periods of RAPID social change can create such
problems for social stability
8. 8
Stephen Buechler (2000) Social
Movements in Advanced Capitalism.
Oxford
a „distinctive theoretical lens‟ for examining collective
behaviour
core assumptions:
a unitary concept of behaviour embracing a range of
examples
panics
crazes
movements
CB is essentially non-institutional
Its primary causation is rooted in the
individual
Its meaning is psychological rather than
political
9. 9
What distinguishes CB from ‘normal’
responses to change is that it compresses or
short-circuits levels of social action, giving
CB a crude, excessive, eccentric, impatient
quality when compared to routine and
institutionalised social action (Buechler
2000: 16)
11. Paul Byrne (1997) Social Movements
in Britain. Routledge.
11
British SMs are…
unpredictable
irrational
unreasonable
disorganised
12. Blumer, Social Movements reprinted in Lyman 1995: 60
12
The career of a social movement depicts the
emergence of a new order of life. In its beginning, a SM is amorphous, poorly organised, and
without form; collective behaviour is primitive
and the mechanisms of interaction are
elementary and spontaneous. As a social
movement develops, it takes on the character of
a society. It acquires organisation and form, a
body of customs and traditions, established
leadership, an enduring division of labour, social
rules and social values - in short, a culture, an
organisation and a new scheme of life
13. 13
Jacobs & Landau (1966: 3646)
The Movement is a melange of people, mostly young
people; organisations, mostly new; and ideas, mostly
American. ...These young people believe that they must
make something happen, that they are part of a
movement stirring just below the surface of life hitherto
accepted... The Movement is organisations plus
unaffiliated supporters, who outnumber by thousands
and perhaps even hundreds of thousands, those
committed to specific groups. The movement‟s strength
rests on those unaffiliated reserves. ...To be in the
movement is to search for a psychic community, in
which one‟s own identity can be defined, social and
personal relationships based on love can be established
and can grow, unfettered by the cramping pressures of
the careers and life styles so characteristic of America
today (Jacobs & Landau 1966: 14-5)
14. 14
„theory‟ and even „ideology‟ are uncomfortable words. Most SDS
members are anti-ideological... not well read in Marxism or in
other radical literature (but) moved to action primarily by events
in their own lives. SDS is more than an organisation; it is a
community of friends... personal relationships are inseparable
from political life...the vocabulary and community life are part of
the SDS style...at group meetings their openness is apparent.
They exhibit great tolerance, and no speaker is silenced, no
matter how irrelevant or repetitious. And it is difficult to single
out those who hold authority... Leaders mean organisation,
organisation means hierarchy, and hierarchy is undemocratic...
SDSers believe that the new movements are in their infancy and
a great amount of work has to be done at the base...theory or
long-run strategy is a fuzzy notion to them. The question of how
to link the various projects is unanswered...
15. 15
in the trippy 1960s activists adopted a style of talk
which “made a virtue of their inability to articulate
and analyse coherently. They talked from the gut,
stumbling, using the language of the new
folksinger” (Jacobs & Landau) – with a
“commitment to participatory democracy” that was
felt to underpin “a passionate anti-authoritarian
ethos, a preoccupation with direct action,
community and self-activity that carried into
virtually every arena of struggle” (Boggs).
16. 16
Scott: movements typified as...
primarily social rather than
political
less concerned with achieving
state power than transforming
values and life styles
located in „civil society‟ rather
than the state
attempting to bring about change
through cultural innovations and
identities
using grass roots and network
types of organisation.
Buechler: theoretical „paradigm shift‟
leading to SMs being seen as...
distinct from CB - worthy of
analysis in own right
showing their own enduring,
patterned, and institutionalised
elements [sim to Blumer]
being rooted in collective
understandings/group interests
having claims to be treated as
rational phenomena
constituting therefore political
rather than psychological
entities.
17. 17
When a new wave of environmental activism
emerged in the 1970s, along with other
movements on issues such as peace, women‟s
and human rights, it was difficult for political
analysts to relate it to previously dominant
conflicts. Such difficulty has largely persisted to
date (Della Porta & Diani 1999: 25).
18. 18
Basic framework of conflict
theories such as Marx and
Weber
framework of understanding....
politics seen as revolving around a set of clearly defined
material interests
these interests were distinct, and frequently contradictory,
between different social groupings
each group tends to organise around the pursuit of its
material interest in opposition to others
parties/political organisations represent interests
political power [control of the state] contested to change the
structure of inequality
economic concerns central
Other concerns could „wait‟
a fully developed political challenge brings specific material
interests together in a general vision of an alternative society
19. Della Porta & Diani
19
What is the social base of this movement?
It is not w/c in any obvious sense; but what kind of social position do
„students‟ occupy and in what ways could this provide a stable and
alternative foundation for organised social action, and for what reasons?
Who or what is ‘the enemy’?
Is there an opponent which somehow represents the antagonist of students
as a social force? In their own perceptions, it is not straightforwardly
„capitalism‟ or „the rich‟ being targeted, but a much wider (and less well
defined?) notion of „authority‟ or „domination‟, which seems as much a
matter of generational as of class politics - the student movement shades
over into the „counterculture‟ which is against everything that is „square‟ and
„uptight‟
Whose interests are being served?
The „movement‟ appears to be neither class based, nor organised within
the framework of standard national politics; it is not competing for control of
the state, as an alternative potential ruling group or class, and to some
extent it claims to speak for „everyone‟, for universal rights and
„participation‟ or „liberation‟, in a way which eludes confinement within
ordinary political limits - is it a movement of all parties and none?
20. 20
For some time, a strong strand of opinion
existed on the political left that feminism was a
conservative diversion from the pursuit of class
equality and that women‟s rights would be a
natural by-product of general social
transformation (Elizabeth Meehan, cited in
Scott: 24)
21. Resource Mobilisation Theory
(RMT)
21
Major Q‟s…
movement momentum
tactics
contact with others
directional strategy
Such questions are addressed by many
organisations.
22. 22
social movement
organisations
Must….
secure support
channel collective efforts towards a goal (or set of)
handle problems of RECRUITMENT & CONTROL.
Assumption:
people act as individuals
they act in self-interest
„what‟s in it for me?‟
not psychologically-driven as much as calculating cost/benefit.
23. 23
social movement
organisations
attracted to the notion of “professionalism”
towards the creation of a “inner circle”
or an “elite”
separated from
passive
supporters
financial supporters
those who go to the odd meeting
[“Help Us to Help.....”]
24. 24
high levels of collective action entail high costs
and risks for those involved and will tend to be
short-lived and focus on specific contentious
issues... The long term difficulties in activating
support [create] a strong pull towards building a
formal organisation that can carry the movement
over the low points of cycles of collective activity
(Scott, 2000: 117)
25. Zald & McCarthy
25
The technologies available for resource
accumulation should affect the ability of SMOs
within the sector to mobilize resources. For
instance, the advent of mass-mailing techniques in
the United States has dramatically affected the
ability of SMOs to compete with local advertising in
offering a product to consumers... The greater
range of SMOs, the more different “taste”
preferences can be transformed into constituents.