Page 4 - Lessonnote_ Social Movement

Types of social movement

st
1 classification
1. Redemptive or transformatory social movements – A redemptive social movement
aims to bring about a change in the personal consciousness and actions of its
individual members. For instance, people in the Ezhava community in Kerala were
led by Narayana Guru to change their social practices.

2. Reformative social movements - Reformist social movements strive to change the
existing social and political arrangements through gradual, incremental steps. The
1960s movement for the reorganisation of Indian states on the basis of language and
the recent Right to Information campaign are examples of reformist movements.

3. Revolutionary social movements – Revolutionary social movements attempt to
radically transform social relations, often by capturing state power. The Bolshevik
revolution in Russia that deposed the Tsar to create a communist state and the
Naxalite movement in India that seeks to remove oppressive landlords and state
officials can be described as revolutionary movements.

However, most movements have a mix of redemptive, reformist and revolutionary
elements. Or the orientation of a social movement may shift over time such that it starts off

with, say, revolutionary objectives and becomes reformist. A movement may start from a
phase of mass mobilisation and collective protest to become more institutionalised. Social
scientists who study the life cycles of social movements call this a move towards ‘social
movement organisations’.

nd
2 classification- Old and New

Old Movement New Movements
Most have links with political parties and Do not have links to politics parties. May
they were very imp. e.g freedom sometimes oppose the practices of govt., e.g
struggle INC workers movement.
Main aim Saw the reorganization of power Main aim address social issues, no change in
relationships. power relationships.
Usually to do with economic inequality. Involves economic, social, political and
cultural inequality.
Usually concerned with the lower or To do with all classes and all castes e.g
depressed class like women and dalits e.g workers movement. Tribal movement
Arya Samaj.