The Models of Social Movements

            In the unit of social movements, there was something that stood out to me. Not only were there numerous models created to explain the origins of social movements, but those models seemed to lack many important factors that give rise to movements. To start, I’d like to talk about the various models that were outlined in both the class and the book. Now, I know that as a particular topic of study evolves, so does its theories, or in this case, models. Yet, with all these models, I’m left wondering if there will ever be a universal or general model for explaining social movements. Far away from theories of the past that derive social movements from a strain and disturbed psychological state, we now have models such as resource-mobilization, political-process, and others depicting the various cultural and socioeconomic forces that drive movements. Because there is such a large variety of causes that spur these, will there ever be a point where these are all combined? It’s just that while the current theories governing this type of behavior seem sound at least to me, they also seem to only cover certain aspects causing social movements. Necessary pieces such as leadership are not universally included, and many theories omit parts that others include. The result is a model that appears correct, albeit unfinished.                                  

           Having lived in an area that lacked problems that warranted the intervention of a social movement, my experience with these is limited to a trip to Chicago where I witnessed the Occupy movement protest some gathering. Anyway, while I did not participate in the movement, having learned about it through brief conversations with certain participants, I could see how the models we have can be applied to the movement. The resource-mobilization model seems to explain the movement quite well. There was a grievance—the wealth disparity among the top 1% of Americans between the other 99%, and there were obviously resources dedicated to ensuring the strength of the movement, as evidenced by the length of the protest. Like I said earlier, I think this model lacks at the very least, the influence of leadership in the creation of a social movement. However, I do think that this model provides a basic understanding for why the Occupy movement launched.  

http://occupywallst.org/

http://sociology.about.com/od/R_Index/g/Resource-Mobilization-Theory.htm