Showing papers on "Social movement published in 1974"

The Politics of Rights: Lawyers, Public Policy, and Political Change

Abstract: Stuart A. Scheingold's landmark work introduced a new understanding of the contribution of rights to progressive social movements, and thirty years later it still stands as a pioneering and provocative work, bridging political science and sociolegal studies. In the preface to this new edition, the author provides a cogent analysis of the burgeoning scholarship that has been built on the foundations laid in his original volume. A new foreword from Malcolm Feeley of Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law traces the intellectual roots of "The Politics of Rights" to the classic texts of social theory and sociolegal studies. "Scheingold presents a clear, thoughtful discussion of the ways in which rights can both empower and constrain those seeking change in American society. While much of the writing on rights is abstract and obscure, "The Politics of Rights" stands out as an accessible and engaging discussion."-Gerald N. Rosenberg, University of Chicago "This book has already exerted an enormous influence on two generations of scholars. It has had an enormous influence on political scientists, sociologists, and anthropologists, as well as historians and legal scholars. With this new edition, this influence is likely to continue for still more generations. "The Politics of Rights" has, I believe, become an American classic."-Malcolm Feeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, from the forewordStuart A. Scheingold is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Washington.

Thoughts on a Neglected Category of Social Movement Participant: The Agent Provocateur and the Informant

Abstract: This article considers the hitherto unexplored phenomenon of the informant as used by authorities in their response to social movements. The origins and motives of informants, their roles in radical groups, and factors conducive to their becoming agents provocateurs are explored. Suggestions for further research and conclusions about the effects of using informants are offered.

Social Origins of American Scientists and Scholars

Abstract: Data from a wide variety of sources reflect geographical, baccalaureate, and social class variations in the production of scientific and scholarly doctorates in the United States. To a significant extent, these variations are associated with the kind of religiousethnic group from which such persons come. Roman Catholics are extremely low producers of scientists and scholars, but fundamentalistic and traditional Protestant faiths (southern white Protestants, Lutherans) are also low producers. Liberal Protestant sects, such as Unitarians and Quakers, and secularized Jewish groups are highly productive, and less liberal faiths are moderately productive. Variations in productivity are reflective of differences in beliefs and values. Highly productive groups share a certain set of values, unproductive groups hold the antithesis of these, and those groups intermediate in productivity possess a mixed blend. Tentatively, the common beliefs and value systems of high producers seem to include naturalism; intrinsic valuation of learning and the individual quest for truth; emphasis on human dignity, goodness, and competence; a life pathway of serious dedication, of service to humanity, of continual striving; humanistic equalitarianism; a pragmatic search for better ways of doing things unfettered by traditional restraints; and a focus on the relatively immediate, foreseeable future which can be affected by personal effort. Historically, the scientists (or their immediate ancestors) have broken away from the traditional orthodoxy, broadened certain values, and retained others. For example, the children of Jewish immigrants to the United States departed from the traditional ritualism of the eastern European Jewish community, broadened the old value of scriptural erudition to include secular learning of all kinds, but maintained emphasis upon personal striving and social responsibility. Also, it appears that eminent scientists often emerge from devout Protestant homes emphasizing learning and responsibility but that such scientists frequently depart from the parental religious faith (31) . Psychodynamically, this set of cultural values produces a person with an inquiring cognitive disposition, whose duty it is to strive diligently to improve the human condition. Given a certain level of intellectual talent, and cultural support in educational, scientific, and scholarly institutions, youth will frequently choose careers in scientific and scholarly professions. This same cultural milieu apparently also produces disproportionate numbers of inventors and entrepreneurs; historically, it produced those who activated the industrial revolution and those who generally were responsible for rapid economic growth. The data discussed herein extend only to about 1960, prior to the great social unrest of the 19609s and early 19709s. Speculatively, one might predict that productivity will diminish to the extent that current social movements stressing existential futility, goal attainment "now," or power relationships are successful in penetrating groups which have been highly productive, since these emphases undermine longterm scholarly striving.

On Participation in Political Protest Movements

Abstract: Laymen and social scientists alike often believe that people are inspired to participate in political or social movements because of certain dislocating or frustrating personal experiences. The pol...

Social Movements: An Analytical Exploration of Organizational Forms

Abstract: A review of the literature on social movement organizations yields two key organizational variables: 1) the nature of the goals (instrumental-specific or expressive-diffuse); 2) the nature of membership requirements (exclusive or inclusive). These variables are cast in a paradigm which includes as other conceptual components: the kinds of membership incentives (solidary or purposive); the degree to which the social movement organization is detached from its community of concern; the leadership styles (directing, persuading, mixed); and the kinds of memberships (homogeneous; heterogeneous). The paradigm yields nine possible types of social movement organizations which in turn can be divided into congruent or non-congruent types. The paradigm is illustrated with data and observations from studies of social movements.

On the Study of Urban Social Movements

Abstract: The article makes a critical assessment of the approach to urban protest developed by Manuel Castells and colleagues. Problems are identified in the definition of the term urban social movement, the identifation of their effects and the theoretical assumptions made about the central and local state. The approach is shown to neglect the mobilization process, and to ignore effects obtained by conventional institutional methods of demand-making. The advantages of a social network approach to mobilization are shown.

The Emerging Political Consciousness of the Aged: A Generational Interpretation1

Abstract: Generational analyses have tended to focus on youth movements and ideologies, in keeping with the Mannheim emphasis on new generations. Age-group political consciousness among the elderly may be an emergent feature of the current political scene; thus, it is useful to examine the generational aspects of a political movement among the elderly as well. This paper presents a model of the factors contributing to the development of socio-political movements. It appears that an aged social movement will not develop unless age-group political consciousness among the elderly is manifest. The prospects of the emergence of that political consciousness and a social movement of the aged are discussed, with attention to precursors of these political expressions in the current generation of older people.

social change and the rise and decline of social movements: the case of Cyprus1

Abstract: A social movement is an integral part of the total sociocultural environment. Any major transformation of the latter will most probably have a corresponding impact on the former. This proposition is examined through a detailed analysis of the anticolonialist movement of the Greek Cypriots to unite Cyprus with Greece (known as the Enosis movement). It is concluded that a traditionally rooted movement like Enosis cannot maintain its mass appeal if its ideological content remains intransigent and inflexible in its devotion to traditional norms at a time when the underlying sociocultural environment undergoes profound secularizing and modernizing changes.

The Role of the Organization of African Unity in Contemporary African Politics

Abstract: Pan Africanism as an ideology and a social movement has been the subject of considerable study, especially in recent years. The history, both diplomatic and political, of the creation of successive inter-African organizations has also been described in many works. The politics of the movement for African Unity have been scrutinized.1 What has been somewhat neglected is the impact of the movement and of the organizations, particularly of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), on the politics of the continent, both taken as a whole and in the various countries. The OAU will be treated in this paper not as the dependent but as the independent variable

Patterns of Black Protest in Jamaica: The Case of the Ras-Tafarians

Abstract: The Ras-Tafarians of Jamaica are, sociopolitically speaking, one of the most interesting protest movements ever to emerge in the West Indies. Yet, they are also one of the most misunderstood. This paper attempts to throw some light on the sociological and political implications of this bourgeoning social movement by pointing to the fact that it is not possible to fully understand the movement without reference to social stratification, economic deprivation, and neocolonial racism in Jamaican society. Who, then, are the Ras-Tasfarians? And what explanations can we offer for the phenomenal increase in their numbers since they were first noticed in 1930? In this discussion we offer one set of answers to both these questions and open, we hope, an interesting sociological area for discussion and conjecture. In the closing years of the 1920s and the early years of the 1930s economic depression shook the entire Western world. In the West Indies, traditionally a primary producing area, poverty and hunger ran amuck. People philosophized, innovated, withdrew from social involvement, created new goals

Exploring the Politics of Coleman II

Abstract: ly but in the interests of and by some people in the society. The class system and institutional racism screen off or exclude many members of society from rewards and certainly from reward for merit. Honesty would not appear to be a virtue upon which adults can rest with much confidence. In fact the youth who participated in the social movements of the sixties complained bitterly that the stated values of the "society" were not being practiced. Many of the social movements of the past arose to try to bring the institutional structure, laws, and behavior in line with American values. In general, the impetus for change has come, not from insiders, but from outsiders. The panel, on the other hand, appears to accept the current construction of our society. Thus they desire to make youth insiders, to integrate them into society. If that can be accomplished, young people can influence adults in the direction of civil rights and equal opportunity while being socialized to revere and respect law, merit, and honesty. A review of our history requires that we not only question "society's" commitment to those values but recognize that integration is often a device for co-optation and control which defuses and diffuses opposition and dissent with minimal social reform and social change. In fact, it seems clear to me that the authors of this report are

The rhetoric of American feminism: A social movement course

Abstract: This article outlines a syllabus for a course in the Rhetoric of American Feminism. The course examines the themes and strategies of American feminist speakers and seeks to uncover the vital role of rhetoric in a social movement. The first part of the article sets out four fundamental postulates that provide the philosophical framework for the course. The remainder of the article identifies and describes the units of the course and provides footnoted bibliographic references.

Solar Heating and Cooling

Abstract: Data from a wide variety of sources reflect geographical, baccalaureate, and social class variations in the production of scientific and scholarly doctorates in the United States. To a significant extent, these variations are associated with the kind of religiousethnic group from which such persons come. Roman Catholics are extremely low producers of scientists and scholars, but fundamentalistic and traditional Protestant faiths (southern white Protestants, Lutherans) are also low producers. Liberal Protestant sects, such as Unitarians and Quakers, and secularized Jewish groups are highly productive, and less liberal faiths are moderately productive. Variations in productivity are reflective of differences in beliefs and values. Highly productive groups share a certain set of values, unproductive groups hold the antithesis of these, and those groups intermediate in productivity possess a mixed blend. Tentatively, the common beliefs and value systems of high producers seem to include naturalism; intrinsic valuation of learning and the individual quest for truth; emphasis on human dignity, goodness, and competence; a life pathway of serious dedication, of service to humanity, of continual striving; humanistic equalitarianism; a pragmatic search for better ways of doing things unfettered by traditional restraints; and a focus on the relatively immediate, foreseeable future which can be affected by personal effort. Historically, the scientists (or their immediate ancestors) have broken away from the traditional orthodoxy, broadened certain values, and retained others. For example, the children of Jewish immigrants to the United States departed from the traditional ritualism of the eastern European Jewish community, broadened the old value of scriptural erudition to include secular learning of all kinds, but maintained emphasis upon personal striving and social responsibility. Also, it appears that eminent scientists often emerge from devout Protestant homes emphasizing learning and responsibility but that such scientists frequently depart from the parental religious faith ( 31 ). Psychodynamically, this set of cultural values produces a person with an inquiring cognitive disposition, whose duty it is to strive diligently to improve the human condition. Given a certain level of intellectual talent, and cultural support in educational, scientific, and scholarly institutions, youth will frequently choose careers in scientific and scholarly professions. This same cultural milieu apparently also produces disproportionate numbers of inventors and entrepreneurs; historically, it produced those who activated the industrial revolution and those who generally were responsible for rapid economic growth. The data discussed herein extend only to about 1960, prior to the great social unrest of the 1960's and early 1970's. Speculatively, one might predict that productivity will diminish to the extent that current social movements stressing existential futility, goal attainment "now," or power relationships are successful in penetrating groups which have been highly productive, since these emphases undermine long longterm scholarly striving.

A Gandhian Perspective of Social Change

Abstract: A revolution is considered “a movement of dissent that succeeds in attaining power.” If so, a bloody insurrection need not be a revolution; a non-violent social movement can be a revolution. Using this criterion the Indian National Movement led by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was, indeed, revolutionary in character, as it resulted in taking the reigns of power from colonial rulers. Yet the purpose of a revolution is lost if there is only a transfer of power between different groups at the top. Only the broader objectives of attainment of power can make the definition significant. The possession of power and its utilisation in specific ways, more particularly by a minority group, can sow the seeds of dissent among the masses, which ultimately may result in the overthrow of those in power. For revolution to be beneficial to the people in general social change has to be the necessary and natural corollary of such a transfer. Mere attainment of power represents only one phase of a revolution, the positive changes generated on account of that power alone are indicators of the other phases of the revolution. Gandhi wrote as early as 1931: “To me political power is not an end but one of the means of enabling people to better their conditions in every department of life. Political power means capacity to regulate national life through national representatives — If then I want political power it is for the sake of the reforms for which the Congress stands — If we were to analyse the activities of the Congress during the past twelve years we would discover that the capacity of the Congress to take political power has increased in exact proportion to its ability to achieve success in the constructive effort. That is to me the substance of power.”