DePaul University Black Lives Matter Social Movement Sociology Essay

DePaul University Black Lives Matter Social Movement Sociology Essay DePaul University Black Lives Matter Social Movement Sociology Essay ORDER NOW FOR CUSTOMIZED AND ORIGINAL NURSING PAPERS Home > Humanities > DePaul University Black Lives Matter Social Movement Sociology Essay Question Description Help me study for my Sociology class. I’m stuck and don’t understand. Per teacher : Final Social Movement Analysis Guidelines Choose a social movement or effort aimed at social change and deconstruct it utilizing the themes and theories discussed in class. In other words, apply the concepts, themes, and theories discussed in class to make sense of the social movement. In other words, analyze the movement using the theoretical perspectives discussed in class. How does each explain why the movement emerged and the trajectory it took? Develop an argument in which you describe the theoretical perspectives that best explain the formation and development of your movement – or alternatively, why one theory cannot provide a complete explanation on its own. Your essay should be 7 pages in length and should reference at least 6 readings from our course reader. As a general rule, you should have 2 references per written page. This should insure that your analysis is sufficiently theoretically framed.DePaul University Black Lives Matter Social Movement Sociology Essay Questions you should consider when examining the social movement or efforts aimed at social change include: Why do individuals participate in movements? What are their motivations or interests? What are the structural conditions that shape these interests or motivations? How does mobilization occur? What is the process? How do people come to identify with and be committed to a movement (or not)? How do people understand grievances and persuade others to agree with them? How are movements organized? What networks do they draw on, what is their organizational structure? How do movements draw on external resources or allies or take advantage of political opportunities (or not)? How are they constrained by social structure? What tactics or strategies do movements employ? How are they constrained? What role does creativity or leadership play? How do regimes, opponents, or other outsiders (including media) respond to movements? What are the temporal dynamics of movements? What affects their trajectory over time? The Final Social Movement Analysis is due Monday March 16 th by 11:59pm. Unformatted Attachment Preview Mancur Olson • In 1965 economist Mancur Olson argued that protestors are “so rational and self interested that they will not join groups if they think they can gain the benefits that the groups pursue without taking the time to participate. • In other words they are “free riders” on the efforts of others. (55) Free riders… • “You don’t have to join the environmental movement to enjoy the clean air that it wins for all of us”(55) • Another reason to free ride is that your own participation won’t make a difference, something especially true in very large groups. • So to attract participants, Olson said movements have to provide people with “selective incentives” that you only get for participating (newsletters or insurance) States as a type of organization • Patriotism is probably the strongest non-economic motive for organizational allegiance in modern times — Age of nationalism. • Many nations draw additional strength and unity from some powerful ideology, such as democracy or communism, as well as from a common religion, language, or cultural inheritance. • Almost any government is economically beneficial to its citizens, in that the law and order it provides is a prerequisite of all civilized economic activity. • Yet, no state has been able to support itself through voluntary dues and contributions – Taxes are compulsory Non collective Benefits • American Medical Association: “provides a helpful defense against malpractice suits, publishes medical journals needed by its membership, and makes its conventions educational as well as political” • • The AMA has offered its members and potential members a number of selective or non-collective benefits. It has offered its members benefits which, in contrast with the political achievements of the organization, can be withheld from nonmembers, and which accordingly provide an incentive for joining the organization.” (64) AMA Continued… • The AMA gains membership because of subtle forms of coercion and partly because of the non-collective benefits they provide. • If it were solely a lobbying organization, it would not have the coercive power or non-collective benefits to sell. FREEDOM SUMMER EYES ON THE PRIZE 1962-1964 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgSitIXiP5Y BACKGROUND • Difficult to persuade prospective voters to register • Lack of federal presence in state to stop violence • Lack of publicity to generate federal action PROTEST VOTE • A mock gubernatorial election among the Mississippi Black population, a parallel “Freedom Vote” designed to minimize violence and ensure maximum voter turnout. • This might: • Generate publicity • Coordinating a statewide campaign would strengthen SNCC’s organizational presence • Symbolic nature of vote would forestall violence WHO STAFFS THE CAMPAIGN? • Who registers black voters and who stages the election? • White upper and middle-class youth • PRO: • Garner national media attention • Safety: Federal law enforcement officials would be there to protect white students • Students have influential parents and are from Ivy League schools – Symbolic Capital • CON: Students may take over the movement and appropriate leadership roles WHY WHITE ELITES? • Biographical Availability • Students have free time to be activists • Free from marriage • Free from Full-time employment • Free to express political views COGNITIVE LIBERATION • Participants expressed idealism and optimism • Cognitive liberation: People don’t rebel against the status quo unless they feel it is unjust and illegitimate (as opposed to natural and inevitable). • Cognitive liberation is sometimes a product rather than a cause of protest.DePaul University Black Lives Matter Social Movement Sociology Essay IDEOLOGICAL DIVERSITY OF APPLICANTS • Least Political: 1) Teachers or education majors whose motivation for applying represents an extension of their occupational roles 2) Religious: Motivation for applying represents an extension of the social gospel. • More Political: Patriotic rhetoric – Carry on the legacy of JFK • Parents inspired both groups WHY DID PEOPLE PARTICIPATE IN THE PROJECT? • 90% already participated in some form of activism – Safer, less demanding forms of activism often precede riskier, more demanding forms. • Identity Transformation: Playing as activist is usually the 1 st step to becoming one. • Some applicants were linked to Civil Rights organizations. • 49/80 applicants knew another applicant in advance of the summer – Important in their decision to apply (social ties) – Talked each other into going. VOLUNTEERS VERSUS NO-SHOWS • Going or not going to Mississippi had to do with applicant’s biographical availability and social links to the project. • Participants: • Had stronger links to the project • More likely to be members of a Civil Rights group or an allied group • More likely to have friends involved in the movement • Participation was risky – Highly publicized dangers • If applied alone and was isolated, social costs of withdrawing were low • If applied with others, if tried to withdraw, social disapproval could be great Inclusivity/Exclusivity ? ? To change world, movement must include as many people as possible (Inclusivity). ? To attract devoted activists, movement must often promote a sense of exclusivity. ? Separatism, concern w/ purity, and homogeneity of thought are associated with exclusivity. Us vs. Them ? ? Kanter Study: Most successful communes of 19th century discouraged relationships outside the group through geographic isolation, economic self-sufficiency, a special language and style of dress, and rules that controlled members’ and outsiders’ movements across the boundaries of community. ? Us vs. Them: Opposition is evil ? solidifies ingroup ties w/o creating dialogue w/ other. Doctrinal Purity ? ? Becoming us vs. them involves purifying beliefs. ? Idealism, radicalism, exclusion: binds activists to movement ? Leaders: More radical than followers b/c serve not as intermediaries to outside world, but moral exemplars whose function is inspiration. ? May grow more conservative than rank & file over time Homogeneity ? ? Like attracts like, deviants suppress differences to belong. ? You are a member if you believe what others in the movement believe. ? In some movements, if do not take correct ideological line, could be viewed as betraying family or closest friends. Iron Law of Involution ? ? Every social movement tends to splinter unless it wins quickly in which case it turns into a collection of institutions. ? Example: Socialist movement: Labor movement turned into institution; Communist party (exclusive) turned into sect. Inclusivity vs. Exclusivity ? ? Inclusivity: DePaul University Black Lives Matter Social Movement Sociology Essay “Strength of weak ties” ? Easy to retreat to apolitical sanctuaries like family ? Allows friendships to run who gamut of political views ? Allows host of different ties to large community. ? Conducive to success? Inclusivity vs. Exclusivity ? ? Versus exclusivity, loose aggregation may succeed b/c: ? Members can use their weak contacts w/ diverse organizations and individuals outside their neighborhood to further their interests ? Weakly tied have better access to info ? Tightly knit: greatest overlap in contact w/ those one already knows, so info they acquire is likely to be the same as that which already have Conditions That Impede Exclusivity ? ? In ERA movement: ? 1) Likelihood of Winning ? 2) Dependence of the movement on actors in different structural roles ? 3) Explicitly inclusive ideology 1) Likelihood of Winning ? ? ERA: Close to being ratified ? These conditions maximized the impact of political realism, by reducing both overconfidence and the temptation of the loser to retreat to purity. 2) Dependence of Movement on Actors in Different Structural Roles ? ? Division of labor b/w different states, different communities w/i each state, and b/w different constituencies ? Decentralization: allowed member to feel more comfortable w/ one another ? Division of labor fostered distinctive perspectives that undermined unifying ideology 3) Inclusive Ideology ? ? Ideology of women’s movement is inclusive, stressing the sisterhood of women of differing classes, ethnicities, regions, and traditional politics. ? Listening to what other women had to say, even the opposition Making Sense of Social Movements • Are you currently or have you been involved in a social movement. • What factors give rise to social movements? • Are there any preconditions to the emergence of social movements? • Why do people join social movements. Pre-1960s • Scholars viewed social movements as dangerous mobs that acted irrationally. • Scholars felt that people were transformed into unthinking automatons by social movements. • Fooled by their leaders whom they blindly and stupidly followed. Pre-1960s • Theorists saw movements as mistakes that were best avoided. • Urgent issue was how to prevent them and to do this one needs to know why they appeared. Structural Theories 1. Mass Society Theory 2. Resource Mobilization 3. Political Process Approach 4. Network Theory • Movements linked to one another • Participants shift from one to another • Same political conditions encourage many movements to form at same time • All movements are equivalent “Mass Society” Theorists • Social movements occurred when society has lost “intermediary” organizations (b/w person and government) that the discontented could join. • Examples of “intermediary” organizations that were considered stable, normal, and healthy: trade unions, community groups, churches. –Brought together individual preferences and provided outlets for letting off steam. Other Theorists • Emphasized the kind of people they thought would join movements which would form when enough people were “alienated” from the world around them or had infantile psychological needs that movement would satisfy. Marx’s Concept of Alienation • 1) Alienation of worker from the product of his labor. • –Work for someone else; Work for capitalist class • 2) Alienation of worker from working, from the act of producing. • –Endless sequence of discrete, repetitive, trivial, meaningless motions offering little intrinsic reward • McDonalds Marx’s Concept of Alienation • 3) Alienation of worker from himself as producer, from his essence of species. DePaul University Black Lives Matter Social Movement Sociology Essay • –Can’t reach full potential because always working for someone else. When always working for someone else, can’t fulfill one’s needs and desires. Pre-1960 • Early theorists saw movements as a function of discontent in society and saw discontent as something unusual. • Today: Scholars see social movements as normal part of politics. • 1950s: The Golden Age 1960s and 1970s • Paradigm Shift • Privileged people began to have sympathy for those that demanded freedoms and material improvements. • Civil Rights Movement: Main reason views changed. • Hard to dismiss civil rights demonstrators as misguided, immature, and irrational. Resource Mobilization School • Movements are formal organizations • There were always enough discontented people to fill a protest movement, but what varied and so explained the emergence of movements was the resources available to nourish it. • As society grows wealthier, we see more movements (more resources to nourish movements. • Focus shifted from kinds of individuals who might join movement to infrastructure necessary to sustain a movement. • Food Service (Occupy) • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA6gszAn-yE “Political Process” Approach • Emphasize conditions in the external world • Economic and political shifts occur that open up a space for the movement. • Changes in the state are the most important opportunity a movement needs. • Slackening in repression, political elites are divided, movement finds allies in government, political and economic elites have divergent interests, crisis in government that distracts leaders. • Rand Paul: Tea Party • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE1kjqhTdu4 Blumberg Article • Reflects the Political Process approach • Migration of African Americans out of rural south provided more resources and denser social ties, a church and organizational infrastructure through which money could be channeled to civil rights work, and a new cultural outlook.? Allowed greater degree of mobilization Blumberg Article • NAACP inspired through legal victories • Emotions of raised expectations The Civil Rights Movement • Interacting events: p. 15 • Movement to cities: p. 16-17 • Formal organizations: p. 17 • White supremacy on decline internationally: p. 20 Network Theorists • Existence of social ties among potential recruits is seen as a prerequisite for the emergence of a social movement. • Network Theorists look at the structural conditions within the community or population of those who might be recruited. • Those with “dense” ties, or pre-existing formal organizations, will find it easier to mobilize supporters and build a movement. Freeman Article • Argues against early theorists who saw discontented and unorganized masses as spontaneously appearing in streets. • Argues that pre-existing organizations and social ties are vital to spread of movement. • Networks are important for communication. The Women’s Movement • 1) Need for pre-existing communications network (pp. 31-32) • 2) Network must be co-optable to ideas of new movement (p. 32) • 3) If co-optable communications network exists, a) a crisis can galvanize it and/or b) if rudimentary, organizing cadre is necessary (p. 32) Freeman Article • Spontaneous movements are generally small and don’t last long. • Networks are important for communication & spread of movement. • Emotions are often overlooked but important. People respond to information they receive through networks b/c of affective ties to those in the network. D’ Emilio Article • Emphasizes importance of social networks to development of militant gay and lesbian movement. • Movement drew upon pre-existing networks of activists in other radical movements. D’ Emilio Article • “Gay Liberation” movement recruited from New Left and women’s movement. • Borrowed confrontational tactics from these movements. • Many lesbians and gay men had been educated in the arts of protest by the feminist and antiwar movements. The Gay Liberation Movement • Gay Liberation Movement borrowed from the New Left (p. 37) • Language of New Left (p. 37) • Influence of Feminist Movement on The Gay Liberation Movement and The Lesbian Liberation Movement (p. 40) • Structural versus cultural approaches to explaining social movements. Structural Approach • Scholars saw movements as closely linked to one another because leaders and participants shifted from one to the other, or shared social networks, or because they same political conditions encouraged many movements to form at the same time. • Researchers began to ask what caused entire waves of social movements to emerge. • In structural view, all movements are equivalent. Cultural Approach • Not all movements are seen structurally similar. • Undergirded by shift from manufacturing society to postindustrial or knowledge society (fewer people possess physical goods & more deal with symbols). • Social movements try to control the direction of social change by controlling society’s symbols and self-understandings. • Collective identities created Cultural Approach • Goals and intentions of protesters are taken seriously. • Must ask protesters about their perceptions, desires, and fantasies. • Cultural perceptions can play a bigger role in the development of a social movement than changes in state structure. • DePaul University Black Lives Matter Social Movement Sociology Essay “opportunities” of process theorists may only have an effect if they are perceived as such. • Perceptions, rhetoric, symbols, & emotions matter more than structural shifts in state. Structural Theorists vs. Cultural Theorists • Process Theorists (Structural): Focused on movements of groups who have been systematically excluded from political power and legal rights. • Cultural Theorists: More likely to examine movements of those who already have the formal rights of citizens. Structural Theorists vs. Cultural Theorists • Structural Theorists: Assume that groups of people know what they want already, and merely, need an opportunity to go after it (Often provided by state). • Cultural Theorists: Recognize that in many cases people need to figure out what they want, often because organizers persuade them of it. Why Do Movements Emerge? • 1) Political factors such as divisions among elites • 2) Lessened repression from police and army • 3) Economic conditions such as increased discretionary income, especially among those sympathetic to the movement’s cause Why Do Movements Emerge? • 4) Organizational conditions such as social-network ties or formal organizations among aggrieved populations. • 5) Demographic conditions such as the increased population density that comes with industrialization • 6) Potential protesters must understand many of these factors as opportunities before they can take advantage of them. • 1. Political Process Approach (Structural) • 2. Political Process Approach (Structural) • 3. Political process & Resource mobilization (Structural) • 4. Network Theory (structural) • 5. Political Process Approach (Possibly Network Theory & Mass Society Theory) • 6. Cultural Theory (Perceptions, ideas, emotions) Freedom Summer • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgSitIXi P5Y • Social Movements: A Primer • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw13pS 7qB7w Middle Class Radicalism & Environmentalism What Kind of environmentalist are you? • http://thegreenists.com/its-complicated/what-kind-ofenvironmentalist-are-you/7562 Questions • Are those who join environmental associations particularly aware of the problems? • Is it just about awareness? Are those who are more aware of environmental problems more likely to participate in environmental organizations? • What is the difference between environmentalists and non-environmentalists? Research • Questionnaire distributed to 3 groups. • 1) Environmentalists 2)Industrialists (Business & Engineering 3) General Public • On some items, environmentalists and general public both agreed on damage to environment (Environmentalists agreement was stronger) • Awareness of environmental dangers can only account in part for membership in environmental groups How do we then explain participation in Environmental groups? • Need to examine beliefs about environment in the context of wider systems of belief & action (We see bigger difference between environmentalists and others) • Environmentalists see environmental dangers to be much more serious. • Environmentalists: More likely to lack confidence in and even show hostility toward science and technology • Environmentalists: More opposed to institutions of industrial society Belief Systems (Environmentalists) • Low support for material values (Maintaining high rate of economic growth, maintaining stable economy) • High support for post-material values (Progressing toward less impersonal, more humane society; Progressing toward a society where ideas are more important than money) • Environmentalists have a different worldview, meaning system, and value system than non-environmentalists. Environmentalists Vs. General Public • What differentiates environmentalists from general public is not awareness of environmental dangers but use to which they put their environme … Purchase answer to see full attachment Get a 10 % discount on an order above $ 100 Use the following coupon code : NURSING10