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Chapter 8: Social Movements |
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WOMEN WIN THE RIGHT TO VOTE
The actions of Angelina Grimke are used in the opening vignette to illustrate the struggle for women's rights. When she addressed the Massachusetts legislature in February 1838 and presented a petition against slavery from an estimated 20,000 women of the state, she became the first woman to speak before an American legislative body. Although she was derided as ridiculous and blasphemous by the press and clergy, her actions helped to inspire women who had entered political life through participation in the abolitionist movement to also press for women's rights.
In 1848, a group of women met at Seneca Falls, New York, and issued a declaration (modeled on the Declaration of Independence) written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The Seneca Falls Declaration stated that "all men and women are created equal" and presented a long list of violations of rights. It failed to have an immediate impact because most politically active people in the abolitionist movement believed that the first priority was to end slavery. Following the abolition of slavery, women's rights leaders like Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucy Stone pressed for equal citizenship rights for all persons, regardless of race or gender. They were bitterly disappointed when the Fourteenth Amendment declared full citizenship rights for all males born or naturalized in the United States, including those who had been slaves, but failed to include women.
In 1890, the two main women's suffrage organizations joined together to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). The women's movement was now focused, mostly unified, and growing more powerful every year. In 1912, NAWSA organized a march to support a constitutional amendment for suffrage, which more than 5000 women dressed in white paraded through the streets of Washington. Soon after the United States entered World War I with the express purpose of "making the world safe for democracy," women began picketing the White House, demanding that full democracy be instituted in America. After two prominent Senators from New England were defeated in 1918 primarily because of the efforts of suffragists and prohibitionists, the political clout of the women's groups became apparent to most elected officials. Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1918, guaranteeing women the right to vote, and the necessary 36 states ratified it the following year (1919).
WHAT ARE SOCIAL MOVEMENTS?
Social movements are loosely organized collections of people and institutions who act outside established institutions to promote or resist social change. They are primarily the instruments of political outsiders who want to gain a hearing in American politics. New social problems often generate new social movements, as occurred when the AIDS epidemic stimulated demands for governmental action. Social movements are mass grassroots phenomena that often use unconventional and even disruptive tactics such as demonstrations and sit-ins. They sometimes provide a way for those without a regular voice in American politics to be heard and to be taken seriously. They often protect and sustain fundamental rights and encourage public awareness and participation in public affairs.
Each of the most important social movements has tried to achieve social change while acting outside the normal channels of government and politics. Social movements tend to occur when a significant number of people come to define their own troubles and problems in general social terms, and when they believe that the government can be moved to action on their behalf (a rare combination). They often protect fundamental rights and encourage public awareness and participation in public affairs. At the same time, participation in movement activity can be risky.
This chapter shows how social movements represent ways in which the struggle for democracy is a recurring feature of our political life. They seem to be most successful when their goals are consistent with central values of society and have wide popular support.
MAJOR SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN THE UNITED STATES
The text describes some of the most important social movements that have left their mark on American political life and have shaped what government does in the United States. This chapter looks at the abolitionist movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, the Civil Rights movement, environmental movement, gay and lesbian movement, labor movement, peace movement, populist movement, religious fundamentalist movement, pro-life (anti-abortion) movement, women's suffrage movement, women's movement and the more recent anti-globalization and anti-Iraq War movements.
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN A MAJORITARIAN DEMOCRACY
At first glance, social movements do not seem to fit very well with democratic theory because they usually start out as minority phenomena - whereas democracy requires majority rule - and they often use disruptive tactics. However, this section of the text looks at how social movements can help make American politics more democratic. Social movements often allow those without substantial resources to enter the game of politics; they can convince the majority that new policies are needed; and they can help to fashion new majorities in society. The collective-action aspects of social movements and the disruptive tactics associated with such mass mobilizations broadens the scope of conflict and can serve as a substitute for political and economic resources; in this way, they can help increase political equality.
Social movements can convince the majority that new policies are needed. Social movements are the province of minorities; and in a democracy, minorities win social and policy changes only if they can convince enough of their fellow citizens that what they want is reasonable. Many of the social reforms that most Americans today support were the result of social movements started by minorities, such as citizenship rights for African-Americans, Social Security, and environmental protection.
It sometimes takes the energy of a social movement to overcome the antimajoritarian aspects of our constitutional system and get anything done. Many of the social reforms of which most Americans are most proud - women's right to vote, equal citizenship rights for African-Americans, Social Security, collective bargaining, and environmental protection - have been less the result of normal politics than of social movements started by determined and often disruptive minorities.
FACTORS THAT ENCOURAGE THE CREATION OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
There are several factors that seem to be necessary for a social movement to develop. Most of these factors are structural, including social distress, adequate resources for mobilization, an environment where leaders and the public exercise a degree of support and tolerance, a sense of efficacy in which people believe their actions will have an impact on decision-makers, and a precipitating event (catalyst) to set them in motion.
TACTICS OF SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
Social movements are rarely unified on strategy and tactics. They are usually made up of three groups of people, and must appeal to all three to be successful: a core of activists, a wider circle of people from the aggrieved group who are occasionally active, and a larger audience composed of the general population and political leaders. One of the reasons that social movements have a tendency to splinter into factions is that satisfying one group may work against satisfying others (as occurred in the Civil Rights Movement when the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee took the militant path and split away from the moderates of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference). WHY SOME SOCIAL MOVEMENTS SUCCEED AND OTHERS DO NOT
There are certain conditions under which social movements will have little impact. A social movement is likely to be ineffective when it has few followers and activists, little support among the general public, and is unable to significantly affect everyday life or the election prospects of politicians. Likewise, a social movement will have little impact when it stimulates the formation of a powerful countermovement. More successful social movements' goals are closely related to American values, tend to have the capacity to win public attention and support, and the ability to affect the political fortunes of elected leaders.
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