Key Points
Key Points: Features of a Social Movement
- A social movement involves sustained collective action over a period of time.
- It is organised, with leadership, structure and coordination among members.
- Participants share common objectives, ideology and a sense of purpose.
- Social movements aim to bring about or resist social change on public issues.
- They use various forms of protest and mobilisation such as meetings, rallies, campaigns and symbolic actions (songs, marches, strikes).
New Social movement vs Old Social movement
|
Basis |
Old Social Movements |
New Social Movements |
|
Main focus |
Economic inequality, wages, working conditions |
Quality of life, identity, environment, gender, culture |
|
Key issues |
Class struggle, redistribution of power |
Identity politics, human rights, ecology |
|
Social base |
Mainly working class and peasants |
Multi-class participation (middle class, women, tribals, youth) |
|
Role of political parties |
Closely linked to political parties and trade unions |
Mostly independent of political parties |
|
Organisation |
Centralised and formal |
Decentralised, flexible and informal |
|
Method of action |
Strikes, protests, party-led agitations |
Campaigns, awareness drives, NGOs, networks |
|
Scope |
Mostly national |
Often national and international |
|
Examples |
Labour movement, National Movement |
Women’s movement, environmental movement, Chipko movement |
Difference Between Social Change and Social Movements
|
Basis |
Social Change |
Social Movements |
|
Nature |
Continuous and ongoing process |
Planned and organised collective action |
|
Purpose |
May or may not have a specific goal |
Always has specific goals |
|
Duration |
Takes place over a very long period |
Takes place over a limited period |
|
Planning |
Often unplanned or gradual |
Often unplanned or gradual |
|
Organisation |
Does not require organisation or leadership |
Requires leadership and organisation |
|
Participation |
Involves society as a whole |
Involves a particular group or section |
|
Outcome |
Broad changes in society |
Aims to bring or prevent specific changes |
|
Examples |
Urbanisation, westernisation |
Women’s movement, Dalit movement |
Key Points: Importance of Study of Social Movements
- Sociology has studied social movements from its very beginning.
- Major events like the French Revolution and Industrial Revolution showed how collective action brings social change.
- Early sociologists like Emile Durkheim saw movements as a response to social disorder and rapid change.
- Karl Marx viewed social movements as outcomes of class conflict and collective struggle.
- Historians like E.P. Thompson showed that protests by workers and poor people were organised and meaningful, not random violence.
- Studying social movements helps sociologists understand social conflict, inequality, collective action and social change.
Key Points: Reformist, Redemptive, Revolutionary
- Redemptive movements aim to bring change in the personal beliefs, values and behaviour of individuals (e.g., Narayana Guru’s movement among the Ezhavas in Kerala).
- Reformist movements seek gradual and partial changes within the existing social and political system (e.g., linguistic reorganisation of states, Right to Information movement).
- Revolutionary movements aim at radical transformation of society by overthrowing existing power structures (e.g., Russian Revolution, Naxalite movement in India).
Key Points: Backward Class Castes Movements
- Backward Classes emerged as political identities during both colonial and post-colonial periods, as caste became a basis for political mobilisation.
- Colonial policies of distributing patronage on caste lines encouraged similarly placed castes to unite, leading to what is called a ‘horizontal stretch’ of caste groups.
- Over time, caste began to lose its purely ritual character and became more secularised and politicised in public life.
- From the late 19th century and especially after the 1920s, several organisations such as the All-India Backward Classes Federation were formed to demand representation and rights.
- The central aim of these movements was to secure social justice, political representation, and upliftment of Backward Classes through organised collective action.
Key Points: Jharkhand
- Tribal movements mainly emerged in the ‘tribal belt’ of middle India (e.g., Santhals, Mundas, Oraons) to protect land, identity and resources.
- The Jharkhand movement had a long history of resistance, with Birsa Munda as a major leader who fought against British rule and exploitation.
- Adivasis faced land alienation, exploitation by dikus (outsiders), and loss of forest and mineral resources due to mining and industrial projects.
- Literate adivasis and emerging middle-class leadership helped build ethnic consciousness and demanded a separate state of Jharkhand.
- The movement opposed land acquisition, unfair taxes and loans, and nationalisation of forest produce, ultimately leading to the formation of Jharkhand state in 2000.
Key Points: The North East
- After Independence, state formation and administrative reorganisation created insecurity among tribes in the North East regarding their identity and autonomy.
- Tribes feared loss of their traditional autonomy when incorporated into Assam’s administrative structure.
- The rise of ethnicity in the region was a response to contact with a powerful external state and changing political conditions.
- Earlier secessionist demands have largely shifted towards seeking autonomy within the framework of the Indian Constitution.
- A major issue linking tribal movements across India, including the North East, is alienation from forest lands along with concerns of identity, culture and economic inequality.
Key Points: The 19th Century Social Reform Movements and Early Women’s Organisations
- Early Phase (19th–Early 20th Century): Social reform movements addressed widow remarriage, women’s education, and social evils; organisations like WIA (1917), AIWC (1926), and NCWI (1925) were formed.
- Women in Struggles: Women participated in tribal revolts, Tebhaga, Telangana, and the nationalist movement.
- Post-1947 Phase: After Independence, activism slowed but revived in the mid-1970s.
- New Issues: Focus shifted to dowry, violence, sexual harassment, land and employment rights, leading to legal reforms.
- Recognition of Diversity: The movement acknowledged differences of class, caste, and region among women.
- Gender-Just Society: Emphasised equality and challenging patriarchal norms.
- Government Initiatives: Schemes like Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao promote girls’ education and improve the sex ratio.
Key Points: Ecological Movements
- Ecological movements emerge from concerns over environmental damage caused by unchecked development.
- They highlight conflicts between development projects and the livelihoods of tribals and villagers.
- These movements promote sustainable development and conservation of forests, water, and land.
- The Chipko Movement is a key example, where villagers hugged trees to stop deforestation.
- They connect environmental protection with social justice, linking ecology with people’s survival.
Key Points: Peasant Movements
- Peasant movements are agrarian struggles against exploitation of farmers and sharecroppers.
- Pre-colonial & colonial period: Mostly local and issue-based
Example: Bengal revolt (1859–62) against indigo planters and Deccan riots (1875) against moneylenders - Gandhian phase: Linked to national movement
Example: Bardoli Satyagraha (1928) – no-tax campaign and Champaran Satyagraha (1917–18) – against indigo plantations - Organised movements (1920s–40s):
Example: Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (1929) and All India Kisan Sabha (1936) - Major movements after Independence:
Example: Tebhaga Movement (1946–47) – demanded 2/3 share for sharecroppers and Telangana Movement (1946–51) – against feudal oppression - New Farmers’ Movements (1970s onwards): Region-based, non-party movements, Focus on prices, inputs, loans, taxation and Anti-state and anti-urban bias
- These movements later included environmental and women’s issues, linking them to new social movements.
Key Points: Workers’ Movements
- Began with industrialisation under British rule (1860s).
- Factories set up in Calcutta, Bombay and Madras.
- Labour was cheap and unregulated; poor wages and harsh conditions.
- Early protests were spontaneous, later became organised.
- Strikes increased during World War I due to inflation and food shortages.
- First trade union: Madras Labour Union (1918) by B.P. Wadia.
- AITUC formed in 1920 to unite workers nationally.
- Trade unions had communist, moderate and nationalist ideologies.
- Workers’ movements linked with the national freedom struggle.
- Post-Independence: unions split along political party lines.
- Major events: Railway strike (1974), protests during economic crises.
Key Points: The Dalit Movement
- The Dalit Movement is a struggle for equality, dignity and self-respect, and cannot be explained only in terms of economic or political exploitation.
- Its central aim is the abolition of untouchability, stigma and caste-based oppression, and the assertion of Dalits as full human beings.
- The term ‘Dalit’, meaning the oppressed, was popularised by Ambedkarite activists and reflects resistance to caste hierarchy. The movement is not a single unified movement; rather, it consists of multiple regional movements with a shared demand for equality.
- In contemporary India, the Dalit Movement has gained a strong public presence, accompanied by the growth of Dalit literature expressing lived experiences and calling for social change.
Important Questions [8]
- A social movement requires sustained collective action over time. Write any two features of a social movement. Give an example of a Dalit Movement.
- Assertion (A): Social movements are directed towards some broad goals. Reason (R): It involves long and continuous social effort and action by people.
- Social movements also develop distinct modes of protest. Write the names of any two distinct modes of protest.
- ______ social movements strive to change the existing social and political arrangements through gradual incremental steps.
- What are Redemptive or Transformatory social movements? Give one example.
- What is meant by Reformist social movements? Give one example.
- Are ecological movements new or old social movements? Explain the above using the Chipko Movement as an example.
- At the time of Independence we had two most classical cases of peasant movements. Write the names of the two peasant movements.
