Social Movements Matter

      Social movements are a collective and contentious political activity based upon a shared set of claims, using social networks to maintain sustained challenges against a powerful component or group of components. Social movements have evolved greatly during the 18th century and ever since, compared to the take on how we protest against controversial issues between different groups today. Prior to the 18th century collective action was based on three basic characteristics including;

         1. Parochialism- a limited or narrow outlook, especially focused on a local area.
         2. Direct action- the use of strikes, demonstrations, or other public forms of protest rather than negotiation to achieve a change.
         3. Particularism- the principle of leaving each state in an empire or federation free to govern itself and promote its own interests, without reference to those of the whole.
     
      As the 18th century progressed new types of protests were formed that changed several social movements that followed. Boycotts, petitions in England, and Urban insurrection in France all became the underlying basis for movements that were no longer direct or particular and referred to as modular that still serve as the basis today. The classical, social, and collective models of social movements explain why.

      According to the classical model of social movements presented in chapter 23, social movements are moved by disruptive psychological state of minds that are led by structural strains. This assumes the one to one relationship between strains and protests. This model expresses that movements participants are "psychologically abnormal" and are merely a collective group of discontented individuals that are looking to bring about a change. Another model that gives an explanation for social movements is the model presented by the mass society. The mass model starts with social isolation and says that extreme behavior such as social movements and protests are resulted from alienation and anxiety among society members that collectively share a set of claims. The last model presented in this chapter is known as the collective behavioral model. This model presents that a system strain effects normative ambiguity which then leads to social movements in society. All three of these models can be used to form a social movement in society, depending on what the controversial issue being acted upon is.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/04/nonviolence-as-compliance/391640/

      A current social movement that is being addressed during this time is the Baltimore Riots. These riots and protests are being carried out due to the mysterious death of Freddie Gray. It is unknown as to what exactly caused the death of this young man but many believe that the police are in charge of his unfair death and thus causing rioters to act out on society. This particular example of a social movement is one that to my understanding relates to the mass society model because the riots we are witnessing are forms of extreme behavior. There is a right way and a wrong way to go about social movements and in my opinion Baltimore residence are going about this situation in an extremely dangerous and unlawful way. We should not enforce stupidity to end stupidity, Instead of burning down buildings to prove a point people who feel strongly about this issue, on black discrimination, should instead invest their time in protesting why they believe that this issue is being dealt with unfairly and what they believe should be changed in order to refrain from a similar situation from reoccurring in the future. Some people are going about the protesting in a way that will be more effective than causing distress in Baltimore. The above picture is an example of protesters that are trying to make a movement towards a change in the ways police officials are able to abide by the law. This way of enforcing change is a more efficient way to make a movement than actively rioting and acting in extreme outraged behaviors. In my opinion this only brings about the wrong kind of attention among the rioters and takes the focus away from the situation at hand.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/04/how-baltimore-riots-began-mondawmin-purge

      Social movements are important because they are the truest form of democratic engagement. Social movements also have the potential to fundamentally change our every day lives and promote ideas of change throughout our society. Such important movements are not irrational, but rather a calculated response to a closed political system. It is a way for people of low, or lesser social standing than those with power, to speak out and voice their opinions in a way that is heard by the government and the rest of the nation. The social resources that are given to an aggrieved group is what makes mobilization possible, which is important to have in our nation. Resource mobilization emphasizes the importance of organizations. While some riots are unsuccessful and out of hand, others such as labor movements can result in great success and a more fair workforce for those who are implementing a movement for change. Social Movements will continue to occur throughout our nation and others around the world in order to progressively continue to better effected societies that are in need of a social change.