Social movements are a type of group action.

They are large informal groupings of individuals and/or organizations focused on specific political or social issues, in other words, on carrying out, resisting or undoing a social change. Modern Western social movements became possible through education (the wider dissemination of literature), and increased mobility of labor due to theindustrialization and urbanization of 19th century societies. It is sometimes argued that the freedom of expression, education and relative economic independence prevalent in the modern Western culture is responsible for the unprecedented number and scope of various contemporary social movements. However others point out that many of the social movements of the last hundred years grew up, like the Mau Mau in Kenya, to oppose Western colonialism. Either way, social movements have been and continued to be closely connected with democratic political systems. Occasionally social movements have been involved in democratizing nations, but more often they have flourished after democratization. Over the past 200 years, they have become part of a popular and global expression of dissent.[1] Modern movements often utilize technology and the internet to mobilize people globally. Adapting to communication trends is a common theme among successful movements. Social movements are large informal groupings of individuals and/or organizations focused on specific political or social issues. They are a type of group action. Modern Western social movements became possible through education (the wider dissemination of literature), and increased mobility of labor due to the industrialization and urbanization of nineteenth century societies. It has been suggested that the freedom of expression, education, and relative economic independence prevalent in the modern Western culture is responsible for the unprecedented number and scope of various contemporary social movements. However others point out that many of the major social movements of the last hundred years grew up, like the Mau Mau in Kenya, to oppose Western colonialism. Political science and sociology have developed a variety of theories and empirical research on social movements. For example, some research in political science highlights the relation between popular movements and the formation of new political parties. Generally, though, the emergence of social movements is tied to perceived need for social change and the opportunity for the general public to express their protest. In recent times, the awareness of the need for social change has been coupled with a climate in which such change has become possible. This reflects the advance of humankind toward a world in which human rights of all are recognized and people desire to live in peace and harmony, with prosperity for all. he term social movement was introduced in 1850, by the German sociologist Lorenz von Stein in his book, History of the French Social Movement from 1789 to the Present (1850).

Charles Tilly defines social movements as a series of contentious performances, displays, and campaigns by which ordinary people made collective claims on others.[1] For Tilly, social movements are a major vehicle for ordinary people's participation in public politics. He argues that there are three major elements to a social movement: 1. Campaigns: A sustained, organized public effort making collective claims on target authorities 2. Social movement repertoire: Employment of combinations from among the following forms of political action: Creation of special-purpose associations and coalitions, public meetings, solemn processions, vigils, rallies, demonstrations, petition drives, statements to and in public media, and pamphleteering 3. WUNC displays: Participants' concerted public representation of worthiness, unity, numbers, and commitments on the part of themselves and/or their constituencies. Sidney Tarrow defines a social movement as "collective challenges to elites, authorities, other groups or cultural codes by people with common purposes and solidarity in sustained interactions with elites, opponents and authorities." He specifically distinguishes social movements from political parties and interest groups.[2]

Characteristics A movement is not merely a perpetuated crowd, since a crowd does not possess organizational and motivational mechanisms capable of sustaining membership through periods of inaction and waiting. Furthermore, crowd mechanisms cannot be used to achieve communication and coordination of activity over a wide area, such as a nation or continent. A movement is a mixture of organization and spontaneity. There is usually one or more organizations that give identity, leadership, and coordination to the movement, but the boundaries of the movement are never coterminous with the organizations.

ocial movements differ in scope, type of change aimed for, target of the movement, methods used, and geographic range.

Scope
There are two types of scope: Reform and radical. Reform movements are dedicated to changing some norms, usually legal ones. Examples of such a movement would include a trade union with the goal of increasing workers' rights, a green movement advocating a set of ecological laws, or a movement supporting the introduction of capital punishment or the right to abortion. Some reform movements may advocate a change in custom and moral norms, for example, condemnation of pornography or proliferation of a particular religion. The nature of such movements is not just related to the issue but also to the methods used. There could be reformist or radical methods used to achieve the same end. Radical movements are dedicated to changing value systems. Those involve fundamental changes, unlike the reform movements. Examples include the American Civil Rights Movement which demanded full civil rights and equality under the law to all Americans regardless of race (this movement was broad and included both radical and reformist elements), the Polish Solidarity (Solidarno) movement which demanded the transformation of communist political and economy system into democracy and capitalism, and the South African shack dwellers' movement Abahlali baseMjondolo which demanded the full inclusion of shack dwellers into the life of cities.

Type of change
Social movements can be either innovative or conservative in nature. Innovative movements want to enable particular norms, values, and so forth. The singularitarianism movement advocating deliberate action to effect and ensure the safety of the technological singularity is an example of an innovation movement. Conservative movements try to preserve existing norms and values for example, anti-immigration groups. The anti-machines nineteenth century Luddites movement or the modern movement opposing the spread of genetically modified food could be seen as conservative movements in that they aimed to fight specific technological changes. However they are progressive in ways that movements that are simply anti-change per se, (such as being anti-immigration) by being against a specific change that they consider to be harmful to society.

Target

Social movements can be focused on affecting groups or individuals. Group-focused movements aim at change of the political system. Some of these groups transform into or join a political party, but many remain outside the reformist party political system. Individual-focused movements seek reform of individuals. Religion is an example of this type. A political movement is a social movement working in the area of politics. A political movement may be organized around a single issue or set of issues, or around a set of shared concerns of a social group. In contrast with a political party, a political movement is not organized to elect members of the movement to government office; instead, a political movement aims to convince citizens and/or government officers to take action on the issues and concerns which are the focus of the movement. Political movements are an expression of the struggle for political space and benefits. These are an expression of the contentions in a polity. In fact the process of the construction of identities and reinforcing them is also a part of political movements. A political movement may be local, regional, national, or international in scope. Some have aimed to change government policy, such as the the anti-war movement, the Ecology movement, and the Anti-globalization movement. Many have aimed to establish or broaden the rights of subordinate groups, such as abolitionism, the women's suffrage movement, the Civil rights movement, feminism, Gay rights movement, the Disability rights movement, or the inclusive human rights movement. Some have represented class interests, such as the Labor movement, Socialism, and Communism, others have expressed national aspirations, such as anticolonialist movements, Ratana,Zionism, and Sinn Fin. Political movements can also involve struggles to decentralize or centralize state control, as in Anarchism, Fascism, and Nazism.

Methods

Gandhi in 1918, when he led the Kheda Satyagraha.

Social movements can be peaceful or violent. Mahatma Gandhi created the famous peaceful social movement advocating Indian independence. Peaceful movements stand in contrast to violent movements. Within violent movements, there is a distinction drawn between regular fighting and terrorist tactics. The Zapatista Army of National Liberation is an example of traditional arms whereas Hezbollah, Basque Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), or Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) are examples of organizations that have used terrorist tactics on occasion.

Range
Movements can be as small as a school or can reach a global scale. Global movements have goals or objectives for the entire human race. Examples include the first, second, third, and

fourth internationals (where Marx and Bakunin met), the World Social Forum, the PGA and the anarchist movement seek to change society at a global level. Most social movements have a more local scope. They are based on local or regional objectives, such as protecting a specific natural area, lobbying for the lowering of tolls in a certain motorway, or squatting a building about to be demolished for gentrification and turning it into a social center.

Social movements need to be well-organized to achieve their goals. A functioning system of communication is necessary for galvanizing members. They might be newly formed or be facilitated by previously established institutions, either literal or conceptual, such as churches or schools of intellectual thought. Members are called to action. In many cases, this action is political in nature, but it need not be.