Recent Traditions in Social-Movement Theorizing

Abstract

The term social moveme.. connotes different things to different people. Many look upon the ideologically nonviolent and democratic U.S. civil rights movement as a quintessential social movement (Chong 1991). Some would select the German Nazi Party of the 1930s (Arendt 1951; Fromm 1941; Hoffer 1951). Others would apply the term to almost any formally organized group that periodically petitions the state for aid, such as Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (Judkins 1983; McCarthy and Wolfson 1988; Schwartz and Shuva 1992). Still others would think of social movements as largely unorganized, illegal, and episodic actions, such as ghetto riots, wildcat strikes, or spontaneous boycotts of unpopular taxes (Piven 1976).