Social Movements free essay sample

Quinton Johnston Managing in Social Change Social movements are a type of group action. They are a large group of people that gather together to express their concerns or opinions mainly on a specific subject or idea. Social movements began in the 1800s. The term social movements was first introduced in 1850 by Lorenz Von Stein who was a German Sociologist. He introduced the term in his book titled History of the French Social Movement from 1789 to the Present (1850). Historians found that the people that tend to become involved in movements are people that find interest in the specific movement. Contributors that become involved in movements tend to invest in the idea that is presented by the leaders and movers within the movement. There are all types of contributors, some that sponsor the movement financially, morally, economically, and physically. The leaders of social movements are individuals that have found a certain passion for a issue or concern and has determined that they want to bring about change through leading the movement. We will write a custom essay sample on Social Movements or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page These leaders have researched ways to address the certain issue/concern and they have presented possible solutions to a group of people who have similar interest and those who have developed the same passion for addressing the issue to bring about change. After presenting the possible solutions, supporters, sympathizers and others will gather with the leaders to begin the movement. Sympathizers are people who show a considerable support for those who have suffered misfortune. In most cases, sympathizers will show all of their support to the members of the social group because they would have experience hardships in the same area as the social movers or would have known someone who has. People that join a social movement are people that have hope in the change that is proposed by the movement. Members of the movement would walk the streets and conduct gatherings and rallies to get others to join the idea and to jump on board with the movement. The main reason for this is because the only way that social change can happen is by influencing other people to believe in the movement. It is not easy to influence others to join a movement mainly because everyone has their own opinion on social issues and not everyone is going to accept the idea of social change regarding the type of issue. Social Movements are not always successful due to this theory. There are many social movements that have lasted for years and are constantly fighting for a social change. One of the main social movements that is continually to fight for their rights is the Gay Marriage movement. For years, the LGBT community has fought for their rights as US citizens and just recently got a break in law to approve same sex marriage. This social movement is still on the rise to being approved in all states. In my experience, I have been approached by several movements to join or even donate money. For example, the environmental movement approached me to inform me about current environmental issues and concerns in the City of Chicago. I understood what the movement represented and why members were so concerned about the issue but personally, it didn’t interest me enough to give more than what I gave. One of the reasons was probably because of the individual’s approach towards me and the subject of the matter. As opposed to the Don’t Shoot, I want to Live Movement, I gave a nice donation to this group because I knew victims of violence and I have a stronger passion for this movement. Social movements are not always successful. There are many reasons for failure of social movements across the US. One of the main reasons is due to the lack of awareness of the topics being addressed by the group. Another reason might be the amount of time and passion that those involved have in the movement. A lot of times, this affects the dedication to addressing issues of social movement therefore leaving them to be unsuccessful. On the other hand, there are many social movements that are and have been successful. The success of these movements was addressed similar to the failed movements. Instead, these movements most likely had a deeper and stronger foundation and had a large amount of people to join the movement. The techniques of social movements can be challenging in the sense that not all social movements are for positive change so therefore the way of social movements can be challenging in the sense that not all social movements are for positive change so therefore the way issues are addressed is harsher. An example of such movement is the movement to promote terrorism. This group focuses on creating new ways of committing terrorist acts on countries and individual groups. There was a counter-terrorism movement that was started to counteract the attacks of terrorists.