Topic 11. Protest social movements

1. Social movements

Among the whole variety of collective actions, one special type stands out: - social movements. They are distinguished two characteristic features.

Firstly, they are aimed at a specific goal - the implementation of some type social changes.

Secondly,they develop within informal, not having an institutionalized and formalized nature (in any case, not too formalized, weakly institutionalized) systems . In this sense, they are something between collective behavior (for example, in a crowd) and professional activity (for example, in some institution, in an administrative structure).

Social movements in the modern world are very numerous and visible. Abortion and anti-abortion movements, environmental movements, consumer rights movements, feminist movements, political, religious, nationalist, anti-war movements, anti-proliferation movements, reform, revolutionary movements, human rights movements - all these are just individual examples. The area of ​​social life in which such phenomena take place is American sociologist Meyer Zald called « sector of social movements" . Some people directly call our era “ era of social movements " or even argue that modern societies are increasingly becoming " social movement societies ».

This circumstance associated with certain fundamental features of modern society. It created conditions favorable for the formation, mobilization and development of social movements .

Firstly, process urbanization led to the formation of large crowds of people in a relatively small space. Cities have become an arena of intense contacts, interactions and communications between people - numerous “units”. This made it easier to formulate common ideas and views, common values ​​and common ideologies. This is how a natural basis for the manifestation of collective behavior and collective actions arose: cities became the environment from which the bearers of these actions were recruited. After all, many potential participants in social movements lived close to each other. Only here did conditions exist under which it was possible to quickly spread the “cry” (call people out onto the streets), provide “out on the streets”, carry out “street politics” through violent demonstrations, developing into more durable and long-term social movements -zheniya It is no coincidence that social movements for the most part originated in cities.

Secondly, acted in a similar direction industrialization process , which contributed to the concentration of a huge mass of workers in factories, factories and workers’ settlements, on the factory outskirts. Faced during the entire working time, that is, most of the day, with people in a similar situation life situation Forced to solve similar problems and having similar grievances, they could easily formulate a common opinion, agree on a strategy of struggle, and agree to launch collective protests. Also important was the sense of strength that the very sight of a mass of workers gathered together, perceived by them directly, directly, visually, gave them. Numerous social movements were formed on the territory of industrial enterprises, putting forward not only economic slogans and demands for material compensation, but also political and moral ones, for example, movements in support of democracy, movements for women's emancipation, and some religious movements.

Third, mass nature of education had a twofold consequence. On the one hand, significant masses of pupils and students were concentrated and gathered together, that is, people who, by virtue of their youth, were ready for general mobilization and collective activity. Not by chance Universities became centers of many important social movements. It is enough to recall the Paris “spring of the barricades” of 1968, waves of student protests and movements directed against established cultural norms in the United States, dating back to approximately the same time, mass political protests of students in China, South Korea, in the Philippines in the 1980s and 90s. At the same time, education helps to better understand issues related to the public political sphere, develops sensitivity to untruth and injustice, and broadens one’s horizons in the direction of searching for strategic solutions to common, joint activities.

Fourth, development of modern technologies also facilitates the mobilization of social movements and their recruitment of participants. On the one side, mass media contribute to the crystallization of public opinion, strengthening the sense of community that goes beyond local boundaries, and on the other hand - advanced telecommunications , and computer network allow regardless of physical proximity characters quickly establish the necessary contacts and connections between them. In order to promote their program positions, social movements in our time turn to Internet . Rich materials are published on its websites, for example, by environmental and anti-globalization movements. However, comparatively more traditional peasant or, say, national movements are also trying to use the new chances to spread their ideas that modern technology gives them. When a popular uprising broke out in the Chiapas province of Mexico in the 1990s, its leader, Subcomandante Marcos, immediately alerted the whole world by sending out the manifesto of the Movement of the Oppressed via the Internet, thereby seeking to secure support for his demands and justify his methods of armed conflict. struggle.

Fifthly, modern society , marked by the stamp of urbanization and industrialization, that is, first of all, the urban and industrial environment, not only creates conditions for the mobilization of social movements and the recruitment of their supporters, but significantly increases the motivation of potential participants V. In such a society the share of dissatisfied people is growing , a population of disadvantaged people (both in absolute terms, in the sense of poverty, misery, unemployment, and in relative terms, when people feel it is impossible to achieve the desired heights of wealth and success). They formulate various reproaches, claims, demands. Despair pushes them to organize for a common, joint struggle to improve living conditions. Society itself provides natural participants and supporters of protest movements, reform and revolutionary movements. Along with this, the very fact of social atomization, the feeling of loss of one’s roots, alienation, or that “loneliness in the crowd” that David Riesman wrote about, They are inclined to search for a lost community, some common ground of action. And many find this precisely in social movements. Finally, destruction, devaluation of traditional values, normative chaos, or, as Emile Durkheim called it, the state of “anomie” causes the need to search for the meaning of life, worthy goals, guidelines and pointers on how to act. These needs are met, in particular, by religious movements, movements for moral renewal, for self-improvement, etc.

At sixth, motivation of this kind is strengthened by widespread in modern society activist and progressivist ideology, which emphasizes the importance and necessity of changes, changes, as well as the dependence of these changes on the subjective activity of people. Society is not something given once and for all, its fate is not predetermined by someone from above; moreover, it is such or becomes such as a result of people’s actions. This means non-acceptance of fatalism and determinism, and a direct focus on achieving progressive changes through joint efforts. The emphasis on subjectivity, on the fact that people are the creators of history, on the many possible development scenarios, on the role of decisions and choices made by people - all this shapes and promotes people who are more inclined to take public destinies into their own hands, in particular including them into social movements.

Seventh, in the political sphere most modern societies (countries) withdraws, abandons forms of dictatorship, authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, leans towards a democratic system . A democracy creates a particularly favorable “structure of political chances” for social movements " A typical point for it is the constitutional guarantee of freedoms - speech, association, assembly, and it is these freedoms that provide social movements with the opportunity to freely recruit, mobilize their supporters, disseminate their programs and ideologies, nominate leaders, create organizational forms of activity, and all this without fear of reprisals or restrictions. A certain level of political liberalization is a particularly important condition for the formation of resistance and revolutionary movements. The history of world revolutions also confirms the pattern: revolutions occur when the old regime, for one reason or another, weakens and is forced to make concessions and agreements. Not when the government is strong and decisive, but when it hesitates, removes strict prohibitions and restrictions, softens the severity of punishments for disobedience.

Finally, social movement activism requires a certain amount of free time and the energy of its participants , as well as other means necessary for successful activities ( technical means, premises, printing installations, megaphones, paper for leaflets, radio stations, etc.). And such a “mobilization of resources,” human and material, turns out to be more easily achievable in modern society, in which the segment of free time is expanding, labor loses its former character associated with the physical exploitation of a person, and a certain share of free capital not invested in the economy can be used for the needs of the social movement through various kinds of subsidies, gifts, benefits, etc. As a result of all these circumstances, social movements form the most important, main aspect of what we call modernity.

2. Types of social movements

Essential the difference between social movements is revealed in the methods of action they adopt, or as he called it Charles Tilly "protest repertoire» .

Some movements initially and fundamentally exclude forceful methods, the use of violence, Act of terrorism. They rely on peaceful protests , means of persuasion, persuasion, while remaining within the framework of the law, the constitutional field. A famous example this kind of national movement is Mahatma Gandhi in India. The Solidarity movement was proud of the fact that not a single window on the street was broken in the fight against the regime. Similar principles were defended by the leader of the civil rights movement in the United States Martin Luther King.

But there are also numerous national and nationalist, separatist, fundamentalist, revolutionary movements that recognize methods of violence in their most brutal forms as the only weapon of a successful struggle. An extreme example of this kind are movements supporting terrorism , that is, the use of violence directed against random victims and used to intimidate the entire society and demonstrate one’s own strength. An example would be the Hezbollah movement in Palestine, Islamic Jihad, ETA in the Basque country or IRA in Ireland.

In historical retrospect, social movements can be divided into “ old" And " new" At the same time, attention is drawn to the fact that in the 19th century social movements prevailed that clearly represented separate segments social structure: classes, estates, professional categories . They recruited their participants and supporters from the corresponding specific class, estate or professional environment, from its members. They had such a character labor movement, peasant movement, various trade union movements . The content of the social changes for which they fought also had a corresponding private definition. They sought to mobilize forces within the interests of those specific classes and groups that they represented, and the focus of their attention was on material, economic interests related to the institution of property, the amount of earnings, the standard of living, etc. . They also differed in their internal hierarchical structure and quite high degree organization, were easily transformed into both political parties and trade unions. In the 20th century, and especially in the second half of the 20th century, there appears new type social movements.

New social movements , such as, for example, environmental, feminist, anti-proliferation, peace movement, anti-abortion movement, anti-death penalty movement, human rights movement etc., recruit their members and supporters, as it were, crosswise from all natural divisions of society - class, estate, professional. Thus, they acquire not private, but universal character. Here you meet people of very different social status, united by only one common idea: old and young, rich and poor, workers and managers, artists and housewives, scientists and priests. The values ​​around which such movements are concentrated have, as he called it Ronald Inglehart , « post-materialist" character . For example, they relate to the quality of life in an undestroyed natural environment, personal dignity and human rights, the preservation of life at the conception stage, self-realization, identity, freedom, peace . All this is not private, not particular, but universal values values ​​that are important not only for certain segments of society, but also for all people, in other words, universal human values. Finally, new social movements are distinguished by much freer forms of organization, are more egalitarian, decentralized in nature, are based on the principle of voluntariness, and include amateur forms of activity.

In countries where a democratic system already exists (at least formally) self-expression values (level of democratic rights, representation of women in power structures, “responsiveness” of the ruling elites towards the people and their subordination to the rule of law ) are distributed sufficiently. People are more likely to begin to protest against unpopular decisions of the elites and to put into practice the rights with which they are formally endowed. In addition, people committed to self-expression values ​​tend to have the means to ensure that their protest is effective, since these values ​​are most likely to be formed in societies characterized by an abundance of socio-economic resources. Moreover, As the values ​​of self-expression spread in society, they penetrate into the media , giving new generations of journalists a more critical attitude and a willingness to more carefully monitor the facts of corruption in the ranks of the elite and the incompetent actions of the state. These values ​​give rise to social forces that put pressure on democratic elites to be more responsive and accountable to the people, thereby strengthening democracy and increasing its effectiveness .

A special phenomenon that appeared on the edge XX - XXI centuries,can be considered the formation of the newest forms of social movements, namely anti-globalist movements. Violent protests in connection with conferences or meetings of the leaders of the richest countries in the world, as well as in connection with meetings and sessions of international financial and economic organizations - the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the World Trade Organization, which we witnessed in Seattle, Washington, Prague, Quebec, Gothenburg, Genoa, become a link between movements of the old and new type, represent a form that seems to be in the middle, between them. They are united with the old movements by their concentration on economic problems, anti-capitalist ideology, and orientation against large transnational corporations . But there is also a significant novelty here, which makes anti-globalist protests similar to new social movements. If previous social movements defended the private interests of individual classes, estates, layers of society, professional groups, then current anti-globalization movements set themselves goals that they consider in more universal categories, speaking on behalf of “all ordinary people» against the demonized world of big business and capital . AND they fight not against the impoverishment, exploitation or dependence of certain groups, but with the subordination of all humanity to the power of money, global capital. Materialistic values, which previously had a particular character by definition, rise to the level of universal values. This ideology attracts representatives of various classes, social strata, and professional groups to this movement, although, as in most social movements, youth dominate here. Cross-recruitment of supporters from all traditional divisions of society is another characteristic feature that brings anti-globalization movements closer to new social movements. New social movements and this latest mixed version of them are giving an increasingly pronounced tone to the entire “sector of social movements” in the modern world.

This does not mean that the old social movements have already lost their relevance or have disappeared from the scene. Deep economic differences and contrasts, stark contrasts between the poles of poverty and wealth, endemic unemployment, multiple forms of discrimination, inequality and social injustice that modern capitalism brings not only on a global scale, but also within every modern society, lead to the fact that the struggle for particular, class or group economic interests remains today as relevant and intense as before . The novelty lies, however, is that with the ever-growing predominance of democratic regimes in the modern world, representatives of various classes, social strata, and professional groups have found their place in the normal institutional political mechanism : acting as political parties, parliamentary factions, trade unions, pressure groups, etc., they lose the character of informal social movements of the traditional type that did not have institutional structuring. Democratic politics thereby, as it were, absorbed and absorbed the old social movements, and at the post-industrial level only social movements of a new type remained.

3. Dynamics of social movements

Social movements arise, develop, experience their successes or defeats, but ultimately disintegrate and disappear. Every social movement over a greater or lesser period of time, it goes through its stages of development, experiences its “career”. You can select it characteristic stages . Smelser focused attention on the period of formation of the social movement, pointing out four conditions that must certainly appear one after another and coincide in order for the movement to be formed.

1. First of all, a “favorable structural context” must develop in society. Above we talked about the conditions that modern society, with such features as mass participation, facilitating communication, ideological activity, democratic freedoms, etc., creates for social movements. But there are also special conditions that have their own historical specificity in specific societies . These include the tradition of the so-called protest reaction, rooted in collective culture and mentality and passed on from century to century. One aspect of the legacy of the French Revolution is its pronounced in French society tendency to collective revolts, tendency to mass protests, to self-organization in order to protect group interests . For example, the situation looks completely different in Russia, where since tsarist times it has been deeply rooted tradition of obedience and passivity . There are societies in which a happy historical fate, one might say, has instilled a belief in the justification and expediency of the efforts undertaken, and a belief in success. But there are also societies that have inherited from their tangled history a “culture of defeat,” a feeling of powerlessness and hopelessness of any impulses. A factor that creates a favorable social context for social movements and appears in different countries and in different times to varying degrees, There is also uncertainty about the future of a given society, the opacity of its functioning, and the shattered foundations of norms and values. (according to Emile Durkheim's terminology - social anomie). This may be due to deep organizational, cultural, affecting the sphere of traditions and customs, social changes that technical and production progress brings, as well as sharp economic crises, political changes in the social system, etc.
   1. A favorable structural context, however, creates only the general background against which social movements can arise, without, of course, predetermining their emergence. It only creates the necessary conditions, but the existence of such conditions is not yet sufficient for the genesis of social movements. The next necessary condition, which in itself will also not be sufficient, is, as Smelser formulated it, the appearance of “structural tension”. A contradiction of interests and values ​​should appear in society between different segments of this society , as well as the resulting antagonisms and conflicts . In relation to the “old” social movements, the divergence of economic interests, the chances of satisfying basic material needs, which divided society into groups or classes, discriminated against and privileged, into masses and elites, into various social classes, professional categories, were of primary importance here. age groups, regions and forms of settlement (city-village). In relation to “new” social movements, these are, first of all, differences in the assessment and understanding of values, which divides society into groups or communities professing different (and within each group common or similar) principles of morality, differing in their way of life, tastes, etc.
   2. But in addition to all this, in order for contradictions of this kind to become the motivation for common actions, they must become part of the collective consciousness. In Smelser's words, a “community of beliefs” must be formed. All these differences and contrasts of interests and values ​​must be seen, comprehended, identified, interpreted, and experienced emotionally . At the heart of many social movements we can find three most characteristic sensations, arising from an assessment of the current situation in society: feelings of inequality, injustice and disadvantage . The emergence of such ideas is always based on a comparison of one’s own situation with the position of “others” or on a comparison of reality (possibility) with hopes (claims). Why are my needs met worse, and the needs of others better? Problems of inequality and injustice become the most important aspect of a more complex feeling and awareness of infringement of one’s rights and discrimination. American social movement researchers Ted Gurr and James Davistalk about feeling relative disadvantage (deprivation) how about the most important psychological factor generating readiness for mass protests and riots.
   3. The spread in society of certain “generalized” beliefs that become common property is already a state close to the emergence of a social movement. It means complete readiness, both structural and psychological, to undertake general actions. But, as a rule, this still requires a final push, which Smelser defined as "initiating event". This may be some kind of individual or private action, but it must have such an emotional or symbolic sound that would shock a given social group or, as they say, it would be able to bring people into the streets. Black woman Rosa Parke, who boarded the “whites only” part of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama, can be said to have gone down in history, because this incident sparked a wave of the civil rights movement, which ultimately led to full equality for the black population of America -ricky. Dismissal from work trade union activist Anna Valentinovich became a moment associated with the multimillion-dollar social movement "Solidarity", which ultimately led to the elimination of the communist regime in Poland, and through Poland throughout Europe. Nuclear power plant accident on Free Miles Island became the beginning of a powerful movement against the use of atomic energy, and chemical contamination in Bhopal area in India becomes an important event in the history of the environmental movement. Naturally, such events are first of all comprehended and experienced individually. The person thinks to himself: “Enough. This cannot continue. I can’t look at this with indifference. I can't stand this anymore. Something needs to be done about this." Then he begins to talk about it with others, shares his excitement, indignation, this is picked up by the press, television, and as a result, a separate incident becomes the subject of public discussion. At this moment, people realize that they are not alone in their feelings and in their desire for action. In a normal situation, we, as a rule, do not know what the masses of other citizens really think, what their values, opinions, and beliefs are. We live in a state which is an American psychologist Gordon Allport called "pluralistic ignorance". Uncertainty about whether we are actually alone in our discontent, protest, and resentment turns into a paralyzing factor, forcing us to refrain from action. . The initiating event destroys “pluralistic ignorance.” It suddenly turns out that others think the same way as I do. This means we can act together.

The initiating event completes the process of the genesis of a social movement . From here begins already his own "career". Its first stage becomes set, "recruitment" of its members . Already at this moment social movements begin to differ from each other. There are movements in which this"recruitment" happens spontaneously, spontaneously, from below . In this case, they correspond to the traditional interpretation of social movements, which is called "volcanic model". The movement “erupts” like a volcano under the pressure of accumulated, massive forces acting from below. This often occurs in movements that have racial, class, religious and nationalist motivations.

In other movements, the decisive role is played by the activators, the organizers of these movements, who involve other participants in this movement . In the theory considering this “model of mobilization of forces and means”, We are even talking about professional “entrepreneurs” - organizers of social movements. The phenomenon of such an organized recruitment of supporters takes place in some “new” social movements, mass participation in which is caused by the activities of a special, initially emerging close group of quasi-professional figures, who then begin actions to “recruit” their supporters.

Main problem and the task of such “recruitment” is overlaying the goals of the movement on the own, private interests of its potential supporters and members . In other words, it is a question of engaging such rational motivation as to persuade people to participate in the movement, or of balancing private interests, losses and risks in such a way as to convince people, regardless of any emotions, that participation in such a movement is beneficial to them. This It is especially difficult in those cases when the goals that the movement sets for itself are of the nature of the so-called universal, public goods and values . These are goods and values ​​the achievement of which is beneficial to all and which, by their very nature, cannot be reserved only for a few. Examples of such values ​​are freedom, independence, democracy, undestroyed nature, peace and security. In any society in which such goals are realized, they will inevitably become the property of everyone.

And it turns out that if a social movement struggles to achieve precisely such benefits and values, then a certain inhibitor arises and makes itself felt in the “recruitment” of his supporters, which is known as syndrome of a person who strives not to depend on society. It is due to the fact that every person can reason as follows : if the movement wins, then I will get my benefit from this - I will live in a free country, participate in the life of a democratic society, drink clean water, breathe clean air, etc. If the movement fails, for me personally (if I do not participate in this movement) this will not have any consequences, no repression will affect me, the worst that can happen is that everything will remain as it is. It means that motivation for many people , which Weber, as we remember, called purposive rationality, will force you to refrain from participating in the movement and take a “wait and see” attitude. They will become passive passengers who ride the hare, hoping that they will be able to grab all the benefits without any costs. This happens more often, the higher the risk, the greater the expenditure of time, energy or other moral and material costs associated with participation in the movement. This is one of the classic examples of how the myopic rationality of the individual is in conflict with the rationality of the collective. If all people reason in this way, then no one will take any action or action, the social movement simply will not arise, and its goals will not be achieved. Society as a whole will suffer, and this, of course, will turn against everyone who hoped to “ride the hare.” And then all people will continue to live in a repressive system, submit to autocratic power, kill themselves with poisoned water and air, fear the specter of war, etc. And when something needs to be done against this, each person begins to ask: “Why me, let others do it, let my neighbor do it.”

Therefore, social movements try to neutralize this kind of motivation. You can avoid the “wait and see” motivation syndrome in one of two ways.

Firstly, Then, when we are guided not goal-oriented motivation , A what Weber called "value rationality" . This is the case when the value of the goal set is higher than any other, even the largest costs associated with activities aimed at achieving this goal . In such a situation, we usually say that “the end justifies the means.” Such motivation is usually characteristic of the initiators, ideologists, and leaders of the movement, who later form its main backbone.

Another possibility of mobilization “hare passengers” - a modification of those calculations that arise from their individual rationality, by adding, offering them special benefits that will be a consequence of their participation in the movement and they will get it in addition to common, public goods and values, as well as such private goods and values ​​that only participants in the movement can receive. Here we are talking primarily about the personal satisfaction that stems from the very process of participation in the movement. Some social movements make special efforts to increase appeal of this kind: they organize friendly meetings, clubs, holidays, theatrical performances. Thus, members of some charitable society meet at gala dinners; Environmental movements practice joint excursions and field trips. Some movements accompany and surround their normal, everyday activities with rituals and symbolism. what gives them quasi-sacral character, and also try to create the impression of special exclusivity, secrecy, counting on the snobbery of those whom this may attract. Such means were resorted to Masonic movement, and at the present stage various satanic sects and movements. However, along with this kind of entertainment of the process of participation itself, more specific, material incentives for participation can also be included in calculations of goal-orientedness. For example, a political movement may contain promises to provide its activists with certain positions, posts, may give awards or allow only its trusted members to access funds.

During the “recruitment” process, two successive waves are identified .

First called primary recruitment or selection. She covers those who join the movement for ideological or moral reasons . The goals that this movement sets for itself are important to them. Such a perception of the movement means a high degree of engagement, passion, readiness for self-sacrifice, risk of expenses in the name of the highest goal that the movement puts forward.

Second wave, or secondary recruitment (secondary recruitment of supporters), based on completely different motives. When a movement already exists and, moreover, achieves obvious successes, belonging to it itself is attractive in itself, regardless of the instrumental goals of the movement . This movement provides the establishment of social contacts, interesting joint activities, a feeling of completeness and meaning in life , which is so often lacking in modern mass anonymous society. Such satisfaction always comes from participating in a winning “team”, the opportunity to enjoy part of its success, prestige, and glory. It is clear that membership arising on such a basis has a different character than joining a movement on a wave of ideological inspiration. This membership is in a sense conditional, it continues as long as everything goes smoothly . But first failure, and even more so the defeat of the movement leads to mass exodus , the escape from this movement of those who sought in it only the satisfaction of their desires associated with participation in a friendly collective, in a “team”, or their prestigious searches and calculations.

In a wave-like process of multiple recruitment of supporters the membership of a social movement is formed in such a way that it includes concentric circles, relevant to varying degrees passion, dedication, inspiration . Central ideological core are formed by those who consider the movement as their calling and connect a significant part of their life activity with it, and its periphery- those fans, or “followers”, who attach little importance to the goals of the movement, but try to join it only for the sake of some interesting or important undertaking for them. This stark difference emerges especially clearly when the movement takes any collective action. Then the core of the most active and decisive participants is identified, whose activities are especially vigorous, who are ready to take the greatest risks, be arrested, etc. It is the faces of these people that television shows in reports about any street riots or demonstrations. At the same time, there are much larger masses of incomparably more passive participants who support the movement, but are not ready for bright, heroic actions.

Different layers and degrees of participation also appear when a social movement fails. When it comes to demobilizing a movement, it is done like an onion, starting with the outer layers of the husk.

When a social movement begins its activities, the prospect opens up for the important role of the leader, the leader of the movement in matters of mobilization, coordination and organization of its constituent forces . Most social movements have already very early stage the main figure appears - charismatic leader. The concept of charisma here is associated with some special, outstanding abilities, skill, knowledge, consistency, moral strength, etc., which are perceived by supporters and qualified by them as almost superhuman. Perceiving the personality of their leader in this way, people are ready to absolutely trust and show complete obedience and loyalty towards him. It must be emphasized that, as in many other public affairs, The most significant thing here is the attribution of a certain charisma to the leader, which is accomplished by the team . To paraphrase a well-known theoretical position William Thomas , we can say that if people consider someone as a great value, this someone is thereby exalted, becomes such a value. Thus, charisma becomes a kind of relationship between the leader and his supporters, fans, fans, followers. Charisma means those traits of an individual personality for which there seems to be a public demand, which meet people’s expectations and correspond to their moods . Finding charisma means meeting the point of these social expectations. As one formulated this in the form of a paradox famous politician, « I am their leader, that means I follow them " Designing charisma to order by specialists in the field public relations consists precisely in such modeling of the appearance, mode of behavior, speech, as well as the content of the candidate’s speeches in the elections, which will lead to meeting the expectations of the electorate, which are painstakingly identified through probing public opinion. Among the supporters of the figure who becomes a charismatic figure, special emotions, enthusiasm, and cult appear. These people participate in the creation of charisma, finding satisfaction in the very submission, loyalty, obedience, unconditional, uncritical support. It is not difficult to see what extreme forms all this can take in the examples of concerts of some pop culture idol, at boxing matches, at rallies in support of dictators.

In a social movement, charisma becomes a powerful mobilizing force . However, one of the characteristics of charisma is its relative ephemerality. The state of enthusiasm of movement participants usually does not last long, and the leader himself loses the halo of something extraordinary, almost supernatural, ideal when he begins his everyday and absolutely necessary functions of leading the movement. It turns out that he looks completely different on the barricade than at his desk. Following Weber, we can call this process of routinization of charisma. This is a signal the onset of the next phase through which social movements usually pass, namely phases of crystallization of ideology, formation of an organization and its inherent moral code - ethos.

Previously somewhat uncertain the ideals of the social movement are transformed into a clear ideological system. The most important element of this system is vision of the future , in which the ideas of this movement will be put into practice. Often this vision takes on the character of a utopia . Movements also occupy their place in the ideology diagnosis , formulated often in the form of extreme, hysterical, catastrophic warnings, those problems that the movement hopes to solve, those dangers that it intends to prevent, and next to this “diagnosis” opening of reasons, sources and, most importantly, personal instruction on those figures or groups who are guilty of this state of affairs.

Social movements often succumb to that form of thinking , which Karl Popper related to to conspiracy theory. In parallel with this there is a differentiation of previously bureaucratized organizational structures, different branches of government, specialized functional cells and niches are identified . According to an American researcher, a specialist in the problems of social movements Meyer Zald , the movement at this moment develops into something more, namely into a “social movement-type organization” and even into a kind of “social movement industry” .

Some social movements transform into political parties , losing the character of spontaneous collective actions, and find their place in political structures organized as specific institutions. Finally, in a social movement is developed a unique set of rules of action and behavior, normative ethics. An important place in it is occupied by the codification of acceptable, encouraged, as well as unacceptable, prohibited methods of action, or, to use the terminology of Charles Tilly, techniques from the “protest repertoire”. Some social movements demand that we refrain from using violence, others consider terrorism acceptable . An important component of this normative ethics is rules of conduct within the organization , in relations with comrades, as well as in relation to ideological opponents and enemies. The first rules form the ethic of solidarity, and the second - the ethic of struggle.

Every social movement ends at some point . This ending may naturally coincide with the victory achieved, with the achievement of those social changes, reforms or revolutionary transformations that were the banner of the struggle and the goal of the movement. "Victory Crisis" means demobilization of the movement, its participants disperse, disperse, organizational structures disintegrate, ideology loses its relevance . Attempts by quasi-professional figures, for whom this movement is the main arena of their activities, who associate their personal interests with it, to preserve and support such a movement leads, at best, to the emergence of some fragmentary forms of it, often acquiring a caricatured character .

The opposite situation arises when the movement is defeated, when he fails to realize his goals. Crisis of a Lost Situation is expressed in the growing disappointment of participants, in gradual demobilization, in a decline in activity, in the outflow of supporters . Such an end to the movement can also come as a result of repressions that state power can bring down on a reform or revolutionary movement or that will be the result of opposition from outside countermovements, mobilizing their forces to protect the status quo. This situation radically changes the calculations of the costs and risks associated with further participation in the movement, which leads to the withdrawal from the movement of those masses whose motivation to participate was rather weak. Typically, in this case only the most determined and consistent ideologists remain in the movement , which in any new circumstances, in more favorable political conditions and when modifying the strategy of action may become the germ of a revival of the movement .

Completing the analysis various forms collective activity, we can present the results of this analysis (Table 1).

Table1. Forms of collective activity
Sociological concept	Defining Feature
	volume (magnitude) of actions for individual purposes	spatial and situational proximity (distance)	common goals and coordination	focus on changing society	institutionalization
Mass actions	+
Collective behavior	+	+
Collective Actions		+	+
Social movements		+	+	+
Organized Action	+	+	+		+

Social movements are the most complex form of manifestation of collective activity . They form a category that occupies a border position between the sphere of current, constantly changing, flowing individual and collective actions, on the one hand, and more defined, permanent, crystallizing objects, on the other. At the same time we could observe how in the field of social movements, increasingly complex and durable organizations of long-term action are formed, as well as how such movements are integrated into strong, crystalline structures of the state structure, turning into various kinds of associations, associations, factions, clubs, blocs, political parties .

Civil Rights Movement.

The mobilization of Americans in the 1960s to achieve equal rights and opportunity for blacks in the South and, to a lesser extent, the North, largely through non-aggressive, unconventional means. The leader and symbol of this movement was Martin Luther King Jr., but it gained strength and influence through the participation of a huge number of people, black and white, from all walks of life.

The first impetus for decisive action was the action of a black American woman Roses Park , lived in Montgomery, Alabama. According to the laws that existed in this city, blacks had the right to occupy only the back seats on buses. The driver could require them to clear an entire row for one white person or force them to stand even when there were empty seats. In December 1955, on the way home from work, Rosa Parke boarded a city bus and took an empty seat in the front row. She refused to change seats when asked by the driver and was arrested and fined $10 for violating a city ordinance.

And then 26-year-old Baptist pastor Martin Luther King, a man with extraordinary charismatic qualities, called on the black population of the city to boycott bus transport in response to Parke’s arrest. Boycott is a refusal to do business with a company or individual as a sign of disagreement with its policies or behavior, or as a coercive measure. A year after the boycott began, federal courts ruled that transportation segregation violated the Constitution's equal protection of the laws clause.

In 1957, with the help of King, it was organized Southern Christian Leadership Council to coordinate the actions of participants in the Civil Rights Movement. King was a consistent supporter of a policy of nonviolent action in the struggle for racial equality. To achieve this goal, he preached the principle civil disobedience , those. deliberate, but not aggressive, non-compliance with unjust laws.

The whole world heard about Martin Luther King Jr. after in August 1963 He organized and led « march for jobs and freedom» on Ba shington . Over 250 thousand Americans, black and white, gathered at the Lincoln Memorial, where King gave a speech . « I have a dream“, he said, “that my children will live in a country where they will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the kind of people they are.”

President Lyndon Johnson believed that civil rights were the highest legislative priority. A few months after he became president, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the most significant step toward eliminating racial discrimination in the United States.

Other minorities fighting for their civil rights .

Laws and court decisions adopted in recent decades are aimed at protecting the rights of all minorities without exception. The Supreme Court, in a landmark 1987 decision, highlighted the breadth of its rulings protecting minorities. The justices unanimously found that the Civil Rights Act of 1866 (known today as Section 1981) provides comprehensive protection from discrimination to all minorities. Previously, representatives of white ethnic groups could not appeal to the law if they felt biased by the court. Thanks to the 1987 decision representatives of any ethnic group - for example, Italians, Norwegians or Chinese - can claim monetary compensation if they prove in court that they were not hired, or refused to rent housing, or were subjected to any other type of discrimination prohibited by law. Civil Rights Act of 1964 provides the same civil rights protections but has stricter claims procedures to keep the number of claims to a minimum.

Americans with disabilities .

In 1990, with the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, 43 million citizens with disabilities were recognized as a minority in need of care and protection. This law extends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to people with physical and mental disabilities, including AIDS patients and recovering alcoholics and drug addicts. He guarantees them work, transportation, access to public places and communication services.

Disability rights advocates have proposed using existing civil rights laws as a model, with appropriate modifications and additions. Their opponents said that the changes envisaged by the 1990 law (such as access to public transport and public places for people in wheelchairs), can cost the state billions of dollars. However, advocates of such rights insisted that these costs would be covered by reducing federal aid and benefits for people with disabilities, since they would be able to support themselves once they started working.

A change in the law, no matter how desirable and urgent it may be, does not mean a change in people's attitudes. Laws aimed at eliminating racial discrimination cannot in themselves eliminate racism, and laws prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities do not mean their unconditional acceptance by all members of society without exception. But civil rights advocates predict that prejudice against people with disabilities, as well as against other minorities, will gradually disappear as they become full members of American society.

Women and political equality.

The idea that women should be protected from the harsh realities of life; formed the basis of laws concerning women's civil rights until the early 1970s.

Until the early 1970s Women's civil rights laws were based on traditional ideas about relationships between men and women. These laws were based protectionism- the idea of ​​women as weak creatures who should be protected from the harsh realities of life. And they were indeed “protected” by discrimination in employment and other areas of life. With some exceptions, women were also “protected” from participating in elections until the beginning of the 20th century.

In 1878, Susan Anthony , one of the activists of the women's movement, convinced a senator from California to table an amendment to the Constitution with the following content: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of sex.” The amendment was put to vote several times over 20 years and never received the required number of votes. During this time, several states—mostly in the West and Midwest—gave women the right to vote (still with restrictions).

At the beginning of the 20th century, the movement to grant women suffrage essentially merged with the political struggle to change the Constitution. This struggle ended in 1920 with the adoption Nineteenth Amendment which gave American women the right to vote. The amendment was adopted in the language proposed by Susan Anthony in 1878.

A significant step towards women gaining equal rights with men was the passage of the Equal Pay Act in 1963. This law provides for equal pay for men and women if they do the same work. However, in order to completely eradicate protectionism, women needed equal opportunities in employment. They got them thanks to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and subsequent ones. legislative acts. This law established the Employment Equity Commission, which was supposed to protect the rights of those who were subjected to aggressive discrimination based on gender (sexism).

The civil rights movement, which originated as the black movement, brought great benefit to all minorities; in fact, all Americans needed it. The Indians received compensation for past unfair treatment and cruelty. Hispanic Americans realized the importance of united action to achieve economic and political equality. The civil rights won by African Americans extended to people with disabilities. With the help of legislation on civil rights and freedoms, it was possible to put an end to protectionism, which, in fact, was legalized discrimination against women in the field of education and employment.

Positive Action Program affirmative action is the provision of additional opportunities for women, blacks, Hispanics and other minorities by businesses, employers, and various public and private institutions. It covers a range of public and private programs, projects and procedures, including, for example, a special set of privileges in employment and study, the provision of advantages and quotas in vocational education and training, and the conclusion of government contracts. The goal of all these programs is to move from equality of opportunity to equality of outcome.

Americans strive for equality, but cannot come to a consensus on the extent to which equality should be guaranteed by the state. At the heart of the conflict is the difference between equality of opportunity and equality of outcome.

Equality of results can be guaranteed only by limiting free competition, without which, as we know, there cannot be equality of opportunity. The majority of Americans object to the policy of quotas and set aside funds, which restrict individual freedom and violate the natural process of competition. The main problem of a pluralistic democratic society is to find the proper balance between freedom and the demands of equality.

Literature

Janda K., Berry D.M., Goldman D., Hula K.V. The Hard Way of Democracy: The Process of Public Administration in the United States / Trans. from English - M.: Russian Political Encyclopedia (ROSSPEN), 2006. - P.504-522.

Inglehart R., Welzel K. Modernization, cultural change and democracy: consistency human development. - M.: New publishing house, 2011. - P.304-333.

Heywood E. Political Science: A Textbook for University Students / Transl. from English edited by G.G. Vodolazov, V.Yu. Belsky. - M.: UNITY-DANA, 2005. - P.352-356.

Shtompka P. Sociology. Analysis of modern society / Transl. from floor S.M. Chervonnaya. - 2nd ed. - M.: Logos, 2010. - P.153-183.

Social movements are a special class of social phenomena, which are usually considered in connection with the analysis of large social groups and mass spontaneous behavior. Social movement represents a fairly organized unity of people who set themselves a specific goal, usually associated with some change in social reality. Social movements are divided into wide movements with global goals (struggle for peace, for disarmament, against nuclear tests, for the protection environment and so on.), local movements, which are limited either by territory or by a certain social group (against the use of the landfill in Semipalatinsk, for the equality of women, for the rights of sexual minorities, etc.), and movements with purely pragmatic goals in a very limited region (for the removal of one of the members municipal administration).

Social movements at different levels have several common features. Firstly, they are always based on a certain public opinion, which, as it were, prepares a social movement, although subsequently it itself is formed and strengthened as the movement develops. Secondly, they aim to change the situation: in society as a whole, in a certain region or in a group. Thirdly, during the organization of a movement at any level, its program is formulated. Fourthly, any movement determines the means that can be used to achieve goals. Finally, fifthly, every social movement is realized to one degree or another in various forms of mass behavior, including demonstrations, manifestations, rallies, congresses, etc.

The starting point of every social movement is problematic situation which gives impetus to the emergence of movement. It is simultaneously refracted both in the individual consciousness and in the consciousness of a certain group: it is in the group that a certain unity of opinions is achieved, which will be “splashed out” in the movement. It is important to emphasize here that both relatively stable social ideas formed during the previous development of the group and moving elements of mass consciousness formed on the basis of the latest information, often incomplete and one-sided, will be significant. Hence the relative ease of changing the content of the movement’s slogans and goals. Extremely important, from the point of view social psychology, are the following three aspects: mechanisms for joining the movement, the ratio of majority and minority opinions, characteristics of leaders.

Mechanisms for joining the movement Experts most often explain through an analysis of the participants’ motives. They are divided into fundamental, which are determined by the conditions of existence of a particular social group, its status, stable interest in relation to any phenomenon, political decision, legislation, and momentary, which are generated by a problematic situation, a social incident, a new political act. The solidity and “strength” of the movement and the successful achievement of goals largely depend on the relationship between fundamental and momentary motives.

The search for supporters of the movement is carried out in various ways: in local movements it can happen literally “on the street”, when a collection of signatures is organized in order to support an action. In movements more high level the search for supporters occurs in those groups in which the initiative was born. Thus, in the civil rights movement, the initiators may be people who have been subjected to repression; in the movement “Doctors of the World for the Prevention of nuclear war» initiators - a professional group, etc. Each new potential participant in the movement individually solves the problem of joining or non-joining at the call of the initiative group. Typically, a person takes into account both the degree of proximity of the group’s interests to his own, and the degree of risk, assessing his willingness to pay a certain price in the event, for example, of the failure of the movement.

Let us briefly look at two theories that explain the reasons for an individual’s joining a social movement.

Relative deprivation theory states that a person feels the need to achieve a goal not in the case when he is absolutely deprived of some good, right, value, but in the case when he discovers that he is deprived of something significant in comparison with others. And this motivates a person to join a certain social movement. Opponents of this theory rightly point out the simplification of the problem, which is expressed in the fact that this theory absolutizes one of the factors and does not take into account other factors that may actually occur.

Another theory is resource mobilization theory – argues that a person, when deciding for himself the question of joining any movement, is guided by the need to identify with the group, to feel like a part of it, thereby feeling his strength, and mobilizing resources. In this case, according to G. M. Andreeva, one can also make a reproach for one-sidedness and overestimation of only one of the factors. Thus, the issue of mechanisms for people to join social movements requires further development.

The second problem concerns the relationship between the positions of the majority and the minority in any mass movement, including a social movement. Due to the fact that social movements unite representatives of different social groups and are characterized by specific forms of action, a majority and a minority are inevitably distinguished in social movements. Ignoring the minority position can weaken the movement. Therefore, there is a need for dialogue to ensure minority rights.

Modern French psychologist S. Moscovici believes that a minority can count on influence in the movement only under certain conditions. The main one is a consistent style of behavior. This means ensuring consistency in two “sections”: synchrony (unanimity of participants at any given moment) and diachrony (stability of the position and behavior of minority members over time). Only if such conditions are met, negotiations between the minority and the majority (and this is inevitable in any movement) can be successful. Important style negotiations and the presence of certain skills. Particularly important are the skills to make compromises, “remove” excessive categoricalness, separate an idea from its carrier, and develop options for productive solutions.

The third problem that arises in a social movement is leader problem . As a rule, the strength of the leader's position and authority largely ensures the success of the movement. It is clear that a leader of such a specific type of mass behavior must have special traits. He must most fully express in his activity the basic values, the “spirit” of the given movement. He must be able to defend the goals accepted by the participants. In addition, it must be visually attractive to a fairly large mass of people. These qualities of a leader help keep the movement within the accepted framework of behavior, which does not allow for easy changes in the chosen tactics and strategy of action.

All of the above allows us to conclude that social movements are a complex phenomenon of social life with their own specific socio-psychological characteristics. They cannot be strictly tied to the study of only large organized social groups or, on the contrary, purely spontaneous formations. Nevertheless, they include the entire set of those specific ways of communicating between people that are characteristic of these types of groups.

Summary

Socio-psychological analysis large groups can be considered as the “key” to understanding the content of the individual’s psyche. Large social groups include two types of groups: stable groups that have formed in the course of historical development, and spontaneous groups that arise every time by chance. time. Large stable groups are social classes, ethnic groups, professional and age groups. Large spontaneous groups: crowd, mass, public. Large (stable) groups differ from small groups in a number of ways: a) in large groups, unlike small ones, there is no direct communication, everyone cannot know everyone; b) in large groups there are specific regulators social behavior interaction in spontaneous groups is that here there is a spontaneous transfer of emotionally rich information, and the interaction situation is characterized by the fact that the person practically “relieves” personal responsibility for what is happening and loses personal control over the situation. In spontaneous groups there are three mechanisms of influence: mental infection, suggestion, imitation. Mental infection is the unconscious involuntary exposure of an individual to . mental states

others.

Suggestion is the purposeful, unreasoned influence of one person on another or on a group.

Imitation is the individual’s reproduction of traits and patterns of demonstrated behavior.

A social movement is a fairly organized unity of people who set themselves a specific goal, usually associated with some change in social reality.

Questions and tasks for self-test:

1. How are large groups different from small groups?

2. What determines the importance of socio-psychological analysis of large groups?

3. What distinguishes large stable groups from spontaneous groups?

4. What is meant by nation in ethnopsychology?

5. What two spheres (parts) are distinguished in the structure of the psychology of a nation?

6. What is meant by national character, national temperament, ethnic feelings?

7. What is the danger of ethnic stereotypes?

8. Compare the types of spontaneous groups (highlight the common features and differences). 9. Describe mental infection, suggestion and imitation as mechanisms of influence of people on each other in spontaneous groups. 10. What are the characteristics of individual behavior in spontaneous groups?

11. What is meant by social movements? 12. What general characteristics

do social movements of different levels have? are a non-institutional type of collective action, and accordingly they should not be confused with social institutions. Social institutions are stable and stable formations, but social movements have an indefinite time cycle, they are unstable, and under some conditions they easily disintegrate. Social institutions are designed to maintain a system of social relations, social order, and social movements do not have a stable institutional status; most members of society treat them with indifference, and some even with hostility.

Social movements are a special type of social process. All social movements begin with a feeling of dissatisfaction with the existing social order. Objective events and situations create the conditions for understanding the injustice of the existing state of affairs. People see that the authorities are not taking measures to change the situation. At the same time, there are certain standards, norms, knowledge of how it should be. Then people unite into a social movement.

In modern society we can distinguish various social movements: youth, feminist, political, revolutionary, religious, etc. A social movement may not be structurally formalized, it may not have a fixed membership. This can be a spontaneous short-term movement or a socio-political movement with a high degree of organization and a significant duration of activity (political parties are born from them).

Let us consider such social movements as expressive, utopian, revolutionary, reformist.

Expressive movements

Participants in such movements, with the help of special rituals, dances, and games, create a mystical reality in order to almost completely separate themselves from the imperfect life of society. These include the mysteries of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Persia and India. Nowadays, expressive movements are most clearly manifested among young people: in associations of rockers, punks, goths, emo, bikers, etc. with their attempts to create their own subculture. As a rule, growing up, young people - participants in these movements - get a profession, a job, start a family, children, and eventually become ordinary people.

Expressive movements also include various kinds of monarchical associations in Russia and movements of war veterans. The common basis in such associations is the traditions of the past, the real or imagined exploits of ancestors, the desire to idealize old customs and style of behavior. Usually these harmless associations are busy with memories and the creation of memoirs, but under certain conditions they can induce a previously passive population to take action and can become an intermediate link between non-political and active political movements. In the process of ethnic conflicts they can play an extremely negative role.

Utopian movements

Already in antiquity, Plato tried to describe the future perfect society in his dialogue “The Republic”. However, the philosopher’s attempts to create such a society were unsuccessful. The movements of the first Christians, which were created on the basis of ideas of universal equality, turned out to be more resilient, since their members did not strive for personal happiness and material well-being, but wanted to create ideal relationships.

Secular “perfect” societies began to appear on earth since the English humanist Thomas More wrote his famous book “Utopia” in 1516 (the word “utopia” (Greek) can be understood both as “a place that does not exist” and as "blessed country") Utopian movements arose as attempts to create an ideal social system on earth with good, humane people and fair social relations. The Munster Commune (1534), the communes of Robert Owen (1817), the phalanx of Charles Fourier (1818) and many other utopian organizations quickly disintegrated for many reasons, and primarily due to the underestimation of the natural qualities of man - the desire to achieve well-being in life, the desire to realize one’s abilities , work and receive adequate remuneration for it.

However, the desire of people to change the conditions in which they live should not be underestimated. This is especially true of groups whose members consider existing relations to be unfair and therefore seek to radically change their social position.

Revolutionary movement

Revolution- it is unexpected, rapid, often violent, dramatic change social system, structure and functions of the main social institutions. Revolution should be distinguished from apical coup.“Palace” coups are carried out by people at the helm of government, they leave unchanged

social institutions and the system of power in society, replacing, as a rule, only the top officials of the state.

Typically, a revolutionary movement develops gradually in an atmosphere of general social dissatisfaction. The following typical stages of development of revolutionary movements are distinguished:

• accumulation of social dissatisfaction over a number of years;
• the emergence of motives for active action and rebellion;
• a revolutionary explosion caused by the vacillations and weakness of the ruling elite;
• access to active positions of radicals who capture
• power and destroy the opposition; o the period of the terror regime;
• a return to a calm state, stable power and some samples of the previous pre-revolutionary life.

It was according to this scenario that all the most significant revolutions took place.

Reform movement

Reforms are carried out with the aim of correcting the defects of the existing social order, in contrast to a revolution, the goal of which is to destroy the entire social system and create a fundamentally new social order, radically different from the previous one. Historical experience shows that timely necessary reforms often prevent revolution if the basis for social reforms are the interests of the population. Where totalitarian or authoritarian rule blocks the movement of reform, the only way to eliminate the shortcomings of the social system is a revolutionary movement. In traditionally democratic countries, for example Sweden, Belgium, Denmark, radical movements have few supporters, while in totalitarian regimes, repressive policies constantly provoke revolutionary movements and unrest.

Stages of a social movement

In any social movement, with all the features determined by the specifics of the country, region, people, four identical stages are distinguished: initial anxiety, excitement, formalization, subsequent institutionalization.

Worry stage associated with the emergence of uncertainty among the population about tomorrow, feelings of social injustice, with a fragile system of values ​​and habitual norms of behavior. Thus, in Russia after the events of August 1991 and the official introduction market mechanisms millions of people found themselves in an unusual situation: without work, without a means of subsistence, without the ability to assess the situation within the framework of traditional ideology, when established moral norms and rights were eroded, and values ​​began to change. This has led to the emergence of strong social anxiety among a significant part of the population and creates the preconditions for the formation of various social movements.

Excitation stage occurs if, at the stage of anxiety, people begin to associate the deterioration of their condition with real social processes to such an extent that they have a need for active action. Supporters of the movement gather together to discuss the current situation. At spontaneous rallies, speeches are made, speakers are put forward who are better than others at articulating the problems that concern everyone, agitators and, finally, leaders with ideological organizational talent who outline the strategy and goals of the struggle and turn the masses of the dissatisfied into an effective social movement. The excitement stage is very dynamic and quickly ends either with active actions or with people losing all interest in this movement.

A social movement that attempts to bring about fundamental change in society is usually organized in some way. If the enthusiasm of the excited masses is not ordered and directed towards achieving certain goals, spontaneous street riots begin. The behavior of an excited crowd is unpredictable and results in destruction: people set fire to cars, overturn buses, throw stones at police, and shout threats. This is how football fans sometimes behave, provoking their opponents. In this case, the excitement usually passes quickly and there can be no talk of any organized and time-consuming movement.

On formalization stage the movement takes shape (structuring, registration, etc.), ideologists appear to provide its theoretical justification and formulate clear and precise goals and objectives. Through agitators, the population is explained the reasons for the current situation and the prospects of the movement itself. At this stage, the excited masses turn into disciplined representatives of the movement, who have a more or less real goal.

On stage of institutionalization the social movement is given completeness and certainty. The movement develops certain cultural patterns with a developed ideology, management structure, and its own symbols.

Social movements that achieve their goals, such as gaining access to government power, turn into social institutions or organizations. Many movements fall apart under the influence of external conditions and internal weaknesses.

Reasons for the emergence of social movements

Why does one society experience social movements, revolutionary activity, and unrest, while another society lives without significant upheaval and conflict, although there are also rich and poor, rulers and ruled? Apparently, there is no clear answer to this question, since many factors are at work, including civilizational ones.

In economically developed, democratically structured societies, the majority of the population feels a sense of relative security and stability, is indifferent to changes in public life, and does not want to join radical social movements, support them, much less participate in them.

Elements of social disorganization and a state of anomie are more characteristic of changing, unstable societies.

If in traditional societies human needs are kept at a fairly low level, then with the development of civilization the freedom of the individual from traditions, collective mores and prejudices, the possibility of personal choice of activities and methods of action expands sharply, but at the same time a state of uncertainty arises, accompanied by the absence of firm life goals, norms and models behavior. This puts people in an ambivalent social position, weakens connections with a specific group and with the whole society, which leads to an increase in cases of deviant behavior. Anomie reaches particular severity in conditions of a free market, economic crises and unexpected changes in socio-political constant factors.

The American sociologist R. Merton noticed some basic socio-psychological traits in members of such unstable societies. In particular, they believe that those who govern the state are indifferent to the wishes and aspirations of its ordinary members. The average citizen feels that he cannot achieve his basic goals in a society that he sees as unpredictable and disorderly. He has a growing conviction that it is impossible to count on any social and psychological support institutions of a given society. A complex of feelings and motives of this kind can be considered a modern version of anomie.

In these cases, people have a mindset for social change. These attitudes become the basis for the formation of movements that cause counter-movements, identical in direction, but opposite in values. Movements and counter-movements always coexist where groups with different interests and goals are represented.

The most effective form of preventing the clash of social movements with opposing goals is to eliminate its causes at different levels.

At the general social level, we are talking about identifying and eliminating economic, social and political factors that disorganize social and public life. Distortions in the economy, gaps in the level and quality of life of large groups and segments of the population, political instability, disorganization and ineffectiveness of the management system are a constant source of large and small, internal and external conflicts. To prevent the emergence of radical movements, it is necessary to consistently pursue social, economic, and cultural policies in the interests of the entire society, strengthen law and order and legality, and help improve the spiritual culture of people. These measures are a general “prevention” of any social negative phenomena in society, including conflict situations. Restoring and strengthening the rule of law, eliminating the “subculture of violence” characteristic of many segments of the population, everything that can help maintain normal business relations between people, strengthen their mutual trust and respect, prevents the emergence of radical and extremist movements, and if they have already formed, contributes softening their positions to a level acceptable to society.

Thus, 12. What can be defined as a set of protest actions aimed at supporting social change, “a collective attempt to realize common interests or achieve a common goal through collective action outside the framework of established institutions” (E. Giddens). Expressive, utopian, revolutionary and reform social movements played an important role in the development of society. Practice shows that, having achieved their goal, social movements cease to exist as movements proper and are transformed into institutions and organizations.

Several types of social movements differ according to their goals, interests, and forms of activity. Among them:

1. Expressive movements– ignore the unfair reality or agree with it, do not modify it, but modify their attitude towards it. It’s as if they are escaping reality into dreams, rituals, the past, traditions. They seem to go into emotional expression and find emotional relief, which makes their life more bearable. Hippies, rockers, lubbers, etc. - there is an attempt to create their own subculture, to distance themselves from society, if they are unable to change it.

2. Utopian movements– these are societies of perfection, ideal social systems that exist only in the human imagination, described by writers and thinkers (the movements of the first Christians, religious sects of the East, Thomas More’s “Utopia” society, etc., created on the basis of equality, commune, community).

3. Revolutionary movements– call for violence, unexpected, rapid, complete change the social system, its structure and functions of the main social institutions, the introduction of a new way of life.

4. Resistance movements– speeches by those who believe that changes in society are happening too quickly and radically. These are the efforts of certain groups to block possible or already passed changes. They accompany revolutions or reforms - opposition.

5. Reform movements- strive to make changes to the existing system of values ​​that contribute to the more efficient functioning of this system (abolitionist - for the abolition of any law, environmental - for environmental protection, feminist - for the equality of women), demand changes in legislation, fight for animal rights, human rights sexual minorities, women's liberation.

6. Secular (secular) movements– their ideological justification does not contain religious ideas, and is sometimes characterized by programmatic anti-religion and atheism.

7. Religious movements– their ideas and slogans are drawn from religious tradition, sometimes they want to create a new religion that corresponds to the political ideals of those who lead them. Other religious movements, on the contrary, advocate the purity of religious teaching.

8. Regressive movements- advocate a return to the old order, the revival of old traditions, emigrant movements, and part of religious movements.

Depending on the group-forming characteristics, the following types of social movements can be named:

– in relation to the existing system – conservative, reformist, revolutionary;

– on an ideological basis – liberal, democratic, totalitarian, socialist;

– on demographic grounds – national liberation, for the self-determination of the nation, for cultural and national autonomy;

– by scale – regional, republican, state, international;

- by methods and methods of action - legal, illegal, formal, informal.

Social movements are: political, revolutionary, national, liberation, environmental, religious, emigrant, feminist, youth.

Sometimes social movements are accompanied by the emergence of counter-movements whose members hold opposing points of view. Controversies between opposing movements make a significant contribution to the practice of social movements.

Social movements, as practice shows, have an objective basis, set goals for themselves, and strive to achieve them. The consequences of their activities prove that many of them have significant social functions:

– they concentrate the interests and sentiments of broad sections of the population;

– put forward goals that express the interests of the people, develop ways to achieve them;

– create a major social force capable of solving important social problems;

– they often lead mass protests, organizing mostly non-violent and sometimes violent actions;

– on their basis, mass united social movements are created, parties are often formed.

In modern Russia, the youth movement occupies an important place in the social sphere. According to the official document (Concept of Youth Policy in the Russian Federation), youth is a social-age group of the population aged 14-30 years, a set of young people to whom society provides the opportunity for social development, providing them with benefits, but limiting their legal capacity in various areas of full-fledged participation in the life of society.

The main feature of the current stage of evolution of the youth social movement is its demonopolization And stabilization. The youth social movement at the present stage is not only demonopolized, but also variable in direction activities (professional orientation, creative, pursuit of interests, sports, environmental, charitable), varied in shape and mechanisms of implemented programs and projects. The number of associations ranges from several hundred to several tens of thousands of people.

The largest youth public associations in modern Russia include the following:

1. All-Russian public organization “Russian Union of Youth” (RSM), created in 1991. Its statutory goal is to create conditions for the comprehensive development of a young person in various fields public life, disclosure and realization of its potential, protection of the interests and rights of RSM members.

2. All-Russian public organization “Children and Youth Social Initiatives” (DIMSI), created in 1995. The main goals of its activities: identifying and supporting social initiatives of children's and youth public associations; creating conditions for the implementation of socially significant projects and programs in the interests of the children and youth socio-demographic group of the population.

3. All-Russian public organization “Union of Youth Residential Complexes of Russia” (Union of Youth Residential Complexes of Russia), founded in 1993. The main goal of the Union is to promote worldwide the creation and development of youth residential complexes by providing legal, economic, social prerequisites and guarantees of their independence.

4. The all-Russian public organization “Youth Union of Lawyers of the Russian Federation” (“YUCR RF”) was created in 1995. To promote the formation of a new generation of Russian lawyers who meet the needs of a democratic state governed by the rule of law.

5. All-Russian public organization “National Youth League”, created in 1995. and determined the directions of its activities: the economic, spiritual and moral revival of Russia, the development of the youth movement, the provision of comprehensive assistance, the protection of the rights and interests of adolescents and youth.

6. All-Russian public organization for promoting the education of youth “Walking Together” (created in 2001) The main goal of its activities is to promote the education of young people spiritually, morally and physically, capable of ensuring the real revival of Russia and helping to build a democratic society.

7. International Union of Children's Public Associations, "Union of Pioneer Organizations - Federation of Children's Organizations" (SPO - FDO), created in 1990. The main goals of his activities are: helping the child to understand and improve the world around him, develop his abilities; providing assistance and support to members of SPO - FDO in the development of a children's movement of a humanistic orientation in the interests of children and society; strengthening interethnic and international relations.

8. All-Russian Union of Public Associations, Union of Children's Organizations of Russia "Young Russia" (established in 1992) implements its projects and programs to achieve the goals of developing the children's movement in the Russian Federation in the interests of children and society as a whole, protecting the rights and interests of children and adolescents, as well as adults working with children.

Activates the revival at the turn of the 90s of the XX century. scout movement, which is represented in the Russian Federation by:

– the all-Russian public organization “National Organization of the Scout Movement of Russia” (NSOD), created in 1993;

– the all-Russian public organization “Organization of Russian Young Scouts” (ORYUR), founded in 1998;

– interregional public organization “Russian Scout Union” (established in 1999);

– children's interregional public organization “Association of Girl Scouts” (ADS), created in 1999.

Social stratification existing in society is a factor in various social processes, for example, social mobility. One of the consequences of the social stratification of society is the emergence and activity of social movements. Each social stratum that occupies a position in society strives, firstly, to maintain its place, and secondly, to improve its social placement. In this case, similar goals and interests of the one we are describing social stratum may clash with the interests of another social layer. In other words, each social layer builds its own social life, relying on the possible awns of his own execution. It is clear that each execution seeks to improve its own social position (as for the upper strata, they seek to maintain their dominant position). In this case, its activities may fall into the “field” of actions of other social groups and layers. Such actions of the first social layer can cause either the consent of others or their resistance, manifested in the intensification of the activities of certain social acts. This is how a social movement is formed. Simply put, manifestations of activity in public life, certain social processes suit some social strata and groups, and are not suitable for others. Therefore the latter. The first is to change the existing social system, and the first is to preserve it; in this case, two essentially opposite social movements arise at once.

Thus, a social movement is the activation of the activities of large groups of people seeking to either change certain social processes in society or preserve them

It is possible to determine the characteristics of any social movements, regardless of the public sphere where their activities take place. Goals or objectives of the movement. These movement characteristics include:

The presence of objective social circumstances prompting the emergence of a movement;

The spontaneous nature of the movement, the absence of fixed membership, charters and programs, norms of activity, and often leadership;

Massiveness - the movement includes a large number of people united by a common interest

High social activity - any movement exists as long as it feels able to influence its active work to the social changes that the movement strives for

Russian sociologist. O. Kravchenko names social isolation, personal unsettlement, and the desire to change one’s personality among the reasons for including individuals in a social movement. social status, marginality (i.e. loss of a certain place in social system against the background of not being included in another) and other.

Since there are many reasons for the emergence of social movements, each movement builds its activities in its own way, the activity of citizens included in a particular movement also varies, it is natural that there is a large number of different movements. However, no matter what movement we're talking about, they go through approximately the same stages of their development, which include:

1. Creating the preconditions for a movement - the emergence of conditions in public life that are not perceived by a significant part of people, which determines the emergence of a social movement. Instead, it very often happens that an opposite movement arises, striving to preserve the established social order. A typical example is the activity of two opposing youth movements that operated during the “Orange” revolution in Ukraine - the “It’s Time” movement, which advocated a change in the existing political system and the “Enough” movement, which sought to preserve it and tried to preserve it.

2. Stage of unification - awareness of the aspirations of individuals stimulates the intensification of their activities, having found their fans, they further intensify their activity, clearly define their own goals and interests. In this way, the core of the movement is formed, a common goal is formed and ways of activity for the movement are created.

3. Campaign stage - attracting supporters. At this stage, the movement begins to sharply intensify its activities and different ways(through the media, rallies, demonstrations, protests) is trying to expand the circle of its participants.

4 points of maximum lift. At this stage the movement reaches the apogee of its activity. The fate of the movement is decided - it either achieves or does not achieve its goals and objectives, and pressure is often exerted on the authorities, which can, at the request of the movement, make certain social changes that lie within its competence, or abandon such changes.

5. Completion - the achievement by the movement of the goals that it has set for itself, or the realization that achieving them under these conditions is impossible. Another reason for the collapse of the movement is its formalization, that is, its transformation into a social or political organization.

Regardless of the scope of the movement, its goals and objectives, movements can be classified according to the main guiding criteria

1. In relation to the existing system and forms of struggle:

Reformist - stand on preserving the foundations of the existing system, but strive to a certain extent to reform some areas of public life;

Revolutionary - movements that seek to completely change the socio-political system;

Counter-revolutionary - movements that seek to restore the previous order, overthrown during the revolution;

2. According to the form of organization:

Natural

Not organized enough

Organized

3. By duration of existence:

Momentary;

Short hours;

Long-term;

4. By the nature of the activity:

Expressive;

Anti-war;

Political;

Religious;

Environmental, etc.

5. By social base(according to social communities, whose representatives make up the majority of the movement’s members):

Workers;

Peasant;

National;

Youth;

Feminist, etc.

. Questions for self-test and control

1. What is common and different between the concepts of “social change”, “social progress”, “social development”?

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of major sociological theories of change?

3. Name the main causes and factors of social change 43 what is the purpose of sociologists studying social processes?

4. What is a social movement?

5. What types of social movements. Do you know?

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