Sociology and Social Movements

Why Sociology Studies Social Movements

Sociology has been interested in social movements from the very beginning of the discipline. The French Revolution — a violent culmination of movements aimed at overthrowing the monarchy and establishing liberty, equality, and fraternity — was a key event that shaped early sociological thinking. In Britain, the Industrial Revolution brought great social upheaval. Poor labourers and artisans who had left the countryside to find work in cities protested against the inhuman living conditions they were forced into. Food riots in England were often suppressed by the government.

These protests were perceived by elites as a major threat to the established order of society. This anxiety about maintaining social order is reflected in the work of sociologist Emile Durkheim. Durkheim’s writings on the division of labour in society, forms of religious life, and even suicide all mirror his concern about how social structures enable social integration. From this perspective, social movements were seen as forces that led to disorder.

A Different View: The Moral Economy of the Crowd

Scholars influenced by the ideas of Karl Marx offered a different view of violent collective action. Historians like E. P. Thompson showed that the ‘crowd’ and the ‘mob’ were not made up of anarchic hooligans out to destroy society. Instead, they too had a ‘moral economy’ — their own shared understanding of right and wrong that informed their actions. …