This TED video examines the role of social media in social movements.

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This overview summarizes a journal article related to social science theories and social movements. This overview will also draw meaningful connections between videos viewed in this learning block and the questions you have been asking about the advertisements from Project 1.

Travaglino (2014) highlights old and new examples of social movements. He starts with June 5, 1832, in France when Parisian students rose up in rebellion against the king. If you have ever read or seen Les Misérables by Victor Hugo, then you know this tale. The students rebelled against the monarchy for unfair treatment of the poor. Next, he describes the waves of protest from the 1960s to the 1970s leading to important historical and political changes. Most recent is the example of 130,000 British students who protested against Parliament’s decision to increase university fees (Travaglino, 2014). These are all examples of social movements, and in most cases, those movements start with identification of a social problem or injustice and lead to some sort of change. Social scientists have been studying social movements for quite some time, and there are several theories and approaches to understanding social movements and protests. The fact that there are multiple theories out there about social movements highlights the complexity of this social phenomenon (Travaglino, 2014).

Some of the earliest studies of social movements concluded that “challenging social norms was seen as a symptom of personal pathology” (Travaglino, 2014, p. 2). The belief that the revolutionary masses were violent and irrational continued into the years before World War II (Travaglino, 2014). Even Freud weighed in on the conversation with his belief that the masses were unable to engage in authentic political action because they lacked the rational thought of an individual (Travaglino, 2014).

The idea that social movements should be viewed as the work of social outcasts and deviants started to be challenged with the struggle for black civil rights in the United States and student protests of the Vietnam War (Travaglino, 2014). Suddenly, the social movements could not be blamed on social deviants and outcasts, so the theories needed to change to fit the data. Social scientists began to look at the costs and benefits of joining a social movement, instead of just seeking to understand why they start. They started looking more into the individuals who do not join social movements but still benefit from the change the social movement brings about, also known as the “free-rider problem” (Olson, 1965).

The theories of social movements continued to develop, and with each new theory, the complexity of the explanation grew. For example, when thinking about the individual weighing the costs and benefits of joining a social movement, we also must consider that each individual might weigh the costs and benefits differently depending on an array of variables, including cultural norms (Klandermans, 1948). The final phase in social movement theory has actually moved back toward looking at the role emotions may play in social movements (Jasper, 2007; van Zomeren, Spears, Fischer, & Leach, 2004).

As you can see from the summary of Travaglino’s (2014) review on social movements, the explanation of where social movements come from is complicated and involves multiple theories and disciplines. There is no one answer as to why a social movement begins and who will join. The one thing that we can say is that in order for a social movement to start, there needs to be a perceived social injustice or reason for starting a new idea (or asking a question). As you saw in the video, social movements can start small and lead to big changes. Although the video gives a more humorous example of how change happens, it does highlight the importance of the first few people within a social movement and the importance of each individual weighing the costs and benefits of either joining in or sitting out. When you looked at the advertisements and began to ask questions, you thought about the assumptions the advertisers wanted you to draw from the ads.

Many of the ads pull for us to go with the social norm, for example, “women are emotional,” “men are helpless,” or “overweight people are lazy.” Some of your questions may have challenged the social norm. Is it true that women are emotional? Think about how it felt to challenge the social norm. Would you be embarrassed to ask the questions in front of people who might strongly believe in gender roles (e.g., women are emotional and men are stoic)? Would it be easier to pose these questions to people who you knew shared similar views to your own?