Exam 21: Collective Action and Social Movements

A young Canadian activist attends a summit meeting of the world's top economic powers in Toronto. He is protesting peacefully when the police pepper-spray the crowd and arrest him; he then complains that his rights are being violated. What rights is he invoking in his complaint?

Two hundred union workers at a college are able to exert considerable pressure on their employer because their union local is part of a national union of 500 000 workers. Why was the small union able to exert such pressure?

What are social movements?

Nellie McClung fought the fight for female suffrage and was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Edmonton, Alberta from 1921 to 1926. What was her success a part of?

Involvement in a social movement is likely to require more of a sacrifice than most Twitter followers and Facebook friends are prepared to take on.

Compare and contrast absolute and relative deprivation.

The violation of norms (sometimes called strain) is an aspect of breakdown theory.

What do we call the situation where norms are violated as part of breakdown theory?

What are people engaged in when they act together to create or resist social, political, or economic changes?

What are new social movements?