Social Activism in the Stages of Macionis? and Moyer?s
Theories of social movements have been influential?but as a rule they are not adequate to comprehend the course of non-violent action in the radical tradition (Bruyn Severyn T. Nonviolent action and social change, 1979, pp31). ?Social movements? cannot be formally defined according to structure or lack of structure, as they are dynamic entities that essentially go through all sorts of stages and transformations. The diversity of our current and past social movements confirms this. The stages derived by Macionis and Moyer are not always applicable, however this does not mean that these stages are either incorrect or worthless as both stages could be seen as being significantly influential to flourishing activist movements. The historical green ban movement (1971-1974) led by Jack Mundy, and the current activist group, Australians for just refugee programs, employ similar stages to those of Moyer and Macionis. The two social movement theories will be explored in the following essay by dissecting both the differences and the similarities to that of the stages undergone in both examples, inducing an extended understanding of the relevance or irrelevance of both theories. Australians for just refugee programs is a worthy example o
Defined stages of the rise and fall of social movements, either theorised or experienced seem to serve only the function of providing reference to budding movements in need of structure and an understanding of realistic progress. To explore both the stages of Macionis and Moyer is to apply them to past or current movements, observing both the similarities and differences. ?Emergence, Coalescence, Bureaucratisation and Decline? are four elements that c are broad enough to be successfully related to almost all movements, whereas Moyer?s eight stages are indeed too specific in content and too unclear in their division (possibly because of Moyer basing his stages on his own social activist experiences). A social movement should essentially understand its own aims, education, social status and future before following any set stages derived from a group with a completely different set of variables. In conclusion, social change can only be achieved by proper cohesion, and shared goals, which is only achievable by keeping within a structural format, thus giving such stages a limited but functional role.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Green Bans, Take-off Moyers, Moyer Macionis, Green Ban, Bureaucratisation Decline, Bureaucratization Decline, Owens Enabling, Mundys BLF, Macionis Moyers, Kellys Bush, green bans, green ban, social movements, moyers stages, public support, green ban movement, majority public, av jennings, social movement, ban movement, accessed 21/8/02, majority public support, protest 1993 p2, power protest 1993, moyers sixth stage,
Approximate Word count = 1858
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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