Unit 1: Social Movements in History and Popular Culture

Question 1

Social Problems

Answer 1

Any condition or behaviour that has harmful effects for a large number of people which need to be addressed.

Question 2

Social Movements

Answer 2

A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal. This may be to carry out, resist or undo a social change. It is a type of group action and may involve individuals, organizations or both.
-Can be political, social, environment

Question 3

Social Class

Answer 3

The social stratification which occur in a class society, in which people are grouped according to hierarchical social categories.

• The most common are upper, middle, and lower classes.
• Often dependent on demographic characteristics like education, wealth, occupation, gender.
• They belong to a particular subculture or social network.

Question 4

Demands

Answer 4

Demands are the goals and expressed interests of a social movement.

-Demands are expressed in a variety of methods, from speeches to petitions to protest songs.

Question 5

Social Movement Claims

Answer 5

The process of articulating a grievance or issues to the public.

• Often the first step of social movements
• Claims help activists to identify their goals and reach out to potential allies and opponents or antagonists

Question 6

Sociological Imagination

Answer 6

Sociological imagination involves an individual developing a deep understanding of how their biography is a result of a historical process and occurs within a larger social context. In other words, it involves an individual or group linking their personal issues with a wider social issue in society.

• Connects “individual” and “society” within a social reality.
• The realization allows you to see yourself as a part of a larger network of other people who influence one another.

Question 7

Indymedia

Answer 7

Indymedia, or independent media, is the media produced within a social movement to communicate with the public and encourages social movement learning. The media is independently made and can be a variety of methods of media like newsletters, videos, articles, which are made from the perspective of activists and protests.

-Started in the 1990s with the Battle of Seattle to spread awareness outside mainstream media. “Indymedia Center”

Question 8

Movement of Social Movements

Answer 8

Informal global network that united activists in different countries around shared problems, campaigns, and concerns.

• Spreads the notions of social movements across other areas.
• Often associated with ‘globalization from below’

Question 9

Social Movement Learning

Answer 9

The teachings and learnings from social movements to those inside and outside of a social movement.

Question 10

Civil Disobedience

Answer 10

The practice of protesting unjust or unconstitutional laws usually by disobeying those laws and seeking to change or strike them down.