Types of social movements: VCE Sociology

What this dot point is asking

The study design asks you to have a general understanding of the nature and purpose of a range of types of social movements, before investigating one in detail. Examiners reward students who can classify movements precisely and explain why a movement fits a category.

Classifying by the amount of change

The most common typology sorts movements by how much change they pursue and at what level.

• Reform (reformative) movements seek limited, specific change within the existing social system, often through changing laws or policies. The marriage equality movement is a clear Australian example.
• Revolutionary movements seek radical, total change to the structure of society itself, often rejecting the existing system entirely. These are the most extreme type, emerging from deep dissatisfaction.
• Resistance (reactionary) movements seek to prevent or reverse change, defending the existing order against a perceived threat.
• Redemptive and alternative movements focus on changing individuals rather than society, either completely (redemptive) or in a limited way (alternative).

Old and new social movements

A second important distinction is between old and new social movements, which reflects a historical shift.

• Old social movements were typically organised around economic class and material interests, such as the labour and trade union movements of the industrial era. They tended to be hierarchical and focused on the state and the economy.
• New social movements emerged from the 1960s and focus on identity, rights, values and quality of life rather than class and economics. Examples include the environmental movement, the women's movement and Aboriginal land rights. They tend to be looser, more decentralised and concerned with cultural as well as structural change.

Why classification matters

Classifying a movement is not an end in itself; it sharpens your analysis. Naming a movement as reformist tells you it works through existing institutions and laws, so you evaluate it by the legal and policy change it achieved. Naming a movement as a new social movement tells you to look at cultural and value change as well as structural change. The category guides what counts as success.

Applying types to Australian movements

You can classify each major Australian example:

• The marriage equality movement is a reform movement and a new social movement, seeking a specific legal change framed around identity and rights.
• The Aboriginal land rights movement is a new social movement seeking both legal change (native title) and recognition of identity and historical justice.
• The environmental movement is a new social movement, often reformist in method, that also seeks deep cultural change in how society values the natural world.
• A historical trade union movement is an old social movement organised around economic class and working conditions.

Using this in a response

When you discuss a movement, classify it explicitly, justify the classification by its aims and methods, and then use the category to frame your evaluation. For your detailed case study, stating that the movement is, for example, a reformist new social movement immediately tells the examiner you understand both how much change it sought and what kind. This precision links directly to the next dot point on how movements actually achieve social change.