Revisiting New Social Movement Theory: Toward a Comparative Framework

• In Event: 277 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 14. Social Movement Theory

Abstract

Among North American social movement scholars, the theoretical and empirical contributions of “new social movement” (NSM) theory were largely assimilated by the cultural turn in US sociology, bringing attention to a range of new social movements and putting the study of identity and emotions high on the research agenda. As we now move as a subfield to reintegrate perspectives on ‘old’ and ‘new’ social movements, what can we generate by considering the extent to which both kinds of social movements have fulfilled theoretical expectations? In this essay I consider three key areas with respect to the expectations generated by NSM theory: (1) its limitation with respect to contemporary movements and alliances based on “old” politics, which limits its capacity to accurately theorize NSM relationships to civil society and the state; (2) its limited capacity to adequately deal with the institutionalization of NSMs, which forces the theory to reconsider one of the core distinctions between “old” and “new” politics—the one emphasizing the democratization of mobilization; and (3) the conceptual confusion that has resulted as NSM theoretical propositions have been disembedded from their origins in Western industrialized democracies and applied to societies which do not resemble the ‘post-industrial’ settings of Western Europe. Using examples from the global north and south, I then consider how addressing these limitations may help us to develop a better understanding of how configurations of ‘old’ and ‘new’ social movements presently shape collective action efforts.

Author

• Maria M. Akchurin, University of Chicago