Targeting and Orienting: A Framework for Analyzing Social Change Efforts

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Abstract

Sociology offers various theories of social change across many subfields. This paper establishes a cohesive framework based on two heuristics that explain how change efforts target change and orient towards those targets. The Dynamics of Targeting differentiate between cultural customs and institutional frameworks, as well as between local and general projects, while the Dynamics of Orienting distinguish between proactive and reactive strategies and narrow versus broad focuses of attention. Using comparative cases—the Albany Movement, global environmental change efforts, and the South African anti-apartheid struggle—we illustrate persistent patterns of contraction, renewal, and adaptation across various conditions and scales. This framework synthesizes insights from political sociology, cultural sociology, social movements, social psychology, microsociology, ecology, and epidemiology, equipping scholars with tools to map and predict the trajectories of social change initiatives.

Authors

• Erika Summers-Effler, University of Notre Dame

• Matthew Carl Coetzee, University of Notre Dame