Outline the new social movement theory and the diverse array of social movements on which it focuses

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

New social movement theory looks at a diverse array of collective actions and the manner in which those actions are based on politics, ideology, and culture. It also incorporates factors of identity, including race, class, gender, and sexuality, as sources of collective action and social movements. Examples of "new social movements" include ecofeminism and environmental justice movements.

(1) Ecofeminism emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s out of the feminist, peace, and ecology movements. Ecofeminists established the World Women in Defense of the Environment. Ecofeminism is based on the belief that patriarchy is a root cause of environmental problems. According to ecofeminists, patriarchy not only results in the domination of women by men but also contributes to a belief that nature is to be possessed and dominated, rather than treated as a partner.

(2) Another "new social movement" focuses on environmental justice and the intersection of race and class in the environmental struggle. Since the 1980s, the emerging environmental movement has focused on the issue of environmental racism —the belief that a disproportionate number of hazardous facilities (including industries such as waste disposal/treatment and chemical plants) are placed in low-income areas populated primarily by people of color. Sociologist Steven M. Buechler has argued that theories pertaining to 21st century social movements should be oriented toward the structural, macrolevel contexts in which movements arise.

These theories should incorporate both political and cultural dimensions of social activism.