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The category of new movements can best be divided into subcategories of cultural movements, which oppose the social life of the present, & political movements, which resist the modern state. Both are often viewed as recurring historical phenomena of protest. The ecological movement, however, embodies a new social trend with a new self-image. Description of new movements as Romantic or populist implies that they are recurrences of older movements. To determine whether there is in fact anything new in current movements requires examination of the type of society they attempt to create. A distinctive feature of modern societies is that social movements are themselves the sources of change, & have the power to challenge cultural traditions. Distinct cultural models can be identified as based on organic, mechanical, & cybernetic concepts of work; these in turn imply differing fundamental normative orders. Where both capitalist & socialist movements represent responses to the mechanical & industrial cultural model, the new movements represent responses to the cybernetic & postindustrial model. These are not yet unified; the logical next step is for sociological research to be followed by intervention to create a unified movement. W. H. Stoddard.

Extent to which Poland's independent trade union functioned as a social movement; similarity to new social movements in the West.

A critique of new social movement (NSM) theories, based on an extensive review of NSM & other literature. It is suggested that NSM theorists have created & maintained a false distinction between pre- & post-WWII social movements by oversimplifying the histories of the movements of women, workers, racial & ethnic minorities, pacifists, & environmentalists. The NSM argument that recent movements were the first to organize around issues of identity is disputed with evidence from such turn-of-the-century leaders as W. E. B. DuBois & Marcus Garvey. Furthermore, the connections between changing post-WWII social conditions & the NSMs are problematic. Important continuities between the historical eras are cited & attention is drawn to movement cycles in an attempt to formulate a theory better oriented toward furthering the goals of social movements. D. Schwartz

"Solidarnosz" wird immer als Gewerkschaft identifiziert, tatsächlich ist sie ebenso sehr eine gesellschaftliche Bewegung. Die Definition letzterer bezieht sich in der soziologischen Theorie primär auf kollektives Verhalten in westlichen und hier vor allem fortgeschrittenen Industriegesellschaften. Dennoch lassen sich so gewonnene Aussagen auch auf das Polen in der "Solidarnosz-Ära" übertragen. Sicher gibt es Gründe, die die Einmaligkeit der Situation in Polen ausmachen. Doch in bezug auf Ursprung, Ziele und Organisationsform gleicht "Solidarnosz" sozialen Bewegungen überall in der Welt, sie ist nicht eine bestimmte einmalige Reaktion auf das politische und gesellschaftliche System. Das spricht dafür, die Theorie der sozialen Bewegungen einer Revision zu unterziehen und gleichzeitig die Idee der Einzigartigkeit von "Solidarnosz" zu überdenken. (SWP-Hld)

Discusses several features of new social movements that are typically ignored by their adherents & by the academic literature: (1) the revolutionary nature of the sum of their demands; (2) what it would mean to incorporate their calls for change into the social fabric of daily life; (3) the extent to which these movements make demands on the state; & (4) the promise of the new social movements for bringing about fundamental change by combining a stress on qualitative change & core forms of domination. These social movements are defended as truly transformatory & not, as their critics claim, inherently limited & ineffective. While obstacles to the achievement of their goals exist, it is suggested that these can be overcome through a democratic theory that is complemented by a theory of change attentive to how new patterns become mobilized. It is argued that revolutionary change will not be accomplished violently or quickly, but through the institutionalization of new patterns of life & a new common sense. D. M. Smith

European new social movement (NSM) theory was developed to describe & explain the apparently unique character of the wave of collective action that began in the 1960s & continues to this day. Key characteristics of NSM theory are a post-industrial orientation, middle-class activist core, loose organizational form, use of symbolic direct actions, creation of new identities, & a "self-limiting radicalism." The theory's claims to movement innovation were later criticized by many as' exaggerated & ahistorical. However, the filtering down of key NSM elements into social movement studies has led to changing definitions of what social movements actually are & opened up new opportunities for the integration of religious movements into the social movements mainstream. Using the case of radical Islam, & with particular reference to the terrorist social movement organization al-Qa'ida, this article argues that drawing on key features of NSM theory should lead to a better understanding of radical Islam as' well as a more realistic explanation of its continuing development & transformation. References. Adapted from the source document.

"The world is currently witnessing the emergence of a new context for education, labor, and transformative social movements. Global flows of people, capital, and energy increasingly define the world we live in. The multinational corporation, with its pursuit of ever-cheaper sources of labor and materials and its disregard for human life, is the dominant form of economic organization, where capital can cross borders, but people can't. Affirmative action, democracy, and human rights are moving in from the margins to challenge capitalist priorities of "efficiency", i.e. exploitation. In some places, the representatives of popular movements are actually taking the reins of state power. Across the globe new progressive movements are emerging to bridge national identities and boundaries, in solidarity with transnational class, gender, and ethnic struggles"--