SOCI 307: Social Movements and Political Protest

SOCI 307-001: Soci Movements/Poli Protest
(Fall 2023)

03:00 PM to 04:15 PM MW

Innovation Hall 208

Section Information for Fall 2023

Social Movements and Political Protests” explores the nature of people power and processes of efforts to bring about social and political change. It examines successes and failures primarily from a sociological perspective looking at what mobilizes people to act, the strategies and tactics of movements, and the conditions that promote or inhibit social change. We will examine the major sociological theories and look at a wide range of movement types and themes, with an emphasis on nonviolent civil resistance.  For the core assignment of the course, you will act as a "consultant" for a social movement of your choice and write a strategic plan that applies what you have learned from the course to how to advise that movement to be more effective.This course is meant for students that are curious about collective protests, movements, dissidence etc. These contentions and conflicts have been a characteristic feature of the world we know. as we know of. By the end of the course, the students will know some big theories about the emergence and trajectories of social movements. How are social movements different from other kind of politics such as lobbying, revolutions, and riots? etc.? How are they related to political parties, elections and the like? Why do people participate in such movements? Are movements identity-based or interest- based? And finally, are social movements necessary? We will examine these and many other questions during the course of this course. Social Movements is a happening field in sociology and there are a lot of theories on the emergence of social movements. The big theories on social movements can be divided into the structural/institutional, network and agentive/cultural perspectives. The structural/institutional perspective focuses on the broader political and social context that leads to the emergence of a social movement. The network perspective examines the social ties that helped the formation of social movements. The cultural perspective focuses on the shared values, meaning and identities as the most significant component of social movements. Most social movement scholars build on theories that evolved by examining cases in the west. Hence many of the classical readings focus on the west as well. We will balance that with readings from other parts of the world that critically apply these theories to empirical situations in Asia, Latin America, Middle East and Africa. In the end, we examine whether transnational movements in a globalized world is a challenge to conventional social movement theories. 

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Course Information from the University Catalog

Credits: 3

Explores processes for organizing resistance to current social and power arrangements, from terrorism to nonviolent civil resistance to create alternative institutions, policies, or leadership that promote human rights and social justice. Uses historical and contemporary case studies of local and global change to explore, how, why, and to what effect individuals have organized to protest the status quo and create social change. Limited to three attempts.
Schedule Type: Lecture
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.

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