š American anthropologist David Aberle provides a comprehensive framework for analyzing social movements in his book.
š” Aberle identifies four types of social movements: alterative, redemptive, reformative, and transformative.
š There are four types of social movements categorized based on the level and type of change they seek.
āØ An alterative movement aims for partial individual change, like efforts to stop drunk driving or promote recycling.
š Redemptive movements aim for total individual change, often associated with religious movements and the search for a new inner-state.
š There are four types of social movements: religious, reformative, transformative, and revolutionary.
š Religious movements aim for complete personal transformation.
š Reformative movements seek partial social change, such as the Women's Suffrage Movement.
š Transformative movements strive for total social change, like revolutions.
š Transformative movements seek to change or destroy the current system.
š Social movements can be a combination of different types and can change over time.
š Movements can have multiple goals and target both the social system and individual level.
š” Analyzing the ideology and behaviors of both the movement as a whole and the individuals involved is crucial in understanding social movements.
š Examining the day-to-day lives of the people in the movement, along with their formal messaging, helps determine the nature of the movement, whether it's alterative or transformative.
š Contextualizing social movements by considering historical periods or the modern society they exist in is necessary for classification and analysis.
š Key factors to consider when analyzing social movements: power dynamics, groups in power, groups seeking power, repression, and societal norms.
ā³ Historical context is important when analyzing social movements and their means, as norms and acceptability change over time.
š David Aberle's framework from 1966 provides a useful classification system for analyzing social movements.