Blog Post Two

Chapter one of the text provides us with a list of characteristics given to us by Stewart, Smith, and Denton that define what a social movement consist of. These characteristics are important in differentiating a movement from an organization that simply follows a movement. The first characteristic a movement must ensure it has is at least minimal organization, which means it cannot simply consist of a small following of people. The second characteristic of any social movement is they remain institutionalized collectives, or remain outside of government, political, or religious views. Social movements often develop relationships with these institutions, however these relationships lead to both positive and negative outcomes for the movement. Social movements must also remain large in scope, but scope does not only encompass the amount of people following a movement. Scope of a social movement includes its size member wise, the time it has been around, and what major events have taken place within the movement. Social movements also promote or oppose change within society, which means they fight to bring about some form of change whether it is replacing existing social norms with new ideas or ideas from history’s past. Social movements also must have some opposition against them in a moral struggle brought about by the movement. This taps into our feelings morally to bring us to either oppose or support the movement’s ideals. This characteristic brings about our final characteristic of a social movement, which is its use of persuasion to bring about change.

            The animal rights movement, which I will be using in my third essay, posses all of the characteristics Stewart, Smith, and Denton list in chapter one of the text. The first characteristic the animal rights movement posses is organization. The movement will never hold one single leader, however it does exhibit incredible amounts of SMOs or Social Movement Organizations, literature, and unification of like-minded people. This enables them to achieve the minimal organization they need to be considered a social movement. Secondly, the animal rights movement remains as institutionalized as possible by ensuring their SMOs are not apart of government, political, or religious hierarchies. They simply use these hierarchies as a vessel when getting their views across or seeking change for their cause. The animal rights movement is large in scope, which characterizes it as a current social movement. The animal rights movement has spread across the entire world and has a following in all walks of life. This means you do not have to be considered a radical to support the ideals of this movement. The animal rights movement has been around since the 1970s making its scope of time fairly impressive for a modern day movement. It has also gained media attention throughout the decades of its existence through protests, boycotts, and other demonstrations aimed to broaden the membership of its followers. The animal rights movement aims to achieve better treatment of animals in all aspects of life and change social norms or values that go against what it believes animals deserve. This is a major characteristic for a social movement because if it did not seek any change it would not be a social movement for very long due to a lack of interest shown by its supporters. It also assumes the power to determine what is right from wrong in how we treat animals, which enables the movement to tap into our own personal morals and values. The animal rights movement is visibly trying to move us morally in our everyday life whether it be the student handing out pamphlets illustrating the horrors of eating meat, or the sad humane society commercials we see when watching television. These examples show us how the animal rights movement also plays off our emotions to seek change in current standards and laws. These emotional responses are important because movements use them to attain their desired goals.