Social movement organization
Encyclopedia
A social movement organization (often capitalized in literature as Social Movement Organization or abbreviated as SMO) is an organized component of a social movement
(SM).SMO usually is only part of a particular social movement; in other words, a specific social movement is usually composed of many social movement organizations - formal organizations that share movement's goals. Social movement organizations usually have coordinating roles in social movements, but do not actually employ or direct most of the participants, who are part of a wider social movement community.
For instance, the civil rights movement
was a social movement composed of specific social movement organizations (like SNCC
(Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) or CORE (Congress of Racial Equality)). PETA
(People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) advocates for vegan lifestyles along with its other aims. But PETA is not the only group to advocate for vegan diets and lifestyles; there are numerous other groups actively engaged toward this end. Thus, the social movement is the general push toward veganism (an effort with numerous motivations) and PETA is only a single SMO working within the broader social movement. The peace movement
is composed of many groups that want peace - groups that classify as SMOs such as Peace Action
(SANE/FREEZE), Fellowship of Reconciliation
and others. Ku Klux Klan
is yet another SMO - part of the white supremacist movement. al-Qaeda
, acting as a coordinating body for a large number of loosely-connected anti-American organizations and individuals is another example of a social movement organization.
An organizational equivalent of a particular social movement - a collection of all SMOs focused on a given field - is known as a Social Movement Industry (SMI). Social Movement Industries are similar to social movements in scope but are seen as having more structure. Social movement industries can be combined into one one Social Movement Sector in the society.
The term SMO entered the literature through the work of Zald and Ash (1966).
Social movement
Social movements are a type of group action. They are large informal groupings of individuals or organizations focused on specific political or social issues, in other words, on carrying out, resisting or undoing a social change....
(SM).SMO usually is only part of a particular social movement; in other words, a specific social movement is usually composed of many social movement organizations - formal organizations that share movement's goals. Social movement organizations usually have coordinating roles in social movements, but do not actually employ or direct most of the participants, who are part of a wider social movement community.
For instance, the civil rights movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
was a social movement composed of specific social movement organizations (like SNCC
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ' was one of the principal organizations of the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It emerged from a series of student meetings led by Ella Baker held at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina in April 1960...
(Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) or CORE (Congress of Racial Equality)). PETA
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. A non-profit corporation with 300 employees and two million members and supporters, it claims to be the largest animal rights...
(People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) advocates for vegan lifestyles along with its other aims. But PETA is not the only group to advocate for vegan diets and lifestyles; there are numerous other groups actively engaged toward this end. Thus, the social movement is the general push toward veganism (an effort with numerous motivations) and PETA is only a single SMO working within the broader social movement. The peace movement
Peace movement
A peace movement is a social movement that seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war , minimize inter-human violence in a particular place or type of situation, often linked to the goal of achieving world peace...
is composed of many groups that want peace - groups that classify as SMOs such as Peace Action
Peace Action
Peace Action is a peace organization formed through the merger of The Committee for a SANE Nuclear Policy and the Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign...
(SANE/FREEZE), Fellowship of Reconciliation
Fellowship of Reconciliation
The Fellowship of Reconciliation is the name used by a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries...
and others. Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan
Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically...
is yet another SMO - part of the white supremacist movement. al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
, acting as a coordinating body for a large number of loosely-connected anti-American organizations and individuals is another example of a social movement organization.
An organizational equivalent of a particular social movement - a collection of all SMOs focused on a given field - is known as a Social Movement Industry (SMI). Social Movement Industries are similar to social movements in scope but are seen as having more structure. Social movement industries can be combined into one one Social Movement Sector in the society.
The term SMO entered the literature through the work of Zald and Ash (1966).
Further reading
- Crabtree, Charity. "Where Culture, Structure, and the Individual Meet: A Social Movement Organization in Action" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Marriott Hotel, Loews Philadelphia Hotel, Philadelphia, PA, Aug 12, 2005 Online
- Jo Freeman, A Model for Analyzing the Strategic Options of Social Movement Organizations, n The Dynamics of Social Movements ed. by Mayer N. Zald and John D. McCarthy, Cambridge, Mass.: Winthrop Publishers, 1979, pp. 167-189. Revised edition online.
- Jo Freeman, CRISES AND CONFLICTS IN SOCIAL MOVEMENT ORGANIZATIONS, Chrysalis: A Magazine of Women's Culture, No. 5, 1978, pp. 43-51.
- Manuel Hensmans, Social Movement Organizations: A Metaphor for Strategic Actors in Institutional Fields, Organization Studies, Vol. 24, No. 3, 355-381 (2003) SAGE
- Jeff Goodwin, James M. Jasper, The Social Movements Reader: Cases and Concepts, Blackwell Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0631221964
- Mayer N. Zald and Roberta Ash, Social Movement Organizations: Growth, Decay and Change, Social Forces, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Mar., 1996), pp. 327-341, JSTOR
- Zald, Mayer N. and McCarthy, John D., Social Movement Industries: Competition and Cooperation Among Movement Organizations, 1979, working paper, http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/50975