The Trend of Social Movements in America: Professionalization and Resource Mobilization

Abstract

A A n R l c m sociologists have been intrigued with the phenomena of social movements.They have studied and analyzed movements ranging'from those on the left wing aimed at overturning the social order to those on the right wing aimed at restoring an earlier order.But they have not neglected moderate ~novements with ameliorative goals or movements .withno apparent political goals or implications (e.g., movements related to individual deviance such as alcoholism or to a 'belief in the end of the,avorld).To understand the rise and fall of all of these movements-and their related movement organizations, which normally are the unit of analysis-sociologists have focused upon members.Leites and Wolf [1970] call this a "hearts ' Some may lnisiake our emphasis on the 'material .bases'of current social movements for hostility to tlie . .aims of the movements.This is not so.011s discussion concen!s the conditions that affect a movement's pot&ltial for success, and these are.asilnportant to movement leaders and supporters as they are to.socia1scientists.' liours.Furthemlore, as the productivity of work increases, there is.an increasing pressi~re to increase utility yield of leisil're time, for there is a strong tendency to balance utility yields in diflerent sectors' of activity.~i n d e r arglles that high-yield leisure activities will substitute for lo\\?-yield ones.Thus motor.boats supl>lant row boats, and pllysiological necessities as'sex and eating lose grouncl -in available-time nllocations.We would add to Lincler's list of low-yield leisure .activities participation in social movement orga~izations.There are few 'ways of making tliese activities