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Social Movement, Media and Technology

Collective behavior

Any group behavior that is not mandated or regulated by an institution.

Example: Flash mob, Occupy Wallstreet

Three primary forms of collective behavior: Mass, Public, Crowd

Mass - a relatively large number of people with a common interest, though they may not be in close proximity

Ex. Fads in fashion, online video gaming,

Public - an unorganized, relatively diffused group of people who share ideas

Ex. Libertarian political party, sanctuary cities

Forms of Collective Behavior

Crowd-Large number of people in close proximity

Four types:

Acting Crowd - focuses on a specific goal or action

Riot

Casual Crowd - people who are in the same place at the same time but who aren’t really interacting

People at a mall

Conventional Crowd - those who come together for a scheduled event that occurs regularly

Church, Clubs

Expressive Crowd - people who join together to express emotion

Funerals, weddings

Forms of Collective Behavior

Casual Crowd

Conventional Crowd

Expressive Crowd

Acting Crowd

Collective Action

Collective action is based on a shared interest

courtesy of Wikimedia Commons in Introduction to Sociology 2e. Authored by: OpenStax CNX. Located at: http://cnx.org/contents/02040312-72c8-441e-a685-20e9333f3e1d/Introduction_to_Sociology_2e. License: CC BY: Attribution. License Terms: Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/[email protected]

Collective Action

Collective action is based on a shared interest

The Men’s Movement, called male liberationism, was a movement that originated in the 1970s to discuss the challenges of masculinity.

Mostly middle-class heterosexual men

Men suffer from greater stress, poorer health and a shorter life expectancy, which are a result of pressures to achieve success combined with an inability to express themselves (Farrell, 1975; Golderberg, 1976).

the need to free men from oppressive gender roles

“Crisis of masculinity” - What does it mean to be a man?

Collective Action

The men’s movement split into

The men’s rights movement (a group that feels that feminism creates disadvantages for men) and

The pro-feminist men’s movement (a group that feels that sexism harms both men and women and wants to fundamentally change society’s ideas about gender).

What does it mean to “man up”?

Three theoretical perspectives on Collective Behavior

Emergent Norm theory

Value-Added theory

Assembling perspective

Symbolic Interactionist Emergent Norm Theory Turner and Killian (1993)

People perceive and respond to the crowd situation with their particular (individual) set of norms, which may change as the crowd experience evolves

Crowds are not viewed as irrational, impulsive, uncontrolled groups. Instead, norms develop and are accepted as they fit the situation

This focus on the individual component of interaction reflects a symbolic interactionist perspective

Examples

Lord of the Flies

Crowd behavior after Hurricane Katrina: The Dome, Looting

(Photo courtesy of https://williejallenjr.photoshelter.com/image/I00002CEx2Fs53cI

Functionalism: Value-added Theory

Several conditions must be in place for collective behavior to occur

Each condition increases the likeliness of collective behavior:

Structural conduciveness: people are aware of the problem and can gather, ideally in an open area

Structural strain: people’s expectations about the situation at hand being unmet, causing tension and strain

Growth and spread of a generalized belief: a problem is clearly identified and attributed to a person or group

Precipitating factors: a dramatic event spurs collective behavior

Mobilization for action: leaders emerge to direct a crowd to action

Social control: agents (i.e. police) break up the collective behavior episode

Functionalism: Value-added Theory

Identify the 6 conditions

When do Revolutions Happen?

A revolution is more possible when expected need satisfaction and actual need satisfaction are out of sync

As actual need satisfaction trends downward and away from what a formerly prosperous people have come to expect—an intolerable point is reached, and revolution occurs

Thus, change comes not from the very bottom of the social hierarchy, but from somewhere in the middle

Assembling Perspective

Type of crowd	Description	Example
Convergence clusters	Family and friends who travel together	Carpooling parents take several children to the movies
Convergent orientation	Group all facing the same direction	A semi-circle around a stage
Collective vocalization	Sounds or noises made collectively	Screams on a roller coaster
Collective verbalization	Collective and simultaneous participation in a speech or song	Pledge of Allegiance in the school classroom
Collective gesticulation	Body parts forming symbols	The YMCA dance
Collective manipulation	Objects collectively moved around	Holding signs at a protest rally
Collective locomotion	The direction and rate of movement to the event	Children running to an ice cream truck

Introduction to Sociology 2e. Authored by: OpenStax CNX. Located at: http://cnx.org/contents/02040312-72c8-441e-a685-20e9333f3e1d/Introduction_to_Sociology_2e. License: CC BY: Attribution. License Terms: Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/[email protected]

Social Movements

Social movements are purposeful, organized groups that strive to work toward a common social goal. These movements work at one or more levels:

Local

State

National

Global

Which theory would you use to analyze this movement?

Value Added

Assembling Perspective

Emergent Norm

Was this a local, state, national or global movement?

What type of social movement is Arab Spring?

Revolutionary movement

Reform movement

Religious movement

Alternative movement

Resistance movement

Types of Social Movements

Reform movements seek to change something specific about the social structure

Revolutionary movements seek to completely change every aspect of society

Religious/Redemptive movements are “meaning seeking,” and their goal is to provoke inner change or spiritual growth in individuals

Alternative movements are focused on self-improvement and limited, specific changes to individual beliefs and behavior

Resistance movements seek to prevent or undo change to the social structure

Stages of Social Movements

In the preliminary stage, people become aware of an issue, and leaders emerge

In the coalescence stage people join together and organize in order to publicize the issue and raise awareness.

In the institutionalization stage, the movement no longer requires grassroots volunteerism: it is an established organization, typically with a paid staff.

The decline stage occurs when people fall away and adopt a new movement, the movement successfully brings about the change it sought, or when people no longer take the issue seriously

Three theoretical perspectives on Social Movements

Resource Mobilization Theory

Framing Analysis

New Social Movement Theory

Resource Mobilization Theory

Resource mobilization theory: explains movement success in terms of the ability to acquire resources such as time and money and mobilize individuals

Which side do you think prevailed?

Social Movement Sector

Multiple social movement organizations concerned about the same issue form a social movement industry. A society’s many social movement industries comprise its social movement sector

Frames

Sociologists have developed the concept of frames to explain how individuals identify and understand social events and which norms they should follow in any given situation.

Successful social movements use three kinds of frames to further their goals:

Diagnostic framing: states the problem in a clear, easily understood way. When applying diagnostic frames, there are no shades of gray: instead, there is the belief that what “they” do is wrong and this is how “we” will fix it.

Prognostic framing: offers a solution and states how it will be implemented.

Motivational framing: the call to action: what should you do once you agree with the diagnostic frame and believe in the prognostic frame?

Frames

Anti gay marriage movement

Diagnostic framing: Insist that marriage is only between a man and a woman

Prognostic framing: restrict marriage to one man and one woman OR allow civil unions

Motivational framing: contact local congressman to vote to restrict marriage to one man and one woman

Frame Alignment Process

When social movements link their goals, a frame alignment process occurs:

Bridging connects uninvolved individuals and unorganized or ineffective groups with social movements that share similar goals to create a new, stronger social movement organization

In the amplification model, organizations seek to expand their core ideas to mobilize more people for their cause

In extension, social movements mutually promote each other, even when they do not share immediate goals

Transformation is a complete revision of goals and may result from success

New Social Movement Theory

Attempts to explain the proliferation of postindustrial and postmodern movements that are difficult to analyze using traditional social movement theories

revolves around understanding movements as they relate to politics, identity, culture, and social change

a macro-level, global analysis of social movements

Then-birth control

Now-legalize marijuana

Case Study: Occupy Wall Street

Occupy Wall Street differed from models of social movements in three main ways:

It lacked a single message

It was a leaderless organization

Its target was financial institutions instead of the government

Social Change

Social change

The change in society created through social movements as well as external factors like environmental shifts or technological innovations.

What causes or facilitates social change?

Four common causes

Technology

Social institutions

Population

Environment

Communication and the Globalization of Social Movements

New technologies facilitate activism and social movement formation

Significant social action can occur with no face-to-face interaction

Twitter, facebook, etc.

What is technology?

The application of science to address the problems of daily life

Media and Technology

Source: Postman 1988. Photo: © Jose Luis Pelaez Inc./Getty Images RF.

Five Questions to Ask When Adopting New Technology

Technology and Social Stratification

Not everyone has equal access which creates a gap called the digital divide

The knowledge gap is the lack of knowledge or information caused by the digital divide that keeps those who were not exposed to technology from gaining marketable skills

(Photo courtesy of Carlos Martinez/flickr) in Introduction to Sociology 2e. Authored by: OpenStax CNX. Located at: http://cnx.org/contents/02040312-72c8-441e-a685-20e9333f3e1d/Introduction_to_Sociology_2e. License: CC BY: Attribution. License Terms: Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/[email protected]

Students in well-funded schools receive more exposure to technology than students in poorly funded schools.

More exposure = more proficiency=marketability in an increasingly technology-based job market

This technological stratification is in the schools and homes

More affluent homes and schools have upgraded computers AND internet access

Technological stratification

Social Issues Arising from Technology

Net neutrality is the principle that all Internet data should be treated equally by internet service providers

In 2017 , the FCC scrapped the net neutrality regulations that prohibited broadband providers from blocking websites or charging for higher-quality service or certain content. The federal government will also no longer regulate high-speed internet delivery as if it were a utility, like phone service.

So, Amazon could pay Verizon to stream their videos at a higher speed

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/14/technology/net-neutrality-repeal-vote.html

Media is a term that refers to all print, digital, and electronic means of communication.

Types of media and technology

Print Newspaper

Television and Radio

Film

New Media

Encompasses all interactive forms of information exchange.

Social networking sites, blogs, podcasts, wikis, and virtual worlds.

No guarantee that the information offered is accurate.

The immediacy of new media coupled with the lack of oversight means we must be more careful than ever to ensure our news is coming from accurate sources.

Media and Technology

Media Homogenization and Fragmentation

The mainstream news and entertainment are increasingly homogenized meaning that different news outlets all tell the same stories, using the same sources, resulting in the same message, presented with only slight variations

The opposite process is occurring in the newer media streams. With so many choices and with many people getting news through social media, people increasingly customize their news experience, minimizing their opportunity to encounter information that does not jive with their worldview

Media Consolidation

Media includes all print, digital, and electronic means of communication

Media consolidation is a process in which fewer and fewer owners control the majority of media outlets. This creates an oligopoly in which a few firms dominate the media marketplace

Media Homogenization and Fragmentation

Media Effects on Audiences

Portrayal of aggression and violence

Presentation of race, class, and gender stereotypes

Social Media

Copresence vs social media

Copresence” is a sociological concept that describes the conditions in which human individuals interact with one another face to face from body to body (Mead, 1934; Cooley, 1956; Goffman, 1963)

TV can introduce young people to unfamiliar lifestyles and cultures

New technologies change how we interact with family, friends, and strangers

Access to media can increase social cohesion

Can also lead to narrowcasting, mostly interacting with people similar to ourselves

Theoretical Perspectives on Media and Technology

Functionalism focuses on how media and technology contribute to the smooth functioning of society

Commercial Function

Television advertising is a highly functional way to meet a market demographic where it lives.

Entertainment Function

Manifest function-entertains people

Theoretical Perspectives on Media and Technology

Social Norm Functions

Socialize us, helping us pass along norms, values, and beliefs to the next generation.

All forms of media teach us what is good and desirable, how we should speak, how we should behave

Life-Changing Functions

Manifest function of technology is to change our lives

Too much information too quickly

Issues of Concern to Conflict Theorists

Conflict perspective

Focuses on the creation and reproduction of inequality—social processes that tend to disrupt society rather than contribute to its smooth operation.

Differential access to media and technology embodied in the digital divide.

Who controls the media, and how media promotes the norms of upper-middle-class white people in the United States while minimizing the presence of the working class, especially people of color

Control of Media

People in charge of the media decide what the public is exposed to, which, as C. Wright Mills (1956) famously noted, is the heart of media’s power. Which type, when and where (gatekeeping)

Theoretical Perspectives on Media and Technology

New media weakens control of gatekeeper

How?

You tube

Media also creates and unbalanced political arena

– 94 percent of biggest spenders in House races won, up slightly from 2012

– 82 percent of biggest spenders in Senate races won, up from 76 percent in 2012

Technological Social Control and Digital Surveillance

Digital security cameras capture our movements, observers can track us through our cell phones, and police forces around the world use facial-recognition software.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/big-brother-is-watching-you-drive/

Feminist Theory on Media

Who has the power to shape media and how does that affect how genders are represented?

How do these gendered media representations affect individuals and society?

How does online cyber-bullying and misogyny affect women’s lives and silence women’s voices?

(Photo courtesy of Cliff1066/flickr) in Introduction to Sociology 2e. Authored by: OpenStax CNX. Located at: http://cnx.org/contents/02040312-72c8-441e-a685-20e9333f3e1d/Introduction_to_Sociology_2e. License: CC BY: Attribution. License Terms: Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/[email protected]

Symbolic Interactionist View of Media

Media constructs our reality in a number of ways. For some, the people they watch on a screen can become a primary group or a reference group

While media may indeed be the medium to spread the message of rich white males, some forms of media allow competing constructions of reality to appear

Symbolic-Interactionists might also study how people interact with advertising

Theoretical Perspectives on Media and Technology-Symbolic Interactionist

TECHNOFILES

Neo-Luddites

Symbolic-Interactionists might also study how people interact with advertising

Computer you own, the kind of car you drive, your ability to afford the latest Apple product—these

An ideological middle ground, technology might symbolize status (in the form of a massive flat-screen television) or failure (ownership of a basic old mobile phone with no bells or whistles).

Theoretical Perspectives on Media and Technology

Social Networking and Social Construction

Theoretical Perspectives on Media and Technology

Social Construction of Reality

an ongoing process in which people subjectively create and understand reality.

Media constructs our reality in a number of ways.

For some, the people they watch on a screen can become a primary group, meaning the small informal groups of people who are closest to them.

For many others, media becomes a reference group: a group that influences an individual and to which an individual compares himself or herself, and by which we judge our successes and failures.

We might do very well without the latest smartphone, until we see characters using it on our favorite television show

Sociological Perspectives on Media

According to Michael Parenti, media bias usually does not occur in random fashion These built-in biases of the media reflect the dominant ideology that supports the privileged position of members of the capitalist class. Methods of manipulation include

sponsor control over broadcasting decisions;

suppressing information by omitting certain details of a story or the entire story;

attacking a story or reporting primarily on one side of a story rather than giving the audience a balanced view of the diverse viewpoints involved;

negatively labeling some individuals or groups in such a manner that it appears to apply across the board to a large number of people; and

framing stories to convey positive or negative connotations through the use of visual effects, placement, etc., to show how significant a social concern members of the media believe the topic should be.

Practice Question

The rise of social media has lowered the barriers to entry in media and weakened traditional gatekeepers since people can share content with one another directly. How has this affected society?

Answers will vary. On the one hand, more people are able to express themselves and find online communities that share their interests and views. However, the rise of fake news in 2016 election indicates that functions of gatekeepers such as fact-checking were extremely valuable. Media fragmentation could threaten social cohesion.

Quick Review

What are the causes of collective behavior, social movements, and social change? How do they develop?

How does technology affect society?

What is the role of the media in society and how has that role evolved?

How do different sociological perspectives analyze media and technology?

REVIEW Theoretical Perspectives

Three approaches to sociological insights:

Structural Functionalism

Conflict Theory

Symbolic Interactionism

Macro-level

Sociological approach that emphasizes the way parts of a society are structured to maintain its stability

Are they functional or dysfunctional?/ Positive or negative consequences on society

Latent and Manifest functions

different aspects of society exist because they serve a needed purpose

Structural Functionalism

Criticism:

It doesn’t explain social change and dysfunctions repeat themselves even though they don’t appear to have a function. Focuses too much on stability.

Macro level

The way inequalities contribute to social differences and perpetuate differences in power.

Assumes social behavior is best understood in terms of tension between groups over power or allocation of resources

Material, social and cultural resources

Gender

Social Class/Economics

Race/Ethnicity

Sexual Orientation

Religion

Conflict Theory

Criticism:

Does not recognize there is some stability

Micro level

Focuses on social interaction in order to explain society as a whole

Face-to-face interaction as the building block of everything else in society

We act toward things on the basis of their meanings. Meanings are not inherent; rather, they are negotiated through interaction with others.

Meanings can change or be modified through interaction.

Symbolic Interactionist

Criticism:

Difficult to remain objective. Extremely narrow.

Constructivism:

Reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be.

Symbols-things we attach meaning to- are the key to understanding how we view the world and communicate with others (Mead & Cooley)

The Meaning of Marriage-

arrangement based on duty or love

The Meaning of Divorce-

a tragic end or new beginning

The Meaning of Parenthood-

short-lived with little responsibility or long-term, expensive commitment

Reference

Griffiths, H., Keirns, N., Strayer, E., Cody-Rydzewski, S., Scaramuzzo, G., Saddler T., Vyain, S., Bry, J. & Jones, F. (2015). Introduction to Sociology 2e. OpenStax College

Henslin, J. N. (2017). Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach (12th Edition). Boston: Pearson.

Witt, J. (2014). SOC2014. New York: McGraw-Hill.