This course will examine the changing role of social movements in bringing about change in a globalizing world. From the 1960s so-called 'new social movements', including women's, lesbian and gay and environmental movements, transformed the social and political landscape of western societies. These movements promoted new forms of organisation, tactics and ideas such as the politics of oppression, identity and culture, empowerment and post-materialism. Through the case studies from Turkish political context, students will consider the problems faced by outsiders in challenging established interests and institutions and ask whether political change can be effected from outside.
Social movements are collective attempts to change the way people live their lives, how governments govern, and how economic systems produce and distribute goods. This class focuses on theoretical domains in the sociological study of social movements and general social processes. Substantive work on specific movements is used to explain issues such as mobilization, tactics, and ideology, as well as how the social context in which a movement takes place matters.