Learning from social movements

Learning from
social movements

Richard Smith
Chief executive, UnitedHealth Europe
Former editor, BMJ
Pritpal S Tamber, Managing Director, Faculty of 1000 Medicine
Rhona McDonald MD, senior editor at the Lancet

Agenda

What is a social movement?

Examples of social movements

Some comments from studies of social movements—not too many

Three stories of social movements
− British movement to abolish slavery
− A movement to counter football hooliganism among English
football fans and create a positive culture among the fans—Pritpal
S Tamber, managing director of Faculty of a Thousand Medicine
− Make Poverty History—Rhona McDonald, senior editor on the
Lancet

What makes social movements work?

Conclusions


No universal agreement on a definition

The latest Chambers doesn't have a definition

Here's one from Wikipedia, which might itself be described as a social
movement. “They are large informal groupings of individuals and/or
organizations focused on specific political or social issues, in other words,
on carrying out, resisting or undoing a social change.”

How different from political parties or campaigns?
− More informal than both
− Unlike political parties but like campaigns, they are focused on specific
issues but usually broader than a campaign

Under this definition the quality in health care movement would qualify


Charles Tilley (professor of social science at Columbia) defines a social movement as having
three components

1. Campaign. A sustained, organised public effort making collective claims on target authorities

2. Repertoire. Using things like special purpose associations, public meetings, solemn
processions, vigils, rallies, demonstrations, petitions, boycotts, statements to the media,
pamphleteering, etc

3 WUNC (worthiness, unity, numbers, commitment) displays

worthiness: sober demeanour, neat clothing, presence of clergy, dignitaries, and mothers
with children

unity: matching badges, headbands, banners or costumes, marching in ranks, singing and
chanting

numbers: headcounts, signatures on petitions, messages from constituents, filling streets

commitment: braving bad weather, visible participation by the old and handicapped,
resistance to repression, ostentatious sacrifice, subscription, benefaction

Under this more operational definition would the quality in health care movement qualify?

Two ways to get historical analysis of social
movements wrong—Charles Tilly


1. Search for general laws of how they work—
failing to recognise the impossibility of devising
general laws for human affairs

2. See social movements everywhere

I may have made both mistakes—but I don't
seem to be alone

Issues in studies of social
movements

It has become common to assume that social movements are
crucial actors in social and political change.

But few studies of effectiveness and how and why change is
achieved

“There is no way to trace outcomes of such complex social
processes without having robust descriptions and explanations
of their operations.”

The problem of causality-- “Did the social movement make the
change happen or would it have happened anyway” is huge and
ultimately insoluble.

“Looking for general causes and invariant models is doomed to
failure, for there are no such invariant patterns in social life.”

Giugni M, McAdam D, Tilly C, eds. How social movements matter.
Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.


Abolition of slavery

Civil rights movement

Votes for women

Environmental movement

Peace movement

Anti-apartheid

Animal rights

Temperance movement

Anti-poverty

Disability movement

Gay rights

within healthcare

Public health movement

Anti-smoking movement

Against unethical research: ethics committees

Evidence based medicine

Open access publishing

Keep our NHS public

Fluoridation

Antifluoridation

Quality and safety movement

Abolitionism in Britain: the first
social movement?
•
Used Adam Hochschild's book “Bury the chains.” A wonderful inspiring
book and a rip roaring yarn
•
22 May 1787: 12 men met in a printing shop in 2 George Yard in the City
of London determined to end slavery
•
At that time
•
more people were slaves than free
•
The British economy depended on slavery
•
Sugar, coffee, and rum, which people loved, depended on slavery
•
Many rich men and institutions, including the Church of England,
owned plantations worked by slaves
•
Most members of parliament had close links to slavery
•
Yet by March 1807 slavetrading was abolished in the British Empire
•
Within a lifetime of when the men first met in 1787 slavery was
abolished across the world

It cost the British 1.8% of the GDP over 50 years

Adam Hochschild

“ The men who successfully abolished slavery
invented many of the techniques we now associate
with campaigns: national organisations with local
chapters, campaigns writing to political
representatives, report cards on how those
representatives have voted, investigative reporting,
petitions, marches, badges, boycotts, logos, fliers,
books of evidence with readings in bookstores,
newsletters, use of the media.”

Learning from abolitionism

The result was “absolutely without precedent…If you pore over the history of all peoples, I
doubt that you will find anything more extraordinary.” Alexis de Tocqueville

The men “were deeply convinced that they lived in a remarkable time that would see…
[slavery] swept from the face of the earth.” Adam Hochschild

The campaign was “the first time a large number of people became outraged and stayed
outraged for many years over somebody else’s rights.” Adam Hochschild

“The abolitionists succeeded because they mastered one challenge that still faces anyone
who… [wants to make major social change]: drawing connections between the near and
the distant.”

Their journey was full of “dashed hopes and wrong turnings.”

Lesson: What seems impossible can be done—and in a comparatively short time

Lesson: The leaders and the followers need deep belief

Lesson: You need to make a connection between the issues and peoples' everyday lives

Lesson: The course is most unlikely to be smooth—and may well look hopeless at some
point

Learning from abolitionism: a story of
both remarkable men and the masses

Remarkable man one: Olaudah Equiano

“The stench of the hold while we were on the coast was so intolerably
loathsome, that it was dangerous to remain there for any time, and
some of us had been permitted to stay on the deck for the fresh air;
but now that the whole ship's cargo were confined together, it
became absolutely pestilential. The closeness of the place, and the
heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so
crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost
suffocated us. This produced copious perspirations, so that the air
soon became unfit for respiration, from a variety of loathsome smells,
and brought on a sickness among the slaves, of which many died,
thus falling victims to the improvident avarice, as I may call it, of their
purchasers. This wretched situation was again aggravated by the
galling of the chains, now become insupportable; and the filth of the
necessary tubs, into which the children often fell, and were almost
suffocated. The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying,
rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceivable.”

Lesson: Powerful, first hand accounts of the problem are invaluable


Remarkable men two: Granville Sharp

Unworldy, musical, godly, well connected—
including to the royal family

1765: Encountered slave being badly beaten

Became the defender of blacks in Britain.

Lesson: Well connected (and fearless) people
are always useful


1783 Zong trial.

Ship took too long to cross the Atlantic.

Slaves dying, and dead slaves were worthless.

133 slaves thrown overboard in the hope of claiming insurance.

Court case brought by insurers, who lost.

Then Sharp brought a case for murder. Failed. Nobody cared
about the slaves.

Turner painted his picture in 1840

Lesson: Cases which shock and capture the problem and the
public's attention may be crucially important—even if swept to
one side by the authorities. (Think Bristol and Shipman)


1785. Bothered by the Zong trial, Dr Peter Peckard, vice chancellor of Cambridge
University set a title for the annual Latin essay prize, which was very prestigious, of Anne
liceat invitos in servitutem dare?—Is it lawful to make slaves of others against their will?

Remarkable man threeL Thomas Clarkson entered the competition simply to win, but
working “with the thoroughness and energy that would characterize his life,” he
unexpectedly found himself overwhelmed with horror. “In the day time I was uneasy. In the
night I had little rest. I sometimes never closed my eyes for grief.”

He won the prize.

Riding back to London he had a Damascene conversion. Someone had to do something
—and he was that person. Coleridge called him “a moral steam engine.”

The essay was published—by James Phillips, a quaker and the owner of the printing shop
in George Yard.

The essay was a mixture of philosophy, biblical quotations, and second hand accounts—
poor evidence.

Lesson: Prizes can be helpful

Lesson: “A moral steam engine” is handy, especially an Anglican one


The 12 members of the committee formed on 22 May 1787;
− Granville Sharp, chair
− Thomas Clarkson—secretary
− One other Anglican
− Nine quakers—including James Phillips (owner of the print shop), his brother, and William Dillwyn, an American

Only three needed for a quorum—trusted each other

Opened a bank account, hired a lawyer, and drew up long lists of names from all over Britain—worked the Quaker network

The spirit of this most democratic and non-hierarchical of Western religions infused the movement---local chapters were often
bolder than the national centre. They pushed the centre.

Quakers knew about deputations (to government and the royal family), petitions, publishing pamphlets and placing articles in
newspapers, and mobilizing the faithful

“National, extra parliamentary associations were unknown in 1750, novel in 1780, and commonplace by 1830.”

What should be their aim—stopping trading or emancipation

For practical reasons, 11 of them—minus Sharp—went for banning trading. They knew that this would finish slaving in the end
—because of high death rates

Lesson: Trust is important

Lesson: The non-hierarchical, Democratic spirit is probably helpful

Lesson: Be businesslike

Lesson: Pick an achievable aim

Learning from the abolitionists

In June 1787 Clarkson prepared for a trip of several months to find witnesses, organize
sympathizers, and gather more information—from the fountainhead, the slave ports of Bristol
and Liverpool

Clarkson worked 16 hours a day through that summer gathering detailed evidence and stories.
“The very paper seemed to smoke and burn with his outrage.”

He gathered data on 20 000 seamen, knowing what had happened to each.

Slave ship doctors provided vital data.

Clarkson began to be not just an organiser but also a performer, speaking regularly in public.

He collected “props” for his performance—handcuffs, shackles, thumbscrews, and a speculum
oris, which was used for prising open the mouths of slaves who tried to kill themselves by
refusing to eat

In the autumn he reached Manchester, a city that tripled in size in the last quarter of the 18th
century and was home not only to the industrial revolution but also was abuzz with new ideas.

The people of Manchester supported Clarkson and sent an anti-slavery petition to parliament
signed by 10 000 people, one of every five people in the city

Lesson: Evidence, lots of it, is important

Lesson: Performance is important for success


Before starting on his journey Clarkson attended a London diner party that included James Boswell,
Joshua Reynolds, and William Wilberforce—who was
− “all soul and no body,”
− an MP,
− an evangelical Anglican,
− independent,
− wealthy,
− a friend of William Pitt, the prime minister,
− and had “the greatest natural eloquence in England.” He had an almost mesmerising speaking
voice.
He was also very funny—Madame de Stael described him as “the wittiest man in England.”

He needed “an issue” on which to build his name.

Clarkson’s essay was crucial in making him think about slavery

At the end of the dinner after Clarkson had spoken on slavery—Wilberforce said he would take up the
issue “provided no person more proper could be found.”

Clarkson, the agitator, needed Wilberforce, the insider. The point of social movements is to get the
legitimate to change their views.

Lesson: Successful movements have different sorts of leaders, but they must work together

Lesson: An important man who “needs an issue for his own advancement” can be very useful


First antislavery picture at the Royal Academy—“Execrable human traffic” by George Morland

Children’s book “Little truths better than great fables” featured antislavery stories

The committee knew that this was an international issue: published pamphlets in many languages, wrote to
the kings of Sweden and Spain, sought supporters in other countries

The committee was meticulously efficient—this was a social movement run by businessmen

They produced a regular newsletter of 500 to a 1000 copies for supporters

They raised funds, including through what may have been the world’s first direct mail fund raising letter

Some 2000 people (mostly Quakers) from 39 countries contributed money

Flair for publicity and marketing; Josiah Wedgewood produced the famous seal/logo “Am I not a man and a
brother” The image, said Benjamin Franklin, was “equal to that of the best written pamphlet.” Appeared
everywhere. Clarkson gave away 500.

Manchester activists wrote to mayors throughout the country urging antislavery petitions, wrote as well to
“respectable individuals,” and placed ads in newspapers throughout the country

John Newton, a former slave trader become prominent Anglican minister (another brilliant alliance) turned
passionately antislavery, published his pamphlet “Thoughts upon the African slave trade.” The pamphlet was
sent to every MP.

Lesson: Action must be constant and on many fronts


Parliamentary hearings “Committee on Trade and Plantations of the Privy Council” Chaired by
Lord Hawkesbury, who owned land in the West Indies, and his chief clerk was the
representative of the Bahamas planters

Gathered lots of statistics

Heard evidence—including how “nine out of 10 [slaves] rejoice at falling into our hands”

Clarkson scoured the country for more witnesses

The Plymouth committee found the famous picture of the Brookes, a slave ship showing how
much room the slaves had

Clarkson reworked the diagram but took great care not to exaggerate it

Began appearing everywhere I newspapers, books, pamphlets; 7000 posters were printed and
hung all around the country

“Iconic images have power because they allow us to see what previously we could barely
imagine.”

Doctors gave especially powerful stories at the end of the hearing

Lesson: Iconic pictures and strong human stories can be stunningly effective


Evidence from Dr James Arnold, a doctor on a
slave ship

“A woman was one day brought to us to be sold;
she came with a child in her arms. The captain
refused to purchase her on that account, not
wishing to be plagued with a child on board; in
consequence of that she was taken back to the
shore. On the following morning, hoever, she was
again brought to us, but without the child, and she
was apparently in great sorrow. The black trader
who brought her on board said that the child had
been killed in the night to accommodate us in the
sale.”


May 12 1789

Wilberforce spoke with notes in parliament for 3.5 hours. Burke said that the speech was “equal
to anything...ever heard....in modern oratory; and perhaps...not excelled by anything to be met
with in Demosthenes.” Arguably the greatest speech ever given in parliament.

Extremely polite: “We ought all to plead guilty.”

“When I consider the magnitude of the subject which I am to bring before the House—a subject,
in which the interests, not of this country, nor of Europe alone, but of the whole world, and of
posterity, are involved: and when I think, at the same time, on the weakness of the advocate
who has undertaken this great cause—when these reflections press upon my mind, it is
impossible for me not to feel both terrified and concerned at my own inadequacy to such a task.”

“So much misery condensed in so little room, is more than the human imagination had ever
before conceived. I will not accuse the Liverpool merchants: I will allow them, nay, I will believe
them to be men of humanity; and I will therefore believe, if it were not for the enormous
magnitude and extent of the evil which distracts their attention from individual cases, and makes
them think generally, and therefore less feelingly on the subject, they would never have
persisted in the trade. I verily believe therefore, if the wretchedness of any one of the many
hundred Negroes stowed in each ship could be brought before their view, and remain within the
sight of the African Merchant, that there is no one among them whose heart would bear it.”

Outmaneuvered by slave interests. Privy council report not enough. House of Commons must
have its own hearings.

Lesson: There may be defining moments


House of Commons report: Ran to 850 pages

So abolitionists started on a “feverish collective editing marathon”

The result was the “Abstract of the Evidence delivered before a select
committee of the House of Commons in the years 1790 and 1791, on the
part of the petitioners for the abolition of the Slave Trade. 160 pages

Became the most widely read piece of non-fiction antislavery literature of all
time, a masterpiece of force and clarity—in modern typography (no s's that
looked like f's)

“simply cited in a crisp and businesslike way, statistics, documents, and
sworn testimony by military officers, planters, sea captains, physicians, and
businessmen

“stood back and let the evidence speak for itself”

One of the first great works of investigative journalism

Lesson: Evidence must be substantial, strong, clear, and speak for itself


Sugar boycott now burst into life—despite Brits loving sugar, coffee, and
rum, all of which depended on slavery; half a million people joined the
boycott.

Sugar laid bare “the dramatic, direct connection between connection
between British daily life and that of slaves.” Southey called tea “the blood
stained beverage.”

First major boycott. Allowed people who had no vote to express themselves
politically.

Creation of Sierra Leone “province of freedom”--its “success would be a
more powerful argument against slavery than any sermon or pamphlet”--
LIKE PloS

Lesson: Boycotts can be powerful

Lesson: Live the cause; create an example


Another vote in 1792

Every town had an abolition movement—sending petitions and contributions, receiving books
and pamphlets

Committees run by clergymen, shopkeepers, merchants, skilled workers, and professionals

59 antislavery petitions signed by 390 000 people received by parliament—signed by more
people than could vote

Four proslavery petitions

Debate 2 April 1792—ran through the night

Henry Dundas, home secretary,who said he was in favour of abolition (moment comes in a
crusade when the opposition adopt the rhetoric of the campaigners—as with “open access”;
proposed inserting the word “gradually” into the motion

Timid HOC voted in favour of the motion including gradually. HOL talked out the bill,

“Long, cold winter for abolitionists.”

Lesson: There are likely to be times when everything looks hopeless

Lesson: Beware of being tactically outwitted

Lesson: Beware of opponents adopting your language, pulling the rug from under your feet


War with France declared 1 February 1793—“war is the enemy
of social reform”

4 February 1794—France decreed that all slaves should be
freed; never made it happen

Brits invaded St Domingue, but slaves rebelled—very
successfully

Pushed abolitionists to one side, but lots of British soldiers were
horrified by the first hand experience of slavery

Dawn of 19th century—record year for slavery, 40 000
transported across the Atlantic by Brits

Lesson: A major crisis may push your cause to one side
(financial in the NHS)

Lesson: Uncontrolled circumstances may work influence your
cause in positive and negative


Abolitionists had lacked a first rate thinker and strategist

James Stephen—lawyer, writer, behind-the-scenes adviser, conservative,
but had a visceral hate for slavery after living in the West Indies for 10 years.
It was the “central, driving passion of his life.”

Searched for a tool that could work.

Argued not for banning slavetrading but for a bill that banned British subjects
from participating in the slavetrading of France and its allies. Slavetrading
barely mentioned. Wilberforce didn't speak. Impossible to argue against-but
(well understood by Stephen but unknown to most MPs) two thirds of the
American slave ships were actually British.

Split the salvetraders.

Bill passed.

Lesson: A strategist may well be vital for a movement

Lesson: It may sometimes best to tackle problems obliquely rather than
head on


Parliamentary elections in 1806—slavery a major issue

1807—bill debated.

Military men in favour—they had seen the horrors of slavery first hand.

Strong descriptions from an army doctor of atrocities he had seen.

Sir John Doyle, an MP, spoke in the house of his experiences

25 March 1807 at noon—bill given royal assent

This was not from government but “the sense of the people has pressed
abolition on our rulers.” Edinburgh Review

Lesson: First hand stories are important

Lesson: It can be done—but most important problems are never solved
completely

Learning from the ablitionists

Younger groups wanted full emancipation and became inpatient with slow
progress

Split away from parent group, used paid and trained campaigners in a
cascade

1833—three month debate, emancipaton bill passed both houses in summer
of 1833—but £20m (now around £1,5 billion) paid in compensation to
slaveowners; plus slaves became “apprentices” working without pay for
another six years

1 August 1838—nearly 800 000 black men, women, and children became
free

Coffin inscribed “Colonial Slavery, died July 31st 1838, aged 276 years.”
Coffin contained an iron punishment collar, a whip, and chains

Of the 12 men who met in the printshop only Clarkson was alive

Lesson: The young will take things forward—if they still care; social
movements need succession plans

Hochschild's conclusion

“To the British abolitionists, the challenge of ending slavery
in a world that considered it fully normal was as daunting as
it seems today when we consider challenging the entrenched
wrongs of our own age: the vast gap between rich and poor
nations, the relentless spread of nuclear weapons, the
multiple assaults on the earth, air, and water that must
support future generations, the habit of war. None of these
problems will be solved overnight, or perhaps even in the 50
years it took to end British slavery. But they will not be
solved at all unless people see them as both outrageous and
solvable, just as slavery was felt to be by the 12 men who
gathered in James Phillip's printing shop in George Yard on
May 22 1787.”

But we must remember that there is still much slavery

Developing a positive culture for
fans of the England football team

Origins of the movement

1985 England banned from European football after trouble during a Liverpool Juventus match
causes the death of 39, mostly Italians. English football=hooliganism

1989 Poor police control results in a crush at the Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield. 96 people
die.Terraces (people standing) banned in the top two divisions

1990 World Cup. England forced to play on an island.

Lesson: A very real problem that is very high profile and so everybody—government, including
the prime minister, the media, fans, and “the person in the street” is involved. The problem is
that it leads to a feeling that “something must be done” even if that is the wrong thing.

1996 European championships in England.Papers warn of “blood in the streets.” Doesn't
happen.

1997 Labour elected and creates Football task force. Mark Perryman (the leader of the
movement that emerges) writes a paper arguing that the primary aim should be to develop “a
positive fan culture.”

Lesson: A leading thinker and organiser is important.

1997 Football Association (governing body) sets up consultative committees—but no clear
agenda. Top down didn't work. Perryman and other give personal email addresses: messages
and meetings begin to flow. An unsuccessful top down initiative became a lively bottom up
movement.

Lesson: A bottom up social movement can begin from from failed top down initiatives.


June 1998. Perryman and Hugh Tisdale want to give out coloured cards so
that English fans can create a cross of St George—copying the Italians. FA
says no. They do it anyway. Becomes standard at English home matches.
All bottom up.

Lesson: Symbols, particularly those that reach everybody, are important.

1998. World Cup in France. 40 000 fans. 400 riot. Press backlash.
Government says “No ticket, don't travel.” Perryman says flies in the face of
culture. Fans feel victimised and disempowered. Fans feel the game is being
taken away from them because of high prices and corporate junkets.

Late 90s. England makes a bid for World Cup 2006. So negative publicity
must be avoided. Government and FA try charm offensive with “fan
representatives.” Achieves nothing because fans feel disempowered.

Euro 2000. Belgium and Netherlands. More trouble.

Football (Disorder) Act 2000. Rushed through parliament. Attemps to
exclude “hooligans” but excludes many core fans—young, working class
males

October 2000. Wembley closes. No home for fans. 90 000 fans reduced to
40 000. Observer gives evidence to government working party saying that
watching an England France football match was “akin to watching a football
match during a Nuremberg rally.”


Pre 2002 World Cup. Movement gets going. Lots of anxiety about what
might happen in Japan/Korea, but fans continue to feel neglected,
misunderstood, and misrepresented in the media. Fans set up forums on
what awaits in the Far East. 500 fans attend

Lesson: Increasing anxiety, particularly about future events, creates a
climate for a movement to progress.

World Cup 2002. Trouble free. Why? Partly fan movement. Fan forums.
Fans took gifts. Fans create fan embassies.

Lesson; Innovation in techniques and intervention is important.

2003. “Petty jealousies” within the group. Movements seen as too London
centred.

2003. Fans make trip to South Africa. Organise match for local boys. Some
play in a mixed race game for the first time. Fans forums continue—with
police and senior FA officials joining.

September 2003. Some violence an England Turkey game. FA bans fans
from next two away games. Discussed at the forum. Fans are against the
ban but understand why. First time FA and fans have shown mutual respect.


Euro 2004. Portugal. A watershed. British Ambassador in Lisbon asks
for fan led events at every game. 1500 people attend. School visits as
well. No trouble.

Late 2005: FA asks fans to help plan for World Cup in 2006. A
watershed.

Germany 2006. No trouble. Wonderful atmosphere. Each game has a
fan led event.

Lesson: This is a movement that centres around having fun (going to
football matches, travelling, and partying). The aim of reducing
violence is a spin off.

Lesson: Government or authority mandates are a poor way to change
culture, although they have a role. People must be given the freedom
to experiemnet and see if the like the new culture.

One year of “Make poverty history”

“Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is
man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the
actions of human beings” Nelson Mandela

30 000 people, most of whom are children, die every day
from preventable diseases of poverty.

Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) is a
massive global coalition from more than 100 countries and
is made up of a diverse range of community groups,
coalitions, trade unions, organisations, individuals, faith
groups and campaigners, who are all committed to the
fight against poverty. In the UK branch is known as Make
Poverty History. In the US, it is called One

The Make Poverty History coalition consisted of over 400
charities. 14 charities were on the steering committee.


GCAP chose 2005 as there were many key global events happening that year, such as a UN
Summit focusing on the MDGs, and WTO trade talks. The UK’s involvement was particularly
important because it was hosting the G8 summit (Gleneagles, Scotland), and the UK PM Tony
Blair was president of the EU for the first part of that year.

Three targets

Aid
− GCAP called for donors to immediately deliver at least $50 billion more in aid per year and
set a binding timetable for spending 0.7% of national income on aid. Aid must also be
made to work more effectively for poor people.

Debt
− GCAP called for the unpayable debts of the world’s poorest countries to be cancelled in
full, by fair and transparent means.

Trade
− Action to ensure that governments, particularly in poor countries, can choose the best
solutions to end poverty and protect the environment.
− An end to the export and other subsidies that damage the livelihoods of poor rural
communities around the world.
− Laws that stop big business profiting at the expense of people and the environment.


Whole year planned

Feb- An address from Nelson Mandela in Trafalgar Square

March- Launch of the “click as2 campaign—celebrities: George Clooney, Brad
Pitt, Kylie Minogue, Claudia Schiffer click their fingers to symbolise that one child
dies from poverty every second)

April- Global week of action on trade justice, culminating in an all night vigil at
Westminster abbey followed by a march through Westminster

July- white band day before G8 summit

July- March around Edinburgh for Make Poverty History Edinburgh

September- White band day before UN summit

November -March at Westminster to draw attention to WTO talks

December- White band day before WTO trade talks

Success?

20 000 people attended Nelson Mandela’s address

25 000 people participated in the all night trade vigil

250 000 people marched around Edinburgh

GCAP members and supporters took more than 30 million actions around
the world.

G8 leaders
− cancelled debt of 18 poorest countries (but in the end worth $2b a year
when countries owe $300m)
− Increased aid by $48b by 2012 (only $11b more than already committed)
− No agreement on trade, no progress with Millennium Development
Goals, WTO talks a flop
− Many in the movement felt that the year was more of a failure than a
success
− Huge public support—but many were left at the end of the year feeling
that the problem was solved


Diversions and problems

Tsunami

London bombings

Live 8
− Bob Geldof refused to announce plans
− Wouldn't work with GCAP
− Concerts about music not poverty, no money raised
− Bob Geldof and Bono invited to Gleanagles not charity leaders

Infighting among charities—Oxfam and Comic Relief dominated

Other groups—antiglobalisation campaigners—hijack the message

Too close to government, which manipulated the movement to its own ends

Messages: “the ask” was simple, but the issues are complex. Many
campaigners weren't given good information and so were unable to answer
difficult questions from the Mps and the press

Lessons
Plan for the unexpected


Plan and prepare for events with great attention to detail, long in advance



Don’t over simplify messages, or at least have some substantial and balanced
information to back them up
Be sustainable- make plans to keep your supporters’ interest and motivation


Make sure you have a follow up plan/plans


Do not spin the effectiveness of the movement, or results of the campaign



If courting the media, be prepared for them to turn on you, therefore try to limit
the negative points they can pick up on
Treat celebrities with care


Keep all infighting private and of course, try and sort out internally


Don’t get too cosy with the government


Aside: environmental movement:
success or failure?

Success
− Within two decades spectacular growth in organisations, activists,
adherents, and sympathisers
− Diversified in number of issues
− Professional, lots of expert back up, journals
− Truly international—within most countries and covering the globe
− Huge success as an agenda setter—cannot be ignored by politicians
− Many governmental agencies

Failure
− State of the environment has steadily worsened
− Climate change accelerating
− Flora and fauna disappearing
− Pollution steadily worse

Debates within social movement
studies

Is more achieved by moderation or disruption, including violence?

Many scholars have argued that “disruption is the most powerful resource
that movements have at their disposal to reach their goals.”

“It is likely that when regimes are vulnerable or receptive to challenges
disruption works, whereas when they are not, disruption invites repression.”

How much is success dependent on internal issues of the movement
(organisation, size, leadership, etc) and how much external—the political
environment?

In the end both are important but will have different impact in different
circumstances.

What is agreed is that the consequence of social movements is often quite
different from those that were intended


Giugni M, McAdam D, Tilly C, eds. How social movements matter.
Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

What works: four critical factors:

Political opportunity

Organisational capacity

Framing ability

“Constancy of discontent”

Doug McAdam, John McCarthy, and Mayer Zald in “Social movements,” a chapter in the Handbook of Sociology, edited by Neil
Smelser

What works: favourable
preconditions
Prosperity


Physical concentration—cities, universities, hospitals



Level of grassroots organisation—existing clubs, teams,
etc

Absence of cross cutting solidarities (“We aren’t
interested in quality in health care but in evidence based
medicine”; “More specialisation will improve quality.”)

Suddenly imposed grievances, dramatic spotlighting—
Bristol, Shipman
Solidarity instead of free riding


What works: individual inducements

Prior contact with a movement member

Membership of many organisations

Prior activism

Emotional tension

Moving music

Availability

What works: mobilisation

“The basic building block of social movements is the small informal group connected to a
loose network.”

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world;
indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead
Familiar members


A cooptable communications network (internet)


Capable leaders



A mobilising frame: Erving Goffman introduced the idea of the frame as an interpretative
scheme that people use to simplify and makes sense of some aspect of the world

Frame alignment “Movement supporters attempt to recruit bystanders by providing
examples and rationales that support a mobilising frame and legitimise the movement.”

Optimistic expectations: “The relentless enthusiasm of a good organiser will inspire
enthusiasm and optimism in others, even in the worst circumstances”

What works: maintenance

The need for social movement organisations (SMO)

Each SMO must find a way to organise a flow of people and money to support the cause. Those
that demand the least from members will be most successful in obtaining members and money.

Radical flank effects: “the presence of extremist groups leads to greater support for moderate
groups”: the provisional wing of the quality movement

Government control through regulation, intimidation, and cooption. Modern states usually resist
social movements

Government facilitation

Consciousness maintaining

Ongoing frame alignment

Frames from the news

Resource maintenance

Membership maintenance: “on the question of goals, research shows the wisdom of maintaining a
narrow focus and a single goal.”

Conclusions

Definitions of what constitutes a social
movements differ—but they have become
steadily more important

There is no simple formula for how a social
movement can succeed

But there are lessons to be learnt

Perhaps the two most important are, firstly,that
there are likely to be times when prospects look
hopeless and that it is possible for a few people
to make changes that seem impossible
remarkably quickly

Learning from social movements

Learning from social movements

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