African - American Civil Rights Movement - Literature review Example

Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : xxxxxxxxxxx Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx @2012 Introduction Social movement theories have been significant in providing explanation concerning why social movements or social mobilizations take place in society. One of the theories of social movement is the collective behavior theory. Snow, 1986, et al (1986) highlights that; the collective behavior involves people acting collectively in order to attain a certain goal. This involves people collectively, transcending and bypassing the set institutional patterns in order to attain their stated objective. Collective behavior has historically resulted to the formation of various prominent social movements. One of the most radical social movements in history is the Africa- American Civil rights movement. This particular paper seeks to evaluate how the collective behavior theory was applied in the African - American civil rights movement. The scope of the analysis will also be grounded on providing a background of the American civil rights movements. Background of the African –American civil rights movements The American civil rights movement was a radial reform movement that was initiated by black Americans in the United States. The movement was aimed as at fighting for the civil rights of the black American population. Although many records indicate that the movement begun in the 1950’s to the 1970’s. In actual sense the movement can be traced back to 1783 when the state of Massachusetts was forced to outlaw legally the practice of slavery (Young, 1982). Young( 1982) highlights that for several years, black Americans had been fighting for equal citizenry rights as those accorded to other races , however discrimination still existed in the American society. One major strategy that was adopted by the black Americans for a number of years to fight for their rights was the use of litigation. Some of the litigations include the 1865, inclusion of the abolition of slave trade in the American constitution and the 1896 ruling by the Supreme Court of equal and separate segregation. McAdam, (1982) however reveals that litigation was not actually very effective based on the fact that the discrimination of black people in America increased for instance as indicated by a series of killings of black Americans , segregation and lack of political participation. The traditional strategy of litigation through the courtroom was evidently not effective in the fighting for the rights of the African American population as a result social movement become impending solution to solving the existing status quo. Mosler and Catley, (1998) highlight that by the 1950 black American’s begun to gather together in order to organize protests that were basically not violent . Some of the protests include the 1960 protest by black collage students who went and sat at a lunch counter section that was specifically reserved for white students. After 1950, the African American people begun to organize various movements, that were aimed at fighting for equal rights. One of the outstanding historical movements by the black Americans was the Washington D.C march in 1963 that was led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The objective of the march was aimed at pushing for the enhancement of the Civil Rights Bill. More than 250, 000 African American people marched to the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King Jr read his famous speech "I have a dream. How the collective behavior theory was applied in the African - American civil rights movement Robert Park a sociologist, who initiated the collective behavior theory, had a belief that the collective behavior field played a significant role in enhancing social change. Park utilized the word crowd to mean a ‘’collective stimulus’’ that is able influence a revolution within the society. According to Park the concept of the crowd was not merely a destructive, pathological and bizarre collectivity, but rather group of people with the objective of creating social change (Turner & Killian, 1987). The American civil rights movement can be linked to the Parks analogy of collective behavior being geared towards enhancing social change. As indicated earlier, initially the African American population utilized legitation as a strategy eliminating the racial discriminatory tendencies that existed in the American society. However litigation did not create any sort of social change, as a result the use of the crowd was the only was to initiate social change (Porta & Dani , 2009 ). Turner and Killian (1987) highlights that the Selma match of 1965 which had the objective of fighting for voting rights is an example of the effectiveness of collective behavior in enhancing social change . A large stream of marches/ crowds of people women, children and men, followed Martin Luther King Jr, into the city of Selma where they organized a five day movement (Turner & Killian, 1987). McAdam, (1982) highlights that the Selma movement was aimed at securing blessings for the African American people by passing an act that would give black people voting rights and also change the injustices legacy that existed in the American society . After the Selma movement although many people lost their lives based on the fact that the protests become , violent, the act was later passed . The passing of the Voting rights Act brought about positive and immediate impacts for the black people. Within months after the enactment of the act, a total of 250,000 voters from the black race were registered and within four years the number of voters had doubles. A good case in point is the state of Mississippi where the highest number of voters was recorded , in addition the state had the highest number of public officials who were black( McAdam, 1982) . It can therefore be argued that the Selma movement of 1965 was a collective behavior initiative that influenced social change whereby black people were accorded the right to vote. Wallis (2003) highlights that; the logic behind the theory of collective behavior is that people act collectively due to the fact that their individual interests can also be served by the common interests that exhibited by others who face the same situations as they do . Collective behavior therefore takes place naturally once a person has identified that the common interests of others can actually advance their own good. In the most basic sense, a social movement is characterized by collective behavior that has the objective of developing a new way or order of life (Jones, 2007). Social movements are mostly instigated by a state of unrest and dissatisfaction with the existing form of life. After recognizing that the collective interests of other people will advance the individual good, then the person may naturally arise and join others to fight for a new way of life (Oberschall, 1995). In the context of the American civil rights movement, the theory of collective behavior was exhibited in the sense that individual black people faced the challenge of segregation and racial discrimination. According to Lawson and Payne, (2006) every African American had lived to experience what it felt like to be treated differently due to the aspect of race. As a result when social movements begun to arise many black people were motivated to join the movements in order to create a collective voice that would change their lives and the lives of the future generation. For instance a black woman by the name Rose Parks in 1955 got into a crowned bus in the city of Alabama. Interestingly Parks took a sit in front of the bus instead of taking the back sit. When she was requested to move to the back sit, she declined. Rose was then arrested however her action greatly inspired the African American people, to support civil rights movements (Wiggins, 1987). After the bus incident with Rose, the civil rights movement begun to organize boycotts and protests against discriminatory tendencies. Many black Americans boycotted riding on buses , this therefore meant that bus companies would get loses to the extent in which the segregation that occurred in buses would end (Webber &Morrogh, 2005). The outcome of the movement was very positive in the sense that the supreme court made a ruling that the aspect of segregation of buses was a behaviour that was unconstitutional. Shibutani (1973) highlights that; collective behavior has frequently been linked to political movements; however the manifestation of collective action is diversified, it can be derived from cultural and social factors. Tarrow, (1994) highlights that when common people flock the streets while risking their lives using claims such as they want their rights, political constraints and opportunities is basically a major influential factor. Theoretically the traditional approaches of defining collective behavior focused on collective action as a way of reacting to disorder. Marxists approaches for instance defined collective action in terms of disorder whereby peasants/ working class were to rise against the oppressive bourgeoisie class (Bartholomew & Meyer, 2009). Contemporary social movements on the other hand have a significant feature of increasing fragmentation, forms or actions and actors. For instance collective action can arise due to rational choice where collective action is undertaken after evaluating the benefits and the costs that are linked to a particular collective action (Chesters &Welsh, 2011). In the context of the African –American civil rights movements, the objective of collective action was linked to political, cultural and social factors (Davidson & Lewis, 2002). The political factors include the aspect of unequal political participation whereby the African American population was not given a chance to take part in the voting process, not until the Selma match of 1965. Apart from deprivation of voting rights the African American people were also not accorded equal political participation. Due to the activities of the civil rights movement, the Selma match brought about a positive outcome whereby political administrators from the black American people were able to be voted in and be part of political administration (Muse, 1970). Collective action by the African American civil rights movements was diversified, in the sense that it was driven also by cultural, social and economic factors. One of the social and cultural factors that instigated collective action includes the tendency of discrimination which basically a common treatment for the coloured people everywhere they went and in any activity they were involved in (Estell, 1993). For instance the involvement of black American troupes in the Second World War was perceived by many as a chance for the black people to fight for their country heritage. Never the less discrimination of the African American people continued even far away from home, where the war took place (Griffith & Baker, 2001). Mosler and Catley (1998) further reveal that violence between white and black Americans troupes were frequent especially when color lines were crossed. In addition racial segregation was a common aspect which frequently resulted to violence. The economic factors that influenced collective action in the African American civil rights movement were influenced by urbanization and industrialization Eggleston, (2001) argues that industrialization and urbanization acted as a significant factor that lead to the civil rights movement. Industrialization was pushed many African American people into cities in order to look for job opportunities that existed in the industries. Due to the influx of many black people into cities, ghettos emerged were most black people lived. However what spearheaded the civil rights movement was not urbanization but rather it was deurbanization. Ogbar (2004) highlights that many American factories that existed in the Northern were deurbanized, this is because most manufacturing plants were moved away from urban areas. The implication of this is that many of the African American people who moved to cities with the objective of gaining economic advancements were left jobless and poor in the ghettos. An example of such a city is the Detroit where there was a raising challenge of unlimited housing, unemployment, reduced economic opportunity and racial animosity. The urban black American populations in such cities were left with a few options one of them being joining the civil rights movement in order to fight for better economic rights and opportunities (Ogbar, 2004). Another essential attribute of the theory of collective action is the aspect of identity construction (Locher, 2001). Identity can be described as a social process that brings about a feeling of social solidarity and social belonging in association to members of a particular group . Identity usually emerges from a process of self identification of individuals and external recognition (Meyer & Whitter, 2002). Touraine , (1981) highlights that construction of identity is an essential aspect of collective action based on the fact that by having common identity the actors develop trusting relationships amongst themselves and establish connections that connect events from various periods . Another essential contribution of identity is that it evokes the solidity and continuity of allegiances over time. Identifying with a movement therefore implies that a feeling of solidarity exists among the group members of a particular movement (Chesters et al 2011). According to (Chesters et al 2011), identity also gives individuals a feeling of belonging whereby they develop a feeling that they are ‘’one’’ and they are also fighting for a quest that will salvage all of them from oppressive situations. Identity is also significant from the organizational perspective in the sense that the collective experience of the group assists them to relate effectively and identify their allies and their enemies (McCathy & Mayer, 1997). The concept of identity was an essential aspect in the collective behaviour exhibited by the African American civil rights movement. The main aspect that influenced the identity of the African American civil rights movement was grounded on being black. Karl-Dieter (2009) argues that it was the aspect of the black race that greatly created a sense of identity for most of the members of the movement. As highlighted by Eyeman and James (1984) identity emerges from a process of self identification of individuals and external recognition. The aspect of race specifically the black race was a contributory aspect to the discriminatory tendencies experienced by many black American people. As a result many black people felt a sense of identity and therefore this influenced solidarity and trusting relationships among the members of the black movement. Webber and Morrogh (2005) highlight that; the concept of the black identity further influenced the formation of the black power movement. Webber and Morrogh (2005) reveal that by the time the Selma movement was ending in 1965, the black power movement begun to arise. The black power movement in most cases was organized in the form of black nationalists and racial rioting. In the mid 1960’s the members of the black power movement spoke only to black masses and mobilized mass protests for to advocate the rights of the black people. Conclusion From the discussion presented by this particular paper, what is evident is that the collective behaviour theory can be applied to the African – American civil rights movement. The discussion has identified various applicable areas in which the collective behaviour theory can be applied to the African American movement. One of the highlighted areas is in terms of is in terms of identity construction, another applicable area is the aspect of enhancing social change. Another significant areas highlighted was based on the fact that individual interests can also be served by the common interests that exhibited by others who face the same situations as they do, as a result collective behaviour influences one to join social movements as it was in the African American civil rights movements. In conclusion it can be stated that the collective behaviour theory was indeed applicable to the African – American civil rights movement. 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