In contrary to collective behavior, a social movement is organized, and a conscious group of people aimed to resist or advocate the social change within a more extended period. There are various types of social movements, such as revolutionary, resistance, religious, reform, and alternative movements (Della Porta & Diani, 2020). During the twentieth century, together with social movement intensification, sociologists and scholars developed various theories to unravel the origins and conditions for social movement’s occurrence.
This list includes resource mobilization, deprivation, structural strain, new social movement, and political process theories (Kendall, 2018). The political process theory, as one of the most practical views, will be further described. Despite being firstly presented in the 1980s, the political process theory still remains the essential theory of social movements, which explains how people mobilize.
The student, anti-war, Civil Rights movement of the 1960s encouraged sociologists to respond with political opportunity theory in the 1980s. Douglas McAdam is believed to be the first sociologist to mention and explain this theory within his study regarding the Black Civil Rights movement. Before its introduction, some scholars believed social movements consist of irrational and deviant members, while others emphasized the importance of resources available for the movement’s success (Kendall, 2018).
According to political opportunity theory, the social struggles occur not just because a part of society has its own complaints and acquires the needed material and human resources to mobilize (Della Porta & Diani, 2020). Instead, they take place because there usually are political opportunities at a given point of time, which can be used by potential movement leaders and protesters to enter.
Political opportunity theory insists that political activities that take place inside mainstream institutions highly interwoven with outside social protests. In this context, “opportunity” means options for collective actions that bring its different risks and chances. According to the theory, people tend to choose options perceived by them to bring about the most favorable consequences and those which promptly available for collective action. According to Kendall (2018), the extensive protests and riots are more likely to take place in communities where oppressed people do not have proper access to conventional means designed to address their issues to local governments.
For instance, the aftermath of WW II encouraged the US internal changes in migration, demography, and political economy what created an opportunity for African Americans to organize the collective civil rights movement. Its leaders believed that it was the right time because the government was more ready to hear their claims than before.
Despite being very popular among scholars, the political opportunity theory has its limitations. One is based on the assumption that sometimes social movement organizations are not external enough to the current political system. The Tea Party movement in the US can be a great example as its campaigners belonged both to the political mainstream and were outside it. According to the revised theory, social activists can be seen as political entrepreneurs who often try to create opportunities by themselves instead of waiting for them (Kendall, 2018). It means that they act similarly to government officials whom they struggle to persuade on the side of their social issue.
To conclude, political opportunity theory is still essential for the study of social movements because it sheds light on the importance of political system openness to people who design tactics and goals of social movements. The theory insists that grievances and resources are not enough for successful external movement because the internal opportunity within the politics should be in place. The absence of traditional means to demand social change is believed to increase the possibility of riots within the community.
References
Della Porta, D., & Diani, M. (2020). Social movements: An introduction. John Wiley & Sons.
Kendall, D. (2018). Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials (11th ed.). Cengage.