Social movements and Change

Social movements and Change

Observations from scholars have revealed a different pattern in political participation in various democracies that tolerate social movements. Most social groups have influenced the way people votes in democratic countries such as Canada. Political scholars, pundits and policymakers believe that social movements contribute to a shift in voter turnout in the larger democracies.  Social movements have added to the Change in political participation in large democracies such as the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.

A social movement is a loosely organized group to support a particular social change. In most cases, social movements aim at advocating for a specific implementation of interventions to combat a specific social structure or values. Although social movements have different sizes depending on the country and the population affected by the social structure and values, they are essentially collective.  In this case, the changes are characterized by a community of different relationship who share a common outlook of society. A social movement is composed of a merely perpetuated crowd who are not affiliated to a particular organization. While working on the relationships between the political ideologies and the social movements, Ramos & Rodgers (2015), states that a social movement represents the faith that a group of people can collectively bring a social change or change the societal norm and values.  Therefore, the behaviours of society or political entities can influence the goal of a particular movement.

The social movement Society Thesis

Various scholars came up with different ideologies and observations concerning the social movements in Canada. Various social movements have shaped Canadian politics by highlighting issues that affect the political economy in the country. Smith (2014) states that the business that motivates social actions in Canada is the process and instruments of attaining and maintaining power.  Smith claims that the Canadian population believes in the ideology that they belong to the middle-class majority and thus part of their working class. As a result, the organized social movements revolve around the social issues that focus on hugging the working class. James (2011) focused on the exploration of a broad spectrum of organized groups and social movements that determines the Canadian politics. According to the author, social groups and social movements have been the significant instruments Canadian population used to promote the thoughts of the indigenous people. James points out the use of social movements to propagate the voices of Quebec nationalism and Aboriginal politics.

Terms for Social Movements

The nativism challenges

The nativism is a general term that refers to the instances in which the aboriginals or natives fear the increased inflow of immigrants. According to the natives, the immigrants have the capabilities to spoil or distort the cultural values of the natives.  In the situation where the immigrants come in with the new culture, the natives feel that cultural Change may interfere with their values. As the new immigrants’ population, outnumbers that of the inhabitants, the inhabitants, a political challenge sprouts among the natives. Also, the natives may not welcome the differences in the way the ruling institutions offer services.  In some cases, the natives may find it uncomfortable for immigrants to take up their jobs (Meyer& Pullum, 2015). Therefore, the natives may face challenges of declining job opportunities and access to other social amenities and oppose the rising threats.

Visible minorities

The visible minority is not a new term in Canada as it outlines the racial categories in the country. In this case, the term refers to a non-Caucasian population or non-white in colour.  The time is mostly incorporated during the process of employment equity policies.  Statistics Canada uses the term visible minority to describe the demographics that do not involve the aboriginal group of persons. Some of the fears that indigenous groups fear due to immigration of visible minorities include the right for quality education, the employment and the changes in the value and beliefs. While the opposition may feel secluded in some political or social aspects, the majority may find it comfortable attaining better services that the visible minorities(Clement, 2015). The societal changes result in political and social affiliations.

Radicalization

Radicalization is the process or a situation in which a group comes together to adopt political, social or religious ideology with an aspiration to undermine that status quo. Some of the signs of a radicalized individual include isolation from family members and friends and using a scripted speech.  The individuals are unwilling to discuss their views with anyone.  The individual or member of a particular political or social movement may develop some disrespectful towards others. Various non-governmental organization target women groups to foster radicalization(Corrigall-brown & Ho, 2015).  The Canadian groups of persons with a radicalized mindset may have a differing political or social ideology with the dominating entities.

Social movements have sprouted in Canada in the past few years. Various people have changed the voting pattern of the Canadian political system due to the population’s affiliations towards a particular ideology. Also, Scholars have noted the changes in the Canadian democratic systems. The scholars note that people vote with guidance from social and political issues that affects their daily lives.  Some of the aspects that control the voting patterns include nativism challenges, visible minorities and radicalization.

References

Clément, D. (2015). The Social Movement Society and the Human Rights State. Protest and Politics: The Promise of Social Movement Societies, 208-232.

Corrigall-brown, C., & Ho, M. (2015). How the State Shapes Social Movements. Protest and Politics: The Promise of Social Movement Societies, 101-117.

James, M. (2011). Misrecognized Materialists: Social Movements in Canadian Constitutional Politics. UBC Press.

Meyer, D. S., & Pullum, A. (2015). Reconsidering the Social Movement Society in the New Century. Protest and politics: The promise of social movement societies, 23-41.

Ramos, H., & Rodgers, K. (Eds.). (2015). Protest and politics: The promise of social movement societies. UBC Press.