The yellow vests movement in France is a grassroot movement for economic justice that has been ongoing since November last year. An online petition was started in May and had gained close to one million signatures by November, the month in which the first street demonstrations were held. The movement has attracted protesters who are unhappy about rising fuel prices, high costs of living, and have concerns about tax reforms, but quickly morphed to encompass various social issues within the country as well.

Social movements are a type of collective action to push for social or political change in society, or to resist against the more powerful and advantaged elites. They help to shape the course of society, but the change depends on the success or failure of the movements.

This video explains what enables the formation of a social movement, and the different theories of why social movements happen.

 

Unsurprisingly, social movements have also been evolving due to technology. With social media, people can participate online and movements gain traction from all over the world with a viral hashtag. Many social movements, such as #BlackLivesMatter, #MeToo, have birthed from social media with increased social sharing of information, and postings of personal stories. It also helps people who are already interested in a movement’s core idea to be more involved and participatory. Not everyone wants to – or can – go out to the streets to protest for the cause they stand for, and this is why technology has proven such a boon for social movements of all sorts.

There are multiple ways that activists, people who campaign for social change, can gain momentum and make an impact. In social movements, as the video above suggests, organisation, leadership, and resources are needed to propel an idea into a movement. Usually, there is a prominent face or a name to the movement. Take the case of Hong Kong’s Umbrella Movement. Almost five years ago, a Hong Kong academic Benny Tai started ‘Occupy Central’, but the Umbrella Movement is recognised to have been led by a young pro-democracy activist, Joshua Wong. However, not all movements have clear leadership, like the yellow vests movement.

Protests and street demonstrations can be disruptive to the peace of a city, and even harm businesses in the course of the protests which may eventually turn violent. In Singapore, organising public assemblies without a permit is illegal. Organisers of these assemblies would need to seek permission to run their events in a designated rallying venue – Hong Lim Park. Activism in Singapore takes different shapes and there are areas with strong champions, such as the conservation of nature and preservation of heritage buildings, women’s rights, prevention of cruelty to animals, etc. These change activists involve the community and work towards the change they want to see by alternate means to protests, such as making policy recommendations.

Social movements, although sometimes violent, are essential to an evolving and maturing society. Through different models and ways of organisations, the community voices out their demands and ideals. It is always a struggle for those in power to make the best decisions that would please all groups of society, so responsibility also rest in the people to make known what they really need – in a responsible manner.

Questions for further personal evaluation:

  1. Should governments be concerned about social movements?
  2. What positive changes have been sparked by social movements?

Useful vocabulary:

  1. ‘amorphous’: without a clearly defined shape or form
  2. ‘denounce’: publicly declare to be wrong or evil

Here are more related articles for further reading:

  1. The Atlantic: Students in America were recognised as powerful agents of change  

“More than 50 years later movements for racial and educational justice are once again building momentum. A surge of student activism has swept across academia in recent weeks as black students and their allies forcefully call attention to racist climates on American college campuses. And even as some college-student leaders cite the Black Lives Matter social-justice movement as their inspiration, what’s happening in higher education is being matched by younger peers. High-school youth are flexing their collective muscles for equity: fighting budget cuts and out-of-school suspensions as they take on racial issues and academic offerings.”

  1. The New York Times: An interview with the activist who started the original ‘Me Too’ movement, discussing the future of the movement

“When the activist Tarana Burke started the original “Me Too” movement more than a decade ago on MySpace, she never imagined what a force it would become. Then on Oct. 15, 2017, the actress Alyssa Milano shared on Twitter a friend’s suggestion that “women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted” write “Me too” in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein revelations earlier that month. The #MeToo hashtag instantly went viral. And Burke was thrust into the global spotlight.

In the year since the movement upended entertainment and politics, Burke has been working to ensure that Me Too doesn’t lose sight of its mission: to connect survivors of sexual assault to the resources they need in order to heal. To mark the one-year anniversary of #MeToo’s rise, Burke will unveil a number of new initiatives, including a series of public service announcements and a website intended as a hub for survivors. There is also a plan, in its early stages, to work with Hollywood writers’ rooms to address how they handle sexual abuse on the screen.”

Picture credits:https://unsplash.com/photos/LeHpD4Jq_cU