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| Social movements in the United States | |
|---|---|
| Name | Social movements in the United States |
| Founded | Various |
| Location | United States |
Social movements in the United States are collective efforts by organized groups and networks to promote or resist change in public affairs through sustained campaigns involving protests, advocacy, and civic action. These movements have involved actors ranging from grassroots organizations and labor unions to religious institutions and political parties such as the Democratic Party and the Republican Party, and have intersected with events like the American Revolution and the Civil Rights Movement. Their trajectories often connect to landmark laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and to institutions including the Supreme Court of the United States and the United States Congress.
Social movements in the United States encompass organized efforts like the Labor movement (United States) and the Women's suffrage movement aimed at altering policies, cultural norms, and institutional practices. Scholars analyze movements using frameworks drawn from studies of the Progressive Era, the New Deal, and the Reconstruction Era, comparing actors such as the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations with later groups like Black Lives Matter and the Tea Party movement. Definitions emphasize resources, political opportunities, and framing processes evident in campaigns around the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Environmental Protection Agency-era activism that followed the Earth Day mobilizations.
Early antecedents include colonial-era protests connected to the Stamp Act Congress and the agrarian uprisings around the Whiskey Rebellion, while antebellum movements featured abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass and organizations like the American Anti-Slavery Society. The postbellum period saw veterans and populists coalesce in groups like the Populist Party (United States), while the Progressive movement fostered reformers associated with figures like Theodore Roosevelt and institutions such as the Hull House. Twentieth-century labor struggles involved the Pullman Strike and leaders including Eugene V. Debs alongside New Deal coalitions led by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Mid-century civil rights mobilization included organizations like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and events like the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century movements include the LGBT rights movement, the United Farm Workers campaigns led by Cesar Chavez, the anti-war movement around the Vietnam War, and more recent actions by groups like Occupy Wall Street and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
- Nineteenth century: Abolitionism, the Women's suffrage movement with leaders such as Susan B. Anthony and events like the Seneca Falls Convention, and labor activism including the Knights of Labor. - Progressive to New Deal era: Reformers tied to the Progressive Era, the Temperance movement culminating in the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and New Deal labor mobilization with the National Labor Relations Act. - Civil Rights era: Civil Rights Movement organizations including Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, alongside legal advances via the Brown v. Board of Education decision. - Late twentieth century: Second-wave feminism associated with National Organization for Women, LGBT advocacy including Stonewall riots activists, and environmentalism tied to leaders like Rachel Carson. - Twenty-first century: Movements such as Black Lives Matter, Tea Party movement, #MeToo movement, and digital-era mobilizations like Occupy Wall Street.
Movements have used tactics ranging from litigation in courts like the Supreme Court of the United States and lobbying in the United States Congress to direct action such as sit-ins at venues referenced in Freedom Rides and mass marches like the Women's March (2017). Organizational forms include hierarchical unions like the Teamsters and networked coalitions such as MoveOn.org, as well as faith-based groups like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and community organizations like the National Urban League. Fundraising, media strategies, and leadership models vary from charismatic leaders such as Malcolm X to decentralized collectives exemplified by Anonymous (group) and Black Lives Matter Global Network.
Movements have produced landmark policy changes including the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and expansions of social programs during the New Deal. They influenced judicial rulings from Brown v. Board of Education to Obergefell v. Hodges, and shaped public institutions like the Environmental Protection Agency and legislation such as the Affordable Care Act. Cultural shifts trace to movements that transformed media coverage, public opinion, and professional norms, involving actors from The New York Times to community institutions like Black churches and universities including Howard University.
Movements often sparked organized opposition including conservative coalitions like the John Birch Society, the American Conservative Union, and political campaigns tied to the Republican National Committee. Countermovements have produced legislation, electoral realignments, and paramilitary responses as in the backlash to Reconstruction involving the Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow laws, and twentieth-century anti-communist crusades linked to House Un-American Activities Committee hearings. Contemporary countermobilization appears in entities like the Proud Boys and policy responses advanced by think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation.
Recent decades show growth in digital organizing using platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to mobilize around incidents such as the Trayvon Martin shooting and policies debated in the United States Senate. Crowdfunding and online petitions via sites like GoFundMe and Change.org complement on-the-ground protests in cities such as Washington, D.C., New York City, and Los Angeles. Transnational linkages connect U.S. movements to international actors including Amnesty International and the United Nations, while legal and electoral strategies engage institutions like state legislatures and the Federal Election Commission.