Collective Action for Social Movements (Essay Sample)

Collective Action for Social Movements
Name
Course
Instructor
Date
Social movements have gained prominence because of their impact on the civil rights movement. In the case of disability rights, it has been essential to organize and institutionalize the social movements, as they are more likely to have leverage to seek behavior change and respect of disability rights. Allison Carey captures this notion in ‘On the margins of citizenship: intellectual disability and civil rights in twentieth-century America’ whereby the interaction of human rights civil, republicanism as well as rights as social contract emphasizes on the role of collective negotiation in fighting for the rights of the disabled (Murphy, 2010). One of the problems highlighted by Carey for people with intellectual disability is that often they are unable to have much impact because they lack adequate representation.
A closer look at the life of Mrs. Rosa Parks shows that her refusal to stand up for a White passenger was a well thought out decisions, given that she was earlier involved in the civil rights movement (Loeb, 2010). Even though, Parks embodied the struggle of African Americans during the segregation era, the work of others was also instrumental in fighting for equality. This does not downplay her tremendous courage, historical importance and endeavors, but there is a need to appreciate that her engagement with the civil rights movement was crucial. In any case, social movements fighting for the rights of the disabled are better placed to lobby legislators in comparison to individuals (Miller, 1990). Besides lobbying, it is easier to bring forth lawsuits when people act collectively through associations for disability rights and this may have broader impact on the movements as well as the treatment of disabled people in the workplace (Miller, 1990).
Group involvement is vital for social movements since it is easier to undertake mobilization, and this increases participation. There is a likelihood that group involvement encourages people living closer to each other to participate in social movements. However, for this to be successful, activists and other agitators are essential links to create an enabling environment that fosters networking among different groups and people from different regions. Committed activists help to ensure that the groups are less disjointed and this is crucial to agitation for disability rights as it encourages mobilization. If there are strong ties between groups then the activists facilitate coordination of activities better to achieve the shared goals and aspirations.
Collective action groups are organized as networks, but coordination may occur through informal networks. Since the people in the groups have the same cause, the independent actors in the disability rights movement were able to take simultaneous action to achieve the same purpose unlike coalition groups. Hence, the group movements tend to be more successful because of the nature of networking and using diverse strategies to achieve the desired goals. There are less rigid and as network organizations integrating formality simply s...