What is a social movement? And its importance in the study of political science

Abstract

This article is the product of the bibliographic review and reflections that emerged about it with our students in the History of Contemporary Social Ideas and Movements class, taught at the School of Political and Administrative Studies of the Central University of Venezuela; when realizing in the readings that there is no conceptual precision that allows defining what is really understood by social movement, given the different interpretations of the concept that are observed, as well as the exaggerated use of the idea to qualify the different social manifestations that have taken place in Venezuela , Spain, and other parts of the world in recent times, generating confusion to clearly identify what a “social movement” is.

The background that inspires this article is to propose a more precise definition of the concept that will allow to clarify it, by identifying each of the elements that are part of its content.

For this, an approach is made of the various conceptualizations in their historical evolution, from when it was firstly used by Lorenz von Stein until today, highlighting the importance of this conceptual precision of the progress in understanding a field of study that is so important for Political Science.

Its development seeks to differentiate the social movement from any other form of collective action, specifically from the political movement.