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All 11 Flashcards — Social movements
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Question
What is a social movement?
Answer
A large, loose network of people who act together for social or political change, mainly through protest and collective action.
Question
What is collective action?
Answer
Many people acting together for a shared goal — the core method of a social movement.
Question
How is a movement different from an NGO?
Answer
A movement is looser and has no single office or boss; an NGO is a formal, organised group.
Question
Name some social movements.
Answer
Fridays for Future, Black Lives Matter, #MeToo.
Question
Where does a movement's power come from?
Answer
From numbers and publicity — enough people making enough noise to set the agenda and shift opinion.
Question
What is agenda-setting?
Answer
Forcing an issue into public and political attention — changing what everyone is talking about.
Question
Why is Fridays for Future a good example?
Answer
Greta Thunberg's 2018 school strike spread to millions worldwide and pushed climate up the political agenda.
Question
Who is Greta Thunberg?
Answer
The Swedish teenager whose 2018 school strike for the climate sparked the Fridays for Future movement.
Question
What are the strengths of social movements?
Answer
Huge numbers, agenda-setting, cheap and fast online, and a voice for the powerless.
Question
What are the limits of social movements?
Answer
No formal power to make law, they can fragment or fade, and can be ignored or repressed.
Question
Influence or authority?
Answer
A social movement has influence but not authority — it shapes issues but cannot make them law.
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Full study notes for Social movements
Topic 1.1 hub
Framing global politics
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Global Politics exam skills
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